Her Rebirth of Retribution

But on the surface, everyone pretended to get along well.

"Yelena called me earlier, she's almost here!" said the old man's third son - today was his son's first month celebration.

Speak of the devil - Benedict and his family were brought to the back annexe without explanation. When he saw that the hall was filled with a large group of people, Benedict's eyes flickered but he still smiled and pulled his daughter along to greet them. Quincy and Yelena happily went to sit with the head of the Langleys, as if they had found their rightful place. Meanwhile, Calista and Benedict continued standing where they were, and it was very awkward for them.

But everyone in the house continued to smile and laugh, as if they didn't treat anyone as an outsider and was friendly with everyone.

Calista suddenly understood why the Langleys were gathered here instead of entertaining the guests outside.

"Ah, my son-in-law...have a seat!" The old man said this while smiling, but he continued sitting along the wall, and got someone to bring some chairs over. Two chairs were for Quincy and Yelena to sit beside him, while Calista and Benedict sat right in the middle of the hall, as if they were on trial.

Benedict kept a smile on as he asked, "Why is everyone here? No need to talk to the guests in front?"

The eldest daughter-in-law, Joanna, was full of smiles as she said, "There are some younger ones doing so, it's good practice for them!"

The head of the Langleys nodded, "That's right, it's only a small matter anyway. I've called you here because I have some things to talk to you about..." He patted Yelena's hand and his voice became serious.

"I hear you want to divorce Yelena?"

Even though they had covered up the scandal, the head of the Langleys definitely knew about it. But he pretended not to know anything about it, instead he looked like a caring father trying to speak up for his daughter.

Benedict's expression darkened, but he had calmed down quite a bit after his initial angry outburst when the matter happened. Besides, he was now in the Langley residence, and he had to suppress any unhappiness he had. "No...I only said that in a fit of anger."

The old man snorted. "I'm glad you understand. Which married couple doesn't quarrel? It's a bit too much to mention divorce. The Langleys have always stood united as a family, and we've never had anything as scandalous as a divorce!"

Benedict's face started to look nasty. It was hard for him to accept this treatment as a man - he was being disciplined in his wife's house, and the judgmental looks from the rest of the Langleys were hard to bear...but he clenched his fists and tolerated it, and he could only remain silent for now.

Calista was seated beside him and couldn't help but laugh. This wasn't the first time something like this was happening.

The Langleys were a very domineering bunch, plus they had power in business and numbers, so they were much stronger than the Staffords.

Benedict was a softhearted and pliable man, and after being molded by Yelena for more than a decade, the Staffords became more and more like an appendage to the Langleys, and this sort of disciplining happened now and then.

Yelena's elder brother, Hans Langley, harrumphed unhappily when he saw Calista laughing. "Children should be quiet when adults are talking, what are you laughing at!"

His fierce questioning was aimed directly at Calista.

Hans was Wyatt's father, so he was now the main pillar of the Langleys, and he had a much stronger presence compared to Benedict.

"What, I can't even laugh?" Calista quietly replied.

She was different from how she used to be, and Hans immediately marked her as a rebel. Since when did stray dogs and cats talk back to him? He snorted disdainfully again.

"Benedict, I don't mean to criticize you, but did you bring Calista up? She's disrespectful to her elders and she doesn't have any manners - she will be such an embarrassment to Quincy if anybody finds out that they're sisters! If you don't want to discipline her, I'll discipline her for you!"

Benedict's face was now ashen. He wasn't dead yet but his brother-in-law wanted to discipline his daughter for him? This was even worse than shaming him.

The old man was very pleased with how his son was talking to Benedict, and so he added on in a serious voice, "She does need to be taken in hand. Benedict, have you forgotten who helped your family when you were facing a crisis? If not for Yelena, your family would have gone bankrupt by now! Yelena has put in so much effort and heart into the family, but this daughter of yours still goes against her! What a waste of our good intentions!"

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Hans continued, "Dad is right! Benedict, everyone has to live with a clear conscience! I'm only in my forties, and the family business is doing well under my care. But you You don't have the head for business, and if Yelena hadn't done so much legwork for your family, you think the Staffords would enjoy its current status? Never mind that you're not grateful for all this, you still want a divorce? And then you let your immature daughter simply bully Quincy? Excuse me, the Langleys aren't dead yet, you know!"

The other family members didn't say anything and continued watching the good show in front of them. Meanwhile, Yelena was pretending to cry pitifully, but she was secretly hoping her family would say nastier things, so that Benedict wouldn't dare to fight back.

Joanna unhappily added on,

"Exactly. When the Staffords were in

trouble, if

It wasn't for Yelena going around begging others, if the

Langleys didn't use their reserves to save you, you wouldn't be standing here today. Besides, if you hadn't gotten drunk then and ruined Yelena's reputation, you think our

family would allow any of our

members to marry into your family?"

The other family members joined in the fray, not wanting to lose to each other in hurling insults.

"Precisely! If it wasn't on account of Yelena, I wouldn't lend any money out!"

"Yelena's a wonderful woman, but she's too strong-willed and too honest, suffering in silence and allowing herself to be bullied at home. She's served the family with all her heart but it didn't end well for her."Belongs to © n0velDrama.Org.

Every comment slowly wiped the smile off Benedict's face.

But then he thought about how he was in the wrong first - if he hadn't slept with Yelena after getting drunk, Yelena would not have married him.

Then he also thought about how his company went into a financial crisis after his wife passed away. If Yelena had not managed to raise enough funds, he wouldn't have made it through the crisis. So he had to tolerate this - no matter how they ridiculed him, he had to tolerate it!

When everyone saw that Benedict had fallen silent, they were all secretly happy and started to pick on Calista. "Calista, I don't mean to be nasty, but earlier Quincy had greeted everyone, what didn't you? You don't even have basic manners, is this what you learnt from your family?"

Hans drank a mouthful of tea, confident and proud.

Benedict was red in the face - Calista didn't like to greet others, but that was a problem with her personality. How did it become an issue of family upbringing? He wanted to defend his daughter, but he knew that he would only make it worse by doing so.

As for Quincy and Yelena? Other people were ridiculing their father and husband, but they didn't say a single word and were happily watching this show in front of them.

This was what the Langleys claimed to be doing for your own good, and this was what it meant to be a family.

Calista smiled again, but this smile was much more complicated than before. This house was full of clowns, and it was both hilarious and hateful at the same time.

"What sort of attitude is this?!" Calista's smile agitated Hans, and he slammed the teacup down hard on the table.

"You are being unfilial now! Your mother died giving birth to you, and if not for Yelena, you think you would be leading such a comfortable life now? You're not grateful at all and not repentant at all! I think I have to keep you in the Langley residence to be disciplined!" This was probably the main point of the day, right? After listening to them talk so much, Calista finally understood what they were driving at, and her smile became even more disdainful.