Chapter 174

Chapter174

Susan had invested a lot of effort in raising

sing Shannon into a refined young lady. Her beloved daughter shouldn’t be such a vindictive and evil person.

However, she couldn’t pretend that she hadn’t seen the contents of the video. She had remained silent, hoping that Shannon would explain herself.

She never expected Shannon to admit her wrongdoing publicly.

“Why?” Shannon smirked coldly. “It’s because la

Jason was the son of Dad’s first wife! The whole family had high hopes for him. Every time we went out, all eyes were on him. No matter how hard I tried, all of you couldn’t see me.”

She picked up a glass of red wine from the nearby table and took a sip. Then, she laughed aloud maniacally with tears swimming in her eyes.

“Grandma, Dad, you both favor boys over girls. Since I was born, you’ve never cared for me. In these years, if it weren’t for my relentless efforts to excel, would you have acknowledged me as the young lady of the Martinez family?” Shannon asked rhetorically

“No!” she answered her own question and drained the wine in one gulp

Then, she slammed the glass down and shouted, “You won’t acknowledge me as the young lady of the Martinez family because my mother came from the countryside! She’s a stepmother and the second wife, so we don’t deserve your recognition!”

Julia and Liam looked at her coldly.

After a while, Llam said solemnly, “I’ve never shown any preferential treatment toward Jason. You had a share of everything he had. I’ve never mistreated you in any way.”

“yes, you didn’t mistreat me But how you treated me was even worse than mistreating me!” Shannon bellowed, her face twisted with ferocity.

She canted, “Every time I came back from school, you only spoke to Jason Whenever exams were over, you only asked about his grades. Even if I ranked first in class, you just casually asked me to continue working hard”

Tears welled up in Shannon’s eyes. “Dad, I’m also your child. Why do you only see Jason and never

Liam looked at her disappointedly. “I’ve always known how good your grades are. I didn’t want you to become proud by praising you excessively. For an affluent family like ours, we have high standards for our daughters.

“If you’re not outstanding enough, you won’t earn the recognition of others. I didn’t expect that you misunderstood my good intentions so thoroughly.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Shannon laughed coldly. “I had Jason killed so that you could all finally see me. It’s a pity. I hadn’t even done anything, and he was already dead. I guess even the cosmos didn’t want him to the ”

“You!” Liam was so cross that he was unable to speak for a very long time.

Shannon ignored him and turned to look at Lily with a sinister gleam in her eyes. “1 underestimated you, Lily. A country humpkin like you used only a few months to ruin my elforts of over a decade.”

She walked slowly toward Lily. “I’ll admit that Jason was outstanding. But what about you? Other than being somewhat pretty, what else do you have over me? Why does my fiancé dote on you? Why do our schoolmates take your side? Even the teachers speak up for you!”

Shannon raised her chin and smiled icily. “Is it because you’re good at seducing men? Since you like older men, why are you snatching my fiance from me?

At that moment, Shannon looked crazed. Her eyes were filled with intense anger. She looked like she would murder Lily on the spot.

Lily looked at her frenzied appearance and chuckled. She stepped forward and walked toward shannon at a steady pace.

“Why, you ask? Because Loid isn’t your fiance. Because the Martinez family couldn’t make me take your place to get married. I never vie for attention or come up with convoluted schemes. Because I’m Lily Brooks, and you’re Shannon Martinez

“You don’t scheme?” Shannon sneered. “If so, what did you want to achieve by showing this video? Aren’t you trying to direct the public criticism toward me? Are you satisfied now?

“But how long will your satisfaction last? Today, the Laurier family may want to preserve their dignity and choose to overlook your acts of intimacy with an older man. But what about later on? Do you think they won’t mind?

* Ms. Martinez, I think you’re mistaken about the Laurier tamily,” Stefan interrupted.

He walked over, exuding firm resolution with a serious expression. “We know Lily’s character better than anyone. Even if these photos were real, we still believe in Lily’s character.