Chapter 65

As an adult, Andrew knew exactly what their interaction implied. Anger surged uncontrollably within him. For Emily’s sake, he restrained himself from intervening directly, but her indifferent attitude only fueled his anger.

Andrew demanded sharply, “Just what exactly are you playing at? Are you going to date him now? Do you even know Xavier, let alone what the Jenkins family is really like?”

A torrent of accusations rained down on Emily, each word laced with nothing but Andrew’s fury.

But Emily simply looked at him, calm and composed. “What’s between Xavier and me is my own business,” she said coolly. “Don’t worry, Mr. Bennett. I’m not a Bennett, so nothing I do will ever implicate your family.”

“Do you have to be so damn sarcastic?” Andrew suddenly snapped. He raised his hand and swatted the bouquet from her

arms.

The enormous bouquet of 99 roses, huge and unwieldy, slammed into Emily’s forearm like a sledgehammer. The stiff cardboard wrapping scraped across her chin and cheek, leaving red marks.

The marks were glaringly obvious. If Andrew cared about Emily, he would have noticed. But instead, he glared at her in fury. “Mom and Dad only changed your surname because you bullied Lydia and crossed the line. They had to make it right for Lydia.

“You grew up in the Bennett family. Mom and Dad have always doted on you like their own daughter. Why can’t you just be a little more mature and considerate for their sake?”

Emily’s face and chin burned with pain, but she’d long since grown numb to it. She instinctively brushed it aside. “So, Mr. Bennett, in your eyes, making friends on my own terms means I’m being inconsiderate to your parents?”

“Just friends?” Andrew snarled, his eyes blazing with disgust. “Since when do friends accept such an extravagant bouquet of

roses?

“Mom and Dad might have stripped you of the Bennett name, but they never kicked you out of the family. They still see you as their own daughter.

“Don’t you have any self-respect? Stooping so low as to accept the advances of a man you hardly even know?”

Andrew pushed up his glasses, clearly frustrated. “The Jenkins family might have some status in Cloudridge, but they don’t even come close to the Bennett family. How could your standards have dropped so far that you’re now chasing after their wealth?”

In Andrew’s eyes, the only reason Emily, once so haughty, would associate with Xavier was because she thought the Bennett family had abandoned her. Unable to let go of her old life of privilege, she accepted Xavier’s advances.

He thought, ‘After eighteen years of the Bennett family’s careful upbringing, she turned out to be so shallow and vain!’

Andrew let out a heavy sigh, disappointment clouding his eyes. “Emily, when will you ever learn and stop making all these ‘mistakes?”

That familiar tone and look in his eyes struck Emily like a knife to the heart. The pain was intense, but she had long since become numb to it.

‘In Andrew’s eyes, no matter what I say or do, I always make mistakes. Any explanation from me is just an excuse, Emily thought wearily. ‘If that’s the case, what’s even the point of talking to him anymore?’

Emily met his gaze calmly. “Are you done, Mr. Bennett?” After a full day’s work and dealing with Xavier for so long, she was

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utterly exhausted.

Seeing her stubbornness, Andrew felt his chest tighten with frustration. “You…” He yanked off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly irritated. “I’m done wasting my breath on you. When you regret this, don’t come crying to me for help.”

Andrew put his glasses back on. Without so much as a glance at Emily, he turned and stormed off.

Emily remained calm. If there was anything she truly regretted, it was not leaving the Bennett family the moment she learned she wasn’t a member of them. Instead, she had foolishly believed their promise to treat her as one of their own.

She glanced at the bouquet on the ground but didn’t bother to pick it up. Instead, she called for a maid to throw it. She loathed those flashy roses. They were a painful reminder of the girl she once was, bright and full of life.