2
"Then it's off. That's fine by me." When I said it like that, Mrs. Gilbert, who had already been near bursting with rage, finally lost all control.
She jabbed a finger at my face and spat, "It's just some cheap little chip. Do you actually think you matter?"
The moment the words left her mouth, the banquet hall erupted.
People leaned in to whisper, some quietly pulled out phones to send messages, and a few of the business owners with ties to Gilbert had already gone pale.
Everyone knew the Aurora chip was the core of Gilbert Group's earnings now.
Pulling the license was the same as cutting the Gilbert family off at the root.
Mrs. Gilbert didn't handle operations. She had no idea what my decision meant.
But her not understanding didn't mean these old hands in the business world didn't.
Almost at once they moved to sever ties with Gilbert.
After all, no one wants to go down with a ship that's already sinking.
Watching his partners pull out their phones one after another, Corey ground his back teeth until they nearly cracked.
He shoved his mother's pointing hand aside and roared, "Mom, shut up!"
"Shut up? Why should I?" Mrs. Gilbert still hadn't grasped the disaster bearing down on her. She stood there with her hands on her hips, still throwing her tantrum.
"Not one person in the Henson family is worth anything. The sister's a slut, the little one's an ingrate. I'll say it right here and now: if you dare marry Sophie Henson, don't ever call me your mother again!"
Her words landed in the hall like a thunderclap.
It left the whole room stunned.
One after another, they looked at Mrs. Gilbert like she was an idiot.
Seeing this, my sister quickly tugged at my sleeve, trying to stop me. "Sophie, let it go... one slap doesn't matter... don't do anything rash, we can talk this out..."
"Sis, I'm not being rash. I mean it."
Looking at her face, already swollen and going purple, I felt like a needle had been driven hard into my heart.
Our parents died young. For as long as I can remember, it was my sister who took care of me.
All these years she was both father and mother to me, and never once had a relationship of her own.
She held on until I finally finished my doctorate, and only then did she fall in love for the first time.
But her luck was bad. She met a scoundrel who took what he wanted from her and ran.
She knew how many rules there were in these wealthy families.
She hadn't wanted to come today at all. I was the one who dragged her here.
If I didn't stand up for her, I had no right to call myself her sister.
I pulled my sister forward until we stood in front of Mrs. Gilbert, lifted my chin, and looked her in the eye. "Apologize to my sister, right now. Do it, and I might still leave the Gilbert family a way out. Otherwise, you can all sit and wait for bankruptcy."
