After My Stepson Threw Hot Soup on Me on Christmas Eve, I Bankrupted His Entire Family Chapter 02
Lily stood frozen in the doorway.
Her gaze moved between my livid face and the old deed in Brandon’s hand.
“Brandon, didn’t Mom say that apartment was for my college tuition?”
She said it timidly, instinctively shrinking back.
“And Mom paid for it herself…”
“Shut up. Who said I’m your brother? Don’t try to claim we’re family.”
Brandon erupted, jabbing his finger in Lily’s face.
“You unwanted little bastard. You’re just like your dead father — all you do is drag people down.”
“This apartment’s mine from now on. I’ll do whatever I want with it. Who said an outsider like you gets a say?”
“Brandon!” I snapped. “How dare you talk to her like that?”
“I’ll talk to her however I want. What are you going to do about it?”
“She lives off this house and still wants a piece of my property? Dream on.”
Robert sat right there and didn’t stop him.
Instead, he looked at Lily with open disgust.
“Lily, why are you interrupting the adults? Get to your room. You have no sense of timing. Can’t you see Brandon’s happy? Always making trouble.”
I looked at Robert’s expression.
Not a ripple was left in me.
“I’m not going to my room,” Lily said.
For once, her voice held firm.
She walked to my side and grabbed my sleeve.
Tears trembled in her eyes; her whole body shook.
“Mom, that’s your money. Why does he get it? Brandon’s a grown man. He’s perfectly able-bodied. He can work. Why does he get to steal my tuition? I want to go to college.”
“College? Keep dreaming.”
Brandon shot to his feet.
He grabbed the large tureen of turkey soup that had just been brought to the table. Steam was still rising off the surface.
“Since you’ve got such a smart mouth, and you want an education so badly, let me knock some sense into you.”
Before he had even finished, he hurled the entire bowl at Lily.
“Look out!”
I didn’t have time to think.
I spun around and clutched Lily tight against me, shielding her with my back.
Splash.
Scalding, oily soup hit my back.
It ran down my neck and seeped under my clothes.
Blisters rose almost instantly.
A stifled grunt escaped me; pain seared across my back.
“Mom!”
Lily wasn’t burned, but the shock made her scream. Then she went rigid in my arms.
I didn’t have time to deal with the pain.
I turned and stared at Brandon.
For the first time in my life, I wanted to pin his face to the floor and teach him what pain felt like.
Robert rushed over right away.
But not to check my burns.
He grabbed Brandon and inspected him from head to toe, then wiped a few oil spots off Brandon’s sleeve with a napkin.
“Brandon, are you okay? Did it burn your hand?”
“Oh no — this brand-new Armani jacket is going to be hell to clean if oil gets on it. It cost more than two thousand dollars.”
After confirming Brandon was fine, Robert turned on me and pointed his finger in my face.
“Olivia Carter, look at your daughter. She dared talk back to Brandon.”
“She got Brandon this worked up. If my son had been burned, you and I would have been far from done.”
In that moment, the burn on my back stopped hurting.
My heart had gone completely cold.
I gently pushed Lily aside, peeled off my oil-soaked coat, and threw it onto the floor.
“Robert. That bowl of soup did its job.”
Robert flinched at my stare and took a guilty step back.
Then he puffed his chest out again.
“Don’t stand there playing the victim. Let me tell you — this isn’t over.”
“Since we’re already on the subject, Brandon needs two hundred thousand for the wedding budget and the renovation costs. You can pay for that too.”
