Chapter 444: Chapter 444: Nathaniel Sloan Sent an Invitation to the Lancaster Family?
Only after that did the Sloan family—or rather, Laura Jennings—treat him just a little bit better.
Later, the public said that the Sloan family doted on Young Mr. Sloan, giving Liam Sloan whatever he wanted. They claimed he was throwing a tantrum by refusing to manage the massive family business, choosing instead to be a lowly lawyer earning a pittance every month, thereby leaving the entire estate to his illegitimate older brother. It was truly outrageous.
At times like these, Laura would put on a hypocritical smile and say, "He’s just a child. Liam is the only child Ethan and I had after we got married, and we’ve spoiled him since he was little. If he doesn’t want to inherit the family business, then so be it. It’s not like we’d let him starve. Life is only a few decades long; he should do whatever he wants. As his parents, we support him."
Her words made it sound as though she deeply loved Liam and was genuinely considering his best interests.
As a result, outsiders remained oblivious to Liam’s actual treatment at home; they only knew that Laura "wholeheartedly" doted on this son of hers.
With Liam serving as a contrast, a faint rumor began to circulate.
—Why did Laura Jennings show such blatant favoritism when both Nathaniel Sloan and Liam Sloan were her sons?
—It must be Nathaniel’s own fault for being unfilial. All mothers love their children; there are no overnight grudges between a mother and her biological son. Mrs. Sloan sighs every time she mentions Nathaniel. Who knows what he’s really like at home?
—Exactly. Mrs. Sloan supports Liam in pursuing his own career, making her seem like an open-minded mother. Would she really hate her own son to the bone? Nathaniel must have done something incredibly obnoxious.
Thus, the then-teenage, underage Liam came to a realization.
He was just a PR tool to whitewash his mother’s reputation.
Although it was hard to comprehend how someone as shameless as his mother could exist in this world, Liam felt that she was his biological mother after all. Even if she had flaws, others could curse her, but he couldn’t.
However, when he turned eighteen and finished his college entrance exams, his high scores completely crushed the rumors that Liam Sloan was a useless young master. By then, Nathaniel was twenty, and Evernight International was already flourishing.
Many people began to remark that the Sloan family’s two sons were truly remarkable. The eldest son hadn’t taken a single penny from the family and had founded Evernight International, making him a rising star in Crestfall.
The youngest son seemed idle, but with such high exam scores, his intelligence was undeniable. If he started studying finance and management, he could inherit the Sloan Group in the future.
Liam also wanted to share some of the family’s burdens, so he started hesitating about his choice of major.
He wasn’t favored; all his family gave him was money. But often, verbal belittlement was the most fatal thing to a child. Having been put down so much, Liam lacked any assertiveness about his own life—he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his future.
When it was time to declare a major, he had no choice but to ask Ethan Sloan and Laura Jennings.
He expressed his thoughts: if they wanted him to study finance and management so he could join the family company and help his father after graduation, he was willing to do so.
But before Ethan could say anything, Laura flew into a rage, demanding to know if he was trying to seize control of the company. She accused him of being too ambitious for his age and sneered, asking if he thought he was even worthy of the Sloan Group.
It was also on that day that Liam got into a car accident. He was hospitalized for a month, surviving only by sheer luck. Otherwise, he felt he wouldn’t have lived to see the next day’s sun.
Consequently, he immediately chose to major in law, making it clear that he would never touch any of the family’s businesses in the future, before packing his bags and getting the hell out of the country.
...
"Liam, you have no idea! That Thea York is so out of line! I treated her like a sister, yet she stole my man! Liam, you have to help me! You’re the only one I have left in this family!"
Liam looked expressionlessly at Laura, who was sobbing bitterly in front of him, and suddenly asked, "Do you remember what happened to me when I was eighteen?"
Laura was still complaining about Ethan’s ruthlessness and cursing Thea’s shamelessness. Hearing this out of the blue, she blanked for a couple of seconds, clearly failing to process the question.
"Wh-What?"
"What happened to me when I was eighteen?" Liam asked again.
Liam was already twenty-five or twenty-six this year. Who would remember things from seven or eight years ago?
Laura’s gaze darted around nervously. "W-Well... Liam, Mom is trying to talk to you about..."
"I got into a car accident. The doctor said I only survived because I was brought in on time and aided by a kind stranger. However, the car I was driving caught on fire. The person who saved me said they saw me unconscious inside and dragged me out.
"If they had been a moment later, I would have died in that fire, if not from the crash itself. Later, I stayed in the hospital for a month. Before I could even get out of bed, I applied for a law program abroad, left the country to study, and continued my medical treatment overseas for another half a year." 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂
Liam paused. "Do you really not remember?"
"Ah, well, that..." Why would Laura care about any of that? She spent all day keeping tabs on the women around Ethan; she barely had time for anything else. Hearing Liam suddenly bring this up, she twitched her lips.
"Th-That’s all in the past now! You’re back, and you’re Ethan’s biological son! Go and tell Thea York to get lost; your dad won’t hold it against you! I am Mrs. Sloan! How can he have other women around him?!"
Liam was speechless.
A deep sense of exhaustion washed over him.
This exhaustion didn’t stem from feeling aggrieved that his mother didn’t care about him. It was simply a feeling of disbelief—could Laura even understand human speech? Was she a robot? Did she only know how to repeat those same two sentences over and over again?
Communicating with her was tiring. Talking to someone who couldn’t understand plain language was simply exhausting.
He was completely disappointed in her, so there was no point in asking the lingering question: Were you the one who tried to kill me?
Because it seemed Laura truly didn’t remember.
Her biological son had been in a near-fatal car accident and had gone abroad immediately afterward, yet in this mother’s memory, the event wasn’t even worth retaining.
Had she ever, even for a single moment, held him in her heart?
Liam cast a pitying glance at Laura. What was this woman fighting for her entire life? Even now, she refused to say a single word that was solely about her son.
Every sentence she spoke revolved around reputation, status, money, position, and Ethan. Now, she even mentioned Thea’s name more frequently than Liam’s.
Liam turned on his heel and walked away.
"Liam! What is the meaning of this?! Fine, none of you care about your own mother! How did I end up with a son like you?! Get out! All of you, get out!"
...
The annual gala entered its final night.
Evernight International’s gala spanned two full days. The first day was for employees and executives, while the second day hosted business partners and industry peers.
Today, all the prominent figures in Crestfall had gathered.
"Hey... why don’t I see anyone from the Lancaster family?" someone suddenly asked in a hushed tone. "I heard Mr. Sloan specially sent them an invitation this time. Why didn’t they show up?"
"An invitation to the Lancaster family? Why? Isn’t Mr. Sloan an illegitimate son? He invited Chairman Sloan’s first wife’s maiden family? Is he crazy?"