NovelApexChapter 370
Keen spoke in a low voice. "It's no use telling Mom. When those men tripped me, no one stood up for her either.
All they did was laugh at her—and not a single person defended her."
He hesitated, bitterness tightening his small features. "A mom like that... she just isn't strong enough to help me
with any of this."
He went on quietly, "And earlier, when Sheldon's mom found out mine was Marvin's guardian, she made that
mean boy get on his knees and apologize. She wasn't afraid of my mom at all."
His voice wavered. "If I'd been the one who broke the rules today, would | have had to kneel and apologize too?"
A heavy silence settled over the room. Haynes and Neville both turned to look at Mrs. Ayers.
Caught in their gaze, Mrs. Ayers went pale as a sheet. Her knees threatened to give out beneath her.
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Keen's voice carried on, clear and unwavering. "And Grandma said I'm the future heir to the O'Brien Group, so |
should handle these things myself—instead of always running to the grown-ups for help."
Neville's dark eyes glittered with a complex, unreadable light.
Children raised in love are different from those who grow up without it. That much was obvious. The O'Brien
family had invested a great deal in Keen's education, and it showed no matter where he was, his grades were
always at the top of the class.
But for all his intelligence, he was still just five years old. Faced with something like this, even he couldn't help
but feel scared and lost.
It was clear, too, that Keen's stubbornness-his boldness with Stella-cfrom the deep well of love he'd
received from her. Love was rare for him, and that made it precious.
Things in abundance are often taken for granted. But not for Marvin. He'd learned early that anything he wanted
had to be clung to, never let go.
Keen's words cast a hush over the room, a silence so deep it felt like the world itself was holding its breath.
Finally, Neville broke the quiet, his voice lazy but cutting through the stillness. "If a mother is mocked and looked
down on, the real reason-at the root-comes down to the weakness of her family. And her husband."
He let his gaze linger on Mrs. Ayers, whose face was now ghostly with fear, before turning to Haynes.
Neville's words were blunt, with no trace of courtesy. "Mr. O'Brien, have you ever heard this saying? Only a weak
man lets his wife be humiliated in public."
"And if I'm not mistaken, you still have no idea why Star divorced you. You probably thought she was making a
big deal out of nothing, right? Never even considered that you might have done something wrong."
There was a pleasant, almost gentle smile on Neville's lips, but every word was sharp as a knife.
"The wife of the great O'Brien Group's CEO is so powerless that any nobody feels free to bully her. Even the kids
think it's fine to laugh at her. And your own son gets bullied as well. Haynes, don't you think you've been a pretty
sorry excuse for a husband?"
Haynes's pupils contracted sharply. Instinctively, he shot a glance at Stella, but her expression was unreadable-
calm, detached, impossible to decipher.
Neville's voice rang out again, cool and resolute. "But I'm not like you. I'm fiercely protective of my family. No
one gets to bully my son, and no one—absolutely no one gets to hurt Star."
His cold eyes landed on Mrs. Ayers.
"Mrs. Ayers, aren't you the one who's always demanding kneeling apologies? Your son's still a child, so | won't
hold it against him. But you're an adult—and a mother at that. So why don't you get down on your knees and
apologize for him?"
He let the words hang, his tone almost mocking. "Since you seem to like kneeling so much, I'm sure you'll do it
with perfect grace."
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