Free Web NovelChapter 465: Chapter 465: Cold and Hard
Winter Sullivan said coldly, "One shouldn’t commit evil, no matter how small, nor neglect to do good, no matter how trivial. Besides, she’s already eighteen and about to start college. How is she still a child?! I don’t care if she’s exceptional, but she must be a kind and honest person, not someone who’s full of lies!"
Julian Caldwell cleared his throat. "Susan is usually very well-behaved. You should calm down."
He was nearly fifty, a refined and gentle-looking man. It was still easy to see that he had been exceptionally handsome in his youth.
At home, he put on no airs and showed no sign of his prestigious position as the nation’s Minister of Commerce.
"We can’t just listen to Susan’s side of the story. I’m going to have someone investigate this thoroughly. If Susan really was in the wrong, then she’ll apologize, and she’ll be punished accordingly!" Winter Sullivan said in a cold voice. "She’s a person first and the daughter of the Minister of Commerce second!"
Julian Caldwell knew that Winter Sullivan’s military background made her decisive and efficient. As the man of the house, however, he had more to consider. He said gently, "Of course we’ll investigate it thoroughly. That will also clear up any misunderstandings others might have about our Susan."
Winter Sullivan knew he was a man who prioritized family and was a smooth operator in social circles. Even if the investigation ultimately proved Susan Caldwell was at fault, given Julian Caldwell’s character, he would punish Susan Preston in private but keep the matter under wraps publicly. He couldn’t allow the Caldwell Family’s reputation to be tarnished.
Winter Sullivan had always taken issue with Julian Caldwell’s way of handling things, though she also knew he hadn’t done anything technically wrong.
The great families of Veridia were nowhere near as serene as they appeared. They were all vying with one another, and as soon as a scandal erupted in one family, a mob would descend to kick them while they were down. The slightest misstep could lead to a swift fall from their high position.
The fall of a great family was typically accompanied by terrible consequences: imprisonment, utter disgrace, or, in the most extreme cases, the complete ruin of the family and death.
She took a deep breath and said, "Susan is grown up now. You can’t keep spoiling her like you used to."
"I know how to handle it," Julian Caldwell said calmly. "And I trust that Susan is a sensible person who knows her limits."
Upon hearing this, Winter Sullivan couldn’t help but let out a long sigh. "I hope she is sensible, and not someone who runs amok, throwing our family’s name around and destroying the sterling reputation our Caldwell Family has built over decades."
Julian Caldwell smiled. "Don’t worry. Susan would never do something like that."
"I certainly hope so," Winter Sullivan said gravely. "If she really did do something like that, I’ll be the first one to hold her accountable!"
Their voices weren’t quiet, so Susan Caldwell, who was upstairs, could hear their conversation clearly. Upon hearing Winter Sullivan’s words, she unconsciously clenched her fists.
People always said that mothers were gentle, but she had never once felt that quality from Winter Sullivan.
Winter Sullivan’s given name, Winter, might suggest a quiet stillness, but she was never a gentle person. Having been born into a military family, she had an air of unyielding steel about her.
Throughout her entire childhood, whenever Susan Caldwell made a mistake, she would invariably face the harshest punishment, and the one to mete it out was always Winter Sullivan.
Therefore, after Susan Caldwell learned that Winter Sullivan was not her biological mother, she developed a deep-seated resentment toward her. ’That woman is just insufferable! She’s so cold and harsh all the time, and she controls me way too tightly!’
