CHAPTER 223

That sounded awful.

If it was just his uncle's doing, he might have been able to accept it, but this incident also involved his mother.

Stephen could not believe that his gentle and kind mother would commit such a horrible crime.

After everyone read the material, the room went silent.

Sebastian looked at George and asked, "What do you think, President Taylor?"

George was completely dumbfounded.

It had been a long time since he had suffered such a severe blow, so his mind went blank.

He had no idea how to link the information printed on the material with his wife.

That… That was impossible...

"Maybe... Maybe Scott did it alone..." he stammered with difficulty.

"It's all Scott's decision. Holly doesn't know anything..."

"Yes! That's right!" Stephen exclaimed.

"My uncle never landed a proper job ever since he was young. He must have done everything. My

mother isn't involved in any way!"

"Really?" Sebastian smirked.

"It is stated clearly here that Scott was involved in a hit-and-run, so Leigh's mother chased after them and begged them to take her husband to the hospital, but Miss Holly shoved her away and pushed her to the ground. Are you saying that Leigh made this all up? Because Miss Holly's statement did not match Leigh's at all. The latter did not mention pushing Leigh's mother, nor Scott running over the victim's body, causing two deaths…"

Hearing that, George and Stephen had their mouths agape and their faces pallid. They could not say a word.

Since Sebastian confidently gathered them and prepared the materials, including witnesses and physical evidence, it could only mean that all of this was true.

Their wife and mother pushed a pregnant woman to the ground in order to help Scott escape, causing Scott's car to run over the pregnant woman, killing two people at once.

Ethan, who had not spoken all this while, suddenly spoke sternly, "Maybe... Maybe it's true, but my mother was still young at that time. She was timid and might have been frightened, so..."

"So what?" Sebastian raised his eyebrows and looked at him.

"Back then, she was young and timid, and when she saw Scott driving over Leigh's mother, she panicked and ran away with Scott. Is that what you are trying to say? Are you going to tell me that she

doesn't know that Scott bribed the driver, Roland Webbs, to take the blame for them?"

Ethan opened his mouth but was unable to speak.

Of course, there was no way she did not know.

His uncle did not go to jail even after killing two people and ruining one's life. How could she not know? That sounded awful.

If it was just his uncle's doing, he might have been able to accept it, but this incident also involved his mother.

However…

"President Hart, being right and just for a relative's crime is easier said than done," Ethan countered in defense of his mother.

"My uncle could have done wrong, but he is my mother's brother. My uncle bribed Roland so that he would take the blame, and as his sister, should my mother have stood up to testify against my uncle and send him to prison?"

He shook his head and continued, "President Hart, with all due respect, if it were me, I wouldn't be able to do such a thing, so I don't think there's anything wrong with my mother's approach."

"Okay, let's say your theory makes sense!" Sebastian nodded with a smirk.

"What happened after Roland took the blame for your uncle? The Shefford Family's assets were

divided among Leigh's relatives, while she was sent to the orphanage. After your uncle and your mother killed Leigh's family, they didn't even care about her life or death…"

Sebastian looked at Ethan with a half-smile and continued, "Are you going to tell me that if this happened to you, you would do the same? After killing the whole family, you will watch their children be sent away to an orphanage and get adopted by a beast to suffer from abuse every day?"

"I..." Ethan's face turned green.

How was he going to answer that?

Was he going to say that he would do the same?

Wouldn't that mean he would become a beast, too?

He had to tell him that it was his mother's fault?

He realized now that Sebastian's banquet tonight was part of a scheme to bring down his mother and uncle!

Though he felt extremely anxious for his mother, he could no longer say anything to justify her actions. content.

George placed the file on the table and looked at Sebastian, asking, "President Hart, I have now figured out the whole situation. This matter is all Scott and Holly's fault from the beginning to the end. May I know what kind of advice you would like to give us over dinner?"

"I don't think I'm in a position to give advice, but for the sake of Maddie, I want to let you know what my

plans are in advance."

After glancing at Madeline, Sebastian stated, "Leigh is Maddie's friend and will soon be my subordinate, so I promised Maddie and Leigh that I would seek justice and take revenge for her. Tomorrow morning, someone will hand over all the evidence related to the car accident to the police. The lawyers of Hart Corporation will act as Leigh's defense lawyer to seek justice for her and avenge her grievances."

"Can't we settle it privately?" Stephen blurted.

"Years have passed since the incident, so it should be better to settle it privately. We are willing to pay her monetarily as compensation. Please ask Miss Shefford to provide us with a price. If we can afford it, we will send her the money right away!"

If this incident was exposed, not only would his uncle go to jail, but it would also have a big impact on the Taylors.

Now that they were living in an era where information technology was advanced, it was easy for the public to find out that the mistress of Taylor Corporation had killed someone, did not take responsibility, and sent the survivor to a welfare institution where she was later adopted by her adoptive father, who tortured her for life. Their share price was bound to be greatly affected.

Big corporations like them were most afraid of negative news.

If this incident was exposed, their stock prices could fall by a lot.

By then, they would have suffered a huge loss.

That was the case for the company.

In the case of his mother's private life, her reputation would be greatly damaged once this incident was exposed.

If people found out that his mother and uncle killed two people together in the past, and they did not compensate the families of the victims but instead watched them fall into a miserable situation, many people would start pointing fingers at his mother.

If it started spreading on the Internet, it would cause a public uproar. By then, people would start criticizing her and condemning her mercilessly.

If strangers started scolding her, how was she going to face the public?

There was no way he would let that happen.

This incident must not be exposed.

It must be settled privately!

"Settle privately?"

Sebastian curled his lips into a smile, nodded, and said, "You have a wonderful idea! But may I ask you, Young Master Stephen, since you've suggested settling it privately, why didn't they do this back then? After the death of Leigh's parents, why didn't your mother and uncle visit her grandfather to discuss compensation? Why did they bribe someone to take the blame instead?"

"Maybe..." Ethan's face flushed red as he stuttered, "Maybe they were too scared to do that back then, so..."

"Oh. I understand now." Sebastian nodded.

"Do you mean that just because they were frightened, they could be inhumane? If so, may I ask..."

He looked at Stephen, raised his eyebrows, and tossed a question, "If you encountered something similar in the future, would you be as inhumane as them?"