CHAPTER 227

After Crystal and Michael sat down, Nigel asked George, "George, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know..." George looked at him blankly.

He was born as the second young master of the Taylor Family. He had a reliable father as well as a shrewd and capable eldest brother.

From childhood to adulthood, no matter what he encountered, he had his father and brother to shelter him from any circumstance. His growth and career journey had been smooth-sailing throughout his life. Even until middle age, he never encountered any major ups and downs.

Today was the most shameful and embarrassing day of his life.

He never thought that the person who shared the same bed with him would turn out to be a vicious woman.

He was scolded and mocked by a young man in front of everyone, but he could not even defend his wife.

That was because Sebastian had evidence to justify his claims, making him stand on high grounds of morality while he was on the wrong side.

The woman he was married to did outrageous things, so he dared not quibble at all.

He did not want to be pointed at the nose and accused as inhumane like his wife.

"I know you're in a dilemma, George," Michael said with an expressionless face.

"Even if Maddie and Sebastian are not here now, I still want to make it clear that if the Taylor Family and the Hart Family are involved in a business war in the future, our family will not assist any party."

Nigel frowned and looked at Michael. After a long while, he sighed and shook his head without saying a word.

If Michael assisted the Taylor Family, they might have a chance to be the Hart Family's rivals.

However, if there was no help from Michael, they would have been crushed by the Hart Corporation without a doubt.

Though he and George had a close relationship, he could not risk the Taylor Family's century-old business foundation.

He had to express his position. "George, it's not that I don't want to help you. If Holly was wronged and my nephews are the ones getting bullied, I will definitely stand by you and be there for you, even if I risk everything. I will seek justice for you, but the truth is..."

Shaking his head, he continued, "I am on the same boat as Michael. I won't assist any party. I hope you don't blame me..."

"Uncle, how could you do this?" Stephen was furious. "We are a family. Your business has always been our business. How can you stay out of it now that something has happened to our family? That's too..."

"Shut up!" Ethan stopped him halfway through his words. After Crystal and Michael sat down, Nigel asked George, "George, what are you going to do?"

Stephen refused to accept it and questioned, with his neck straightened, "What's the matter? Did I say something wrong? Are we not a family? Everyone is trying to draw the line with us when something happens. What is this? Does everyone just leave when misfortune hits? What kind of family is this? Uncle Michael and Uncle Nigel, you guys are cowards!"

"Cowards?" Michael sneered and stood up. "If refusing to be an accomplice is considered a cowardly act, then so be it! I don't care what you say!"

After saying that, he held Crystal's hand and urged, "Let's go."

With Michael's pull, Crystal got up, gave Stephen a cold glance, and said to George, "George, you should discipline Stephen, or he'll be like Holly in the future!"

"Aunt Crystal!" Stephen's face flushed with anger.

"H-how could you say that about me?"

"What did I say?" Crystal raised her eyebrows and looked at him.

"A son is bound to follow his mother. If you think your mother is right and is a good person, you should be happy that I said you resemble her!"

"I..." Stephen's face reddened, and he was unable to speak properly.

Ethan yanked him down and scolded, "Enough is enough. Stop talking, will you?"

He made a gesture of invitation to Michael and Crystal, offering, "Aunt Crystal, Uncle Michael, I'll see you off."

After that, he sent Michael and Crystal out.

When the door was closed, only Nigel, George, and Stephen were left.

Stephen looked at Nigel pleadingly and begged, "Uncle Nigel, please help my mother. If she is sent to prison, how embarrassing will it be for our family? We can't afford to lose her!"

"It's not that I don't want to help, but I can't," Nigel sighed. "Elsenburg is the Hart Family's territory, and our strength is not comparable to theirs. What your mother did is horrendous, so if we go against the Harts in a business war, not only are we inferior in strength, but the public will also side with the Harts. Once the business war starts, they will make use of public opinion to get the upper hand. Our family's reputation will be ruined once the things your mother did are exposed. Our stock will plummet, and by that time, we will be in a mess, and it'll be easy peasy for the Harts to ruin us."

Stephen's face went pale, and he could not speak for a while.

He was a wealthy and noble son who was carefully nurtured and brought up by George, and he was also an eminent figure in the business world. He was not a fool.

He was eager to protect his mother and dared to do everything for her. When something happened, his first reaction was to protect her. content.

Impulsively, he felt that all the Taylor Family members would think like him, desperate to protect his mother.

However, when Nigel explained the truth to him, he understood that even if they risked everything, they might not be able to protect her because his mother was indeed in the wrong.

Besides, it was also due to the other party's being too powerful. They could not cover up the mistakes his mother made.

If the other party was just an insignificant citizen, they might be able to pay him, intimidate him, or cover up the story with their power to minimize the impact of the whole incident.

However, they were currently up against a strong family—the Harts.

All the Hart Family had to do was to spread what his mother did and stir up public opinion to ruin the reputation of the Taylor Family. Once word was spread, the whole nation would be informed sooner or later.

By that time, the stock price of the Taylor Family would plummet, and everything produced by the Taylor Family would be spontaneously boycotted by the public...

It was difficult to make a family prosper for a hundred years, but destroying a wealthy family OF a hundred years was sometimes the easiest task on earth.

The Taylor Family could not protect their mother and could only go down in history because of her.

"How evil!" Stephen slammed the table and huffed angrily.

"Madeline is from our family, but she's behaving like an outsider who is going against us! She's a betrayer! What's so great about giving birth to two children for Sebastian? She doesn't even know her place anymore! I'm pretty sure they are just illegitimate children she had with some other men. How could the Hart Family take it seriously? I'm gonna see what will happen to her once Sebastian kicks her out of the house!"

Nigel frowned, stood up, and said seriously, "George, Crystal is right. You have to discipline Stephen. Otherwise, he might go astray and make the same mistakes as his mother."

Stephen was stunned upon hearing that. "Uncle, w-what do you mean by that?"

"I can't believe a dignified young master of the Taylor Family is selfish, narrow-minded, mean, and unreasonable..." He looked at Stephen with eyes filled with disappointment.

"I don't remember you acting in this manner when you were younger..."

He was not sure if it had been too long since he met Stephen, but he had gone astray. Perhaps he was just pretending to be nice before this, but it took Nigel a long time to realize.