CHAPTER 238

Joel fidgeted uneasily as his eyes flitted between Queenie and Madeline.

Once Queenie caught his hesitation, she felt even more justified in doubling down.

"See? Your son can't even say anything! Your children must be the ones in the wrong!" Queenie bent down to ask her son, "Jay, tell me. Why did you and those two…"

The word 'b*stards' was right on the tip of her tongue when she recalled who Madeline was, so she swallowed them back down before switching to saying, "...classmates fight?"

"I don't know why either," Jayden sniffed and cried. "I was just playing with Rennie York and Gordon Gatsby like I always do when Joel suddenly came over and started hitting me, so we got into a fight."

"Hah! Did you hear what he said? Who started the fight, huh?" Queenie felt she had the high ground as she started pointing fingers at Madeline and raged, "My son has been raised in a warm and loving environment, and no one has ever laid a finger on him! Look at what your son did to him! Don't even think about leaving before you make it up to us!"

"He's lying!" Joel swung Leigh's hand away and rushed into Madeline's arms, hugging her waist as he buried his face into her. "Mommy, he's lying! He's the one who started it when he insulted Aldo and me! He said that Aldo and I are b*stards born out of wedlock, and that we're the trash of society, and that Daddy doesn't like us…"

Joel's tone grew more and more aggrieved. He looked up at Madeline and said, "Mommy, they're liars! Aldo and I are not b*stards born out of wedlock. We're Mommy and Daddy's precious babies, and we were born because Mommy and Daddy love each other…"

By now, his eyes were reddened with tears and his voice was all choked up, but he was determined to continue. "Daddy likes Aldo and me! He won't abandon us! We're not trash! We're not Daddy's disgrace…"

Madeline was already on the verge of tears when she saw that her sons were injured, but it would be too embarrassing if she cried, so she held them back.

However, she could no longer hold it back anymore. Her tears streamed down her face once she heard what Joel said.

She was the one who failed them.

Back in Worrick, some loudmouthed people would always spew such nonsense in front of her children.

Madeline's sons would come and ask her where their father was, and she would find all sorts of excuses to quell their curiosity.

Her sensible children would notice how upset she was whenever they brought up their father, so they stopped asking.

They no longer told her about these sorts of malicious comments others made of them.

This time, if that boy had not gone too far by lying in front of so many people, her sons would most likely have kept this from her too.

People would insult them by saying that they were b*stards born out of wedlock and the trash of society, but they would not say anything to her out of fear that she would get upset.

As these thoughts flashed across Madeline's mind, she felt her heart shattering to pieces. She pulled Quincy into her arms as well and hugged her two sons as she said, "My precious babies, don't listen to those loudmouthed people who are intentionally trying to hurt you with such malicious comments. You're not b*stards born out of wedlock. Mommy is Daddy's wife, and you're our children. The four of us are family, so if anyone says such things about you again, come home and tell Mommy. Mommy will rip their tongues out for you!"

"Your mommy is right!" Leigh added angrily. "If anyone talks about you like that again, you should beat them up, or do as your mommy said and rip their tongues out!"

If those three had not been children, Leigh would have stormed over and ripped them to shreds by now!

Children did not know better, so as an adult, she should not hold them accountable for this, but since the children could not be accountable, what about the adults?

Leigh glared at Queenie. "Did you hear that? Your son was the one who called Quincy and Joel b*stards! So what if he was punched in the face? He deserves to get his tongue ripped out for what he said!"

Queenie's fight weakened a little, but she did not back down. "Just because your children said my son insulted them, does it mean he did? I think they're the ones who're lying!"

"I'm not lying! I'm a good boy who never lies!" Joel kept his arms around Madeline's waist as he looked

over at Queenie and said, "Jayden insulted us! A lot of our classmates heard him! If you don't believe me, you can go and ask them. They can tell you that Jayden did insult Aldo and me!"

Joel turned to Jayden. "Are you a coward who doesn't dare to admit what he did? Hmph, what a chicken!"

No eight-year-old boy would want to be called a coward, so Jayden forgot to keep up with his lies. Instead, he shouted at Joel, "That's right. I insulted you, so what? You deserve it! You're a b*stard born out of wedlock! My mom told me all about it. She said your mother is a shameless woman who gave birth to you before she even married your father! My mom even said…"

"What's all this nonsense?" Queenie hurriedly put her hand over Jayden's mouth.

Jayden shoved her hand away and yelled, "It's not nonsense! I heard you! That's exactly what you said!"

Queenie had an embarrassed expression on her face as she smacked Jayden. "Stop saying such nonsense! If you say such things again, I'll send you to an orphanage!"

"It's not nonsense!" Jayden stomped his foot. "You're the one who said it! Why won't you admit it?"

"That's right," Leigh sneered as she stared at Queenie. "I'd like to know as well. Since you're the one who said it, why won't you admit it now?"

The derisive look in Leigh's eyes set Queenie off at once. She yanked Jayden behind her before sticking her nose in the air and declaring, "Fine, I said it! So what, huh? Am I wrong?"

Queenie looked at Madeline. "Would you have the guts to swear on your life that your sons aren't b*stard children born out of wedlock? That you didn't give birth to them before you married Sebastian Hart?"

Madeline was just about to retort when she heard Sebastian's voice coming from behind her. "Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to question how my sons came to be?"

Joel's eyes lit up the moment he heard Sebastian's voice. He twisted around and cried out excitedly, "Daddy!"

He immediately let go of Madeline and hurtled himself into Sebastian's arms. "Daddy! Daddy!"

His voice was trembling with emotion as his arms clasped tightly around Sebastian.

Sebastian crouched down and stared at the bump on Joel's head before he began feeling all over Joel's body and limbs to check for injuries.

He did not see anything amiss apart from the bump on Joel's forehead, but he checked nonetheless. "Buddy, does it hurt anywhere else other than your forehead?"

"No." Joel shook his head, but he turned around and pointed at Quincy. "Aldo's hurt. Aldo protected me, so the three of them kept hitting him. They kept pounding him with their fists. Aldo must be in a lot of pain!"

Sebastian looked over at Quincy.

Quincy shook his head. "I'm fine."

Sebastian held Joel's hand as he walked over to Quincy before crouching down and giving him a thorough check as well.

Once he was sure that neither one of the two boys had pulled a muscle or strained anything, he held them in his arms and looked up. His cold eyes went straight to Queenie. holds © this.