Chapter 473
Chapter 473
Hiram’s push was forceful, and I was caught off guard while handing Serena, so I almost tumbled down.
Luckily, Ryan, with his keen reflexes, caught Serena in time. I managed to steady myself and avoided a fall.
“Hiram!” It was the first time I had heard Ryan shout so sternly at Hiram. He returned Serena to me, then grabbed Hiram’s arm. “Apologize! What on earth were you doing? How could you push them? What if they fell and got hurt?”
Hiram seemed taken aback and immediately turned to look at Karina.
Seeing this, Karina quickly approached. Oddly enough, she had no reaction when Hiram initially rushed to push me.
“Hiram, apologize to Miss Finch.” When Karina arrived, she stood with Ryan instead of being partial to Hiram.
Hiram’s lips pouted as if he was about to cry.
I had started to change my opinion about Hiram. I thought that he was warming up to me, and he was just a kid after all. But the incident made me repel him once again. If Serena was hurt, I would never forgive him, even if he was just a kid.
“I’m Grandpa’s grandson, why does he like others more? I’m not happy!” Hiram began to weep.
Holding onto Ryan’s shirt, he asked, “Grandpa, do you not like me anymore?”
Ryan was doing well in this situation. Even though he loved the child, he would not compromise when it came to what was right and wrong.
The child needed to be educated.
“Hiram, of course Grandpa likes you. But this little sister is also adorable, and Grandpa likes her just as much. But you can’t push people just because of that; do you understand?” Ryan patiently explained.
That’s when Karina spoke, “That’s right, Hiram, you are Grandpa’s favorite, you know? You are a Whitmore, and she is a Dawson; you can’t be petty with her.”
She deliberately differentiated between the last names of Hiram and Serena. She was too obvious, and Ryan’s face changed a bit.
But it didn’t matter to be. Serena was actually using my last name, and I just didn’t usually call her full name.
“I won’t apologize! I did nothing wrong!” Hiram replied stubbornly and gave me an angry stare with tears in his eyes.
“Hiram, you can’t be like this!” Karina gave Hiram a signal with her eyes.
Hiram acknowledged Karina’s signal and his tears stopped. Then, with a reluctant pout, his spirit seemed to droop a bit.
At this moment, I was almost certain that Karina had instructed Hiram to push me.
“Karina, he’s just a child. Do you really have to make him to do such bad things? Just to achieve your goal?” I didn’t want to stir up trouble on this special day, but Karina had crossed the line.
Hiram was her son, not mine, and yet she could manipulate her own child to such an extent. Her heart was indeed ruthless.
She made Hiram to take the blame. If this continued, Hiram’s reputation within the Whitmore family would only worsen.
But because he was the only grandson of the Whitmore family, everyone would tolerate him, and all they would do was trying to educate him properly.
Karina, knowing this, kept passing the buck to Hiram.
“Miss Finch, what do you mean?” Karina’s countenance was unpleasant, “What bad things did I make Hiram do? Please clarify and don’t just slander me.”
Ryan was also surprised and puzzled, “Irene, are you saying that Karina is instructing the child to do bad things?”
“Yes.” I did not deny it.
At this point, Karina became a bit flustered. The guilty were always restless, and her tone was slightly anxious. “Irene, I know you don’t like me much, but please, don’t make false accusations.”
Then, Neil’s voice rang out, “What’s going on?”
I didn’t see him before, so I didn’t know where he went or how he appeared out of nowhere. His expression didn’t look very pleasant as he eyed both Karina and me.
Karina became even more panicked when she saw Neil. “Nothing, there might be some misunderstanding between Ms. Finch and I. She was about to leave. I’m seeing her out.”
As she finished speaking, she walked over to me, grabbed my arm, and tried to lead me away.
But since I had already spoken, I decided to clarify. Karina’s constant use of Hiram against me was truly annoying.
I shook off Karina’s hand and put Serena in the stroller, “Karina, evil cannot triumph forever. When you blame all the faults on Hiram, don’t you ever think that he is your own son?”
Hiram seemed to freeze at my words. His face showed panic, and his eyes seemed begging and fearful as he glanced at me.
He must know what I was about to say and didn’t want me to reveal it.
But I felt that exposing it would also bring Hiram some good. At least Neil and others would know that the child should not be spoiled by Karina any longer.
“Of course, he is my own son!” Karina suddenly became agitated, “I have his birth certificate, countless pictures of him, and his paternity test with Neil. Do I still need to question this?”
I was a bit taken aback by Karina’s inexplicable agitation, as if this point was very important to her. She could tolerate anything else, but not this.
Realizing her emotional outburst, Karina paused and quickly adjusted to explain, “Sorry, I was living abroad alone with the child before, and encountered a lot of strange eyes. Many people questioned the child’s father and doubted me, so I am easily agitated in this regard.”
She then went over to hug Hiram, looking as if she was afraid of losing him.
Her words seemed to touch Ryan a bit. After all, it was the Whitmore family who had opposed her and Neil being together, which led her to go abroad while pregnant. Raising a child alone in a foreign land was indeed not easy.
Men were all the same in that regard, easily sympathizing with a woman’s plight as such. Even Ryan couldn’t escape this.
“Let’s drop it for now. We can talk another time. Don’t cry anymore. You’ll scare the kid,” Ryan sighed; his tone was a bit helpless.
Hiram hurriedly wiped away Karina’s tears, which showed a deep concern for his mother.
Children’s affection for their mothers was pure, but Karina didn’t deserve such love.
My words got stuck in my throat, leaving me in a dilemma whether to speak or not.
“Spill it.” Unexpectedly, it was Neil who spoke up. Unlike Ryan’s sympathetic stance, Neil’s approach was more direct and firm.
I was surprised. Neil had been so sure that Hiram was the one who snitched to Mitch. How would he react if I told him that it was all Karina’s doing?
“Ms. Finch!” Hiram suddenly shouted. His wide eyes was filled with terror as he stared at me.
