Chapter 573:
“Bella, you’re back?” he said, his voice smug.
I glared at him.
“Why are you at my mother’s house?”
“Bella, this is also my home,” Ryan emphasized.
I sneered, “Your home? You haven’t come back in nearly 20 years. Is this still your home?”
“Anyway, I’m your father. If you speak to me like this again, I’ll teach you a lesson!” Ryan’s tone was sharp and forceful.
Hearing this, I looked at him with disdain.
“It’s been almost 20 years, and you’ve been someone else’s father. What’s the matter? Are you back because people are starting to dislike you?”
Although I didn’t understand why Ryan was suddenly here, his beachwear—flip-flops, a vest, and shorts—suggested that he had already been living here. That made me angry.
“What nonsense are you talking about?” Ryan snapped.
I didn’t want to waste my time talking to him, so I pushed him aside and rushed inside.
“Mom, are you home?”
At that moment, my mother came running out from the kitchen.
“Bella, you’re here!” she said warmly.
“Mom, why is he here?” I pointed at Ryan and asked, “He…”
Mother hesitated, avoiding my gaze and remaining silent. I could already guess what had happened, and I felt a surge of agitation rising within me.
“Mom, why did you do this? You actually let Ryan live in our house? He’s the man who once abandoned us!”
“How can you speak to your mother like this?”
At that moment, a woman’s voice came from behind.
Bella’s POV:
Betty walked over, holding her daughter Anne’s hand.
I hadn’t expected them to be at my mother’s house. They were both in home clothes, which meant they must live here now. In that moment, I thought, Last time, Hank said he would definitely divorce Betty. Could it be…
“Why can’t father live here? After all, he’s our father!” Betty said.
“You’re right, Betty,” Ryan added.
Hearing this, I looked at Betty in disbelief. I couldn’t understand why she was suddenly speaking this way. We had grown up together with our mother, relying on each other to survive. We both hated Ryan, but now Betty was calling him “father.”
“How dare you call him father? Has he ever been a responsible father?” I asked.
“Betty, didn’t you hate him before? Why has everything changed now? Why?”
I couldn’t accept Betty’s attitude. I still remembered Ryan’s contemptuous look from back then. He had even said that Emma was his only daughter.
