Two Reborn, One Throne novel Chapter 24

Amber laughed out of pure frustration. "Of course you think it's too much. The person who just sits back while others are treated like dancing clowns wouldn't understand, would they? Lucian, aren't you supposed to be full of pride? Where's all that big talk from a minute ago? Don't stand there and tell me not to involve the elders. You know better than anyone exactly what your mother's intentions are, don't you?"

In her previous life, he had admitted himself just how brutally his mother suppressed her father. He had even said that, as a man, he couldn't stand to watch it. If Arthur hadn't been her father, he and his mother would have kicked him to the curb years ago.

"Amber!"

Lucian exploded with rage, reaching out to grab her by the throat again.

Arthur was equally furious. "Enough! Do you two have any respect for me at all?!"

Arthur was usually soft-spoken, but when he truly lost his temper, even Amber had to back down.

"Grace, I'm taking the kids home first. Rest up in bed, and I'll drop by later." With that, Arthur put his foot down. "Let's go! What are you standing around for? Haven't you embarrassed yourselves enough?"

They were getting too big for their breeches. Just because he didn't usually yell didn't mean he was invisible.

Lucian didn't say a word. He just hoisted his backpack higher onto his right shoulder and muttered, "Mom, rest well. I'll come see you after school tomorrow."

He shot Amber a vicious glare.

Amber offered a faint smile, though her eyes glinted with dark calculation. "Grace, even though Lucian promised to win you that fifty grand from the physics Olympiad next week, are you just going to let the thirty grand he already spent slide?"

Instantly, Grace's face drained of color.

Lucian's eyes practically burned with a murderous urge to strangle Amber. "Amber!"

Amber just kept smiling. "Grace, it's just a suggestion. Even putting aside the thirty grand he dropped on Joanne, your son is so devoted to you that he'll definitely bring home that fifty grand prize. He's the valedictorian, after all; there's no way he'd lose. But, to be brutally honest... what if he doesn't?"

"Ah, Grace, what I mean is, that thirty grand shouldn't have gone missing in the first place, right? Thirty plus fifty is eighty grand. But with thirty already gone and only fifty coming in, your net gain is only twenty. Tsk tsk, that's a sixty-grand difference. No big deal, I suppose. Just means waking up at the crack of dawn, working until your back breaks, running the diner for about four months straight, and washing roughly a million dishes."

"Rest up, Grace. Don't throw your back out again. Sweet dreams."

With that, Amber turned on her heel and walked out.

Lucian's handsome face was entirely black with rage. "Amber!!!"

Grace's fists were clenched white against the bedsheets.

"Mom..."

Lucian patted Amber's cheek disrespectfully.

"I killed you once. I can easily do it again."

"Amber, don't be ungrateful. If you try to fight me, you'll only end up a loser. Don't test my patience. You know who I am. I could make life a living hell not just for you, but for your dad too."

“Thomp!”

Amber lifted her foot and stomped down on Lucian's shoe with everything she had.

Then, she brought her hand up and slapped him across the face. The sound echoed sharply down the hall. "Lucian, do you really think you're still the richest man in the city? Right now, you're exactly like me—a broke student with nothing. Oh, wait, I'm actually doing a bit better. You're awfully confident that fifty grand from the competition is yours, aren't you? Your charity? My scraps? Something you threw away? Lucian, you're about to find out real soon who's picking up whose scraps."

Amber shoved him hard, sending him stumbling back as he clutched his foot, groaning in pain.

In their previous life, Lucian had indeed won the Physics Olympiad, but that was only because Amber had deliberately held back, taking second place just to hand him the victory.

His scraps? His charity? She picked them up? Ha!

We'll see who's getting the hand-me-downs at the Olympiad next week.