Charlotte was in the room just next door. If she really wanted to say something to Lucas, she could have just come over to say it to him in person. Why did she choose to text him instead?

“Charlotte thanked you? What did you do for her to thank you?” Cheyenne asked in bewilderment while suppressing the strange feeling in her heart.

Lucas didn’t want to make Cheyenne worried, so he didn’t tell her that Charlotte almost got herself into trouble at the bar just now and instead said calmly, “I don’t know either. She’s probably just thanking me for helping her in the restaurant at noon.”

“Oh. In that case, I also have to thank you properly.” Cheyenne didn’t think much about it anymore after hearing his answer.

Lucas had indeed helped Charlotte a lot in the afternoon. Otherwise, Charlotte’s face might be swollen now, and she might have even been disfigured.

Lucas smiled. “She’s your sister, and we’re a family. You don’t have to be so polite with me.”

When Cheyenne heard Lucas say the word ‘family’, her heart trembled, and she couldn’t help but be at ease.

Cheyenne lowered her head, not knowing what to say, but the tips of her ears were flushed.

Seeing the coy expression on Cheyenne’s beautiful face, Lucas felt his heart skip a beat.

All of a sudden, both of them fell silent and simply sat quietly in the room. The ambiance was serene and heartwarming.

The next morning, when Lucas, Cheyenne, and Amelia went downstairs, they saw Karen sitting at the dining table and wolfing down a sandwich.

“Good morning, Mom.”

“Good morning, Grandma!”

They greeted Karen politely.

Seeing Cheyenne and the others come downstairs, Karen ignored their greetings and remained silent, as if she didn’t see them at all.

Cheyenne furrowed her eyebrows slightly. When she took Amelia to the kitchen to get breakfast, she found that there was nothing but an unwashed empty pan.

“Mom, where’s breakfast?” Cheyenne stood in the kitchen and raised her voice to ask.

“None for you guys! If you have what it takes, go make your own breakfast! I’m not going to serve you!” Karen finished the last bite of her sandwich and tossed the empty plate onto the table with a loud clang.

Amelia got a great shock while Cheyenne was infuriated.

They used to hire a helper to cook their meals, but Karen didn’t want to pay the high wages, so she often picked on the helper and ordered her around. Afterward, the helper quit.

Karen then offered to take care of their meals instead, in exchange for a few thousand dollars from both her daughters.

Yet Karen now quit and even acted as if Cheyenne and the rest had been taking advantage of her.

As soon as Charlotte came downstairs, she also heard what her mother said. She was furious to find out that Karen had cooked breakfast for herself but not for them.

“Mom, Cheyenne and I have to go to work, and we don’t have time to cook breakfast in the morning. When we wanted to hire a helper, you were the one who said that we should give you the money instead and that you would cook for us. What are you doing now?” Charlotte said in exasperation.

“I have every right to take your money! I raised you two, and now that you can work and earn money, shouldn’t you be filial to your mother? As for your meals, hmph, weren’t you guys very capable yesterday? Why should I cook for you and feed you well only to receive your rude treatment?” Karen retorted furiously with her eyes wide open.

At the end of the day, she just wanted to have authority over the people in this family and let them know that anyone who defied her would not have any cooked meals!

Cheyenne and Charlotte were both furious and disgruntled.

Karen was clearly the one who had gone too far yesterday, yet she was now accusing them of being unfilial.

When Charlotte thought about what happened yesterday, she suddenly flew into a rage and retorted, “What kind of a mother are you? Ever since we were kids, you only reprimanded us and threatened us. Did you ever take care of us?

“When Cheyenne and I were little, you went out every day to play cards with your friends and never came home after leaving in the morning! Cheyenne and I were left alone at home all the time, all hungry and uncared for!

“If it weren’t for Grandma, who was still alive at the time and would bring us food when she came to see us every now and then, we would have long starved to death!

“Later on, Cheyenne started to learn how to cook when she was around seven or eight because if she didn’t, we would have starved to death! And you? You ignored it when you saw how Cheyenne had scalded her hands trying to cook, and you even made her do all the cooking and household chores from then on. You only hired a helper after she started working and didn’t have time to cook. How many times have you cooked all these years?

“We said that we wanted to hire a helper, but you thought it was a waste of money and wanted us to give you the money instead. But now, you’re threatening us with our meals. You treat us with a horrible attitude every now and then too. If that’s the case, there’s no need for us to give you money in the future!”

After Charlotte finished retorting angrily, she picked up her handbag to leave.

Karen’s face was flushed yet pale after hearing Charlotte exposing her past. But after hearing that Charlotte wouldn’t give her money in the future, she suddenly panicked. “Charlotte, I was wrong to say that. I’m not deliberately giving you a bad attitude. I promise to cook for you every day!”

Unfortunately, Charlotte didn’t turn around at all and left without any hesitation.

Cheyenne watched coldly, extremely disappointed with her mother.

“Let’s go too.” After Cheyenne finished speaking, she took Amelia’s hand and walked toward the door with Lucas.

Karen was anxious again. If Cheyenne left and stopped giving her money too, what would she do?

“Cheyenne, you’ve always been the most obedient. Are you going to throw a tantrum at me too?” Karen tried to play the sympathy card.

Cheyenne looked at her disappointedly. “Mom, I’m not throwing a tantrum with you. It’s the other way around. I’m exhausted. We’ll get going.”

After Cheyenne said this, they left, ignoring Karen’s attempt to make them stay.

Karen stood alone at the door, staring at the empty courtyard distractedly.