?Chapter 434:


    Sandra tried to soothe him. “Please, don’t get worked up, love. Jarrod only wants harmony for the family. However…” She turned toward Jarrod, softening her voice. “Listen, Jarrod, your father isn’t wrong. The Morgans never gave Maia reason to feel slighted. Shecked for nothing. Everyfort she enjoys is thanks to us. Without our support, she would have struggled to survive. Could she have built this life without our help?”


    Jarrod’s fingers curled tightly around his fork before he asked suddenly, “Were either of you aware that Maia can y the piano?”


    Richard and Sandra exchanged startled looks.


    “The piano?” Sandra’s brow furrowed. “That’s unlikely. She never showed any interest, and we certainly never enrolled her in music sses. I’ve never seen her near an instrument.”


    Richard let out a derisive snort. “Her academics were abysmal, and she constantly caused problems. We counted ourselves fortunate the school didn’t expel her. Mastering the piano demands discipline and perseverance, and she had neither.”


    Jarrod’s thoughts churned with a chaotic mix of doubt and frustration. How could they im to be Maia’s guardians for so long and still know so little about her?


    The thought was beyond ridiculous.


    He gave a low, bitter chuckle. “You keep insisting you treated Maia well… yet you don’t even know who she truly is.”


    “What are you trying to say?” Richard’s brows furrowed, forming a tight knot of suspicion.


    Sandra hesitated, her voice uncertain as she finally spoke. “Honestly, Maia’s been acting like a strangertely… At times, I wonder if I ever really knew her. When did she pick upposition and fashion design? She never breathed a word of it to us.”


    She sighed softly, then turned toward Jarrod. “All these years, your father and I poured ourselves into our work. I’ll admit, we didn’t devote much time to her. But everything we’ve done—everyte night, every sacrifice—was for this family. How else do you think you’ve all enjoyed suchfort and luxury? She’s had the finest food, the best clothes, every possible advantage. She ought to be grateful. And yet she keeps everything close to the vest, like we’re strangers—or worse, enemies.”


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    The more Sandra spoke, the more firmly she believed her own argument. In her eyes, Maia had be little more than a thankless thorn in the family’s side.


    “And we’re still her family. If she has a bone to pick with us, couldn’t she just say so? Why keep it all bottled up and make everyone miserable?”


    Jarrod remained silent for a moment, struck by the irony of her words.


    He let out a quiet, bitter chuckle. “Family? Wasn’t it you who insisted she belonged to the Watsons, not the Morgans? Who forced her to sign that disownment agreement?”


    A sharp bang rang out as Richard mmed his palm on the table, his face turning a shade redder. “Jarrod! What’s that supposed to mean? Are you taking her side now? Do you actually see that ungrateful jerk as one of us?”


    Sandra, visibly confused, narrowed her eyes at Jarrod. “What’s gotten into you? You never cared about Maia before, and now suddenly you’re jumping to her defense. Has she been in touch with you? Is she trying to sow discord in this family?”


    “Hmph! I knew that ungrateful brat was up to no good!” Richard growled, teeth clenched. “She’s trying to tear this family apart—piece by piece!”


    Jarrod stared at the two self-satisfied figures across the table, and in that moment, the entire scene struck him as grotesquely absurd—a tragicedy dressed as dinner.


    He opened his mouth, then closed it again. There was nothing left worth saying.


    Just then, Rosanna walked in.


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