<b>Chapter </b><b>32 </b>


    Louis stopped in his tracks and looked at her in surprise.


    Laura held the bear Jasper prepared for her and said softly, “Mom said her fourth brother was a very grumpy person, but she also said he is a nice person.”


    Louis tilted his head. He could not tell whether she was speaking the truth. “Did your mom talk about us nicely?”


    Lilian should have hated them.


    Laura nodded. “Mom will tell me about you guys when she is drunk. She said all of you are very smart, and she’s the only stupid one. She also said you often make fun of her dumbness, but you helped her sometimes, so <i>I </i>know about you.”


    Louis scorned angrily. “When have I ever made fun of her for that? I’ve never-”


    He suddenly remembered an interaction he had with Lilian before.


    Lilian showed up before him and bragged, “Look, Louis! I passed my SAT. It’s so hard.”


    Louis snorted, “Is SAT that hard? Did you know Winnie scored 9 for her IELTS at your age?”


    Lilian was stunned, and her face darkened. “What do you mean? I worked so hard to get this. I’m different from you! Why would you say


    that?”


    Heughed loudly. “Sure, you worked hard to achieve this. It can’t be med that you’re the dumbest one in our family. You’re different <b>from </b>us. I can’t understand working hard to get good results like you.”


    At that time, Lilian’s face turned as red as a tomato, but she did not get angry at him. She only turned around and left despondently.


    Louis did not expect her to hold a grudge over a joke till now.


    Louis said awkwardly, “Your mom is so petty.”


    Laura raised her eyebrows and defended, “No. I don’t know what happened between you, but Mom always cries after she drinks. She said that all of you will never be satisfied with her.”


    She still remembered how happy she was when Lilian came to take her away. On the first night, Lilian got incredibly drunk and began to beat


    her.


    After she got tired from that, Lilian held Laura in her arms and cried. “Why? Why don’t they like me no matter what I be? Is it because l was born a mistake? Laura, tell me what’s right. Why should people like us live?”


    Laura still remembered this now.


    The most frequent thing Lilian told her was that she was born a mistake.


    After that, she added that Laura was also a mistake.


    It was a mistake of being born.


    Laura slowly sat up and said, “I know Mom made a big mistake. She is a murderer with many sins, but Mom just wants praise <b>from </b><b>all </b><b>of </b><b>you</b>. She did something wrong, and I don’t ask you to forgive her, but I hope you don’t think she’s evil. Is that okay<b>?</b><b>” </b>


    She had always thought Lilian was pitiful.


    <b>1/2 </b>


    Aug


    <b>She </b>also sympathized with Lilian.


    Louis felt glum in his heart. Hearing her words, he felt ufortable.


    Lilian was dead. Forgiveness did not matter much anymore.


    He turned around to leave, waving his hand irritably. “I got it. Go to sleep. I won’t leave. I will live here until we find a housekeeper. <b>Don’t </b>call me Mr. Yale anymore. I am your fourth uncle, so just call me Uncle Louis.”


    Laura was stunned, and her eyes lit up. She nodded vigorously and said, “Okay, Uncle Louis.”


    Louis nced at her awkwardly and snorted. “Don’t get too smug. You have an interview tomorrow morning. You better work <b>hard </b>and <b>pay </b>your rent. My rtionship with your mom isn’t that great, so I don’t need to raise you.”


    She nodded. “I will!”