Joseph finally broke when his son publicly challenged his ego as the family patriarch. Staring Julien down, he was about to approach the latter when a slim figure glided out of nowhere and stopped him.
"Mandy?" In the next second, they heard a deafening slap. Mandy, filled with resentment, had slapped Joseph on the face.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe impact of her slap caused his cheek to swell and his ears to ring.
"Mandy, did you just slap me? But I'm your brother!" "My brother? Do | even have one?" She flashed him an indifferent smile. "I thought | was kicked out of the Lovelace family just like Julien. By the way, you're just a son adopted by the Lovelace family." The revelation of Joseph being an adopted son caught Aidan and Julien off guard. It was a family secret that had never been disclosed to the younger generation. Mandy must have been intent on humiliating Joseph by openly bringing up his bloodline.
"Technically, | am the only daughter who carries the Lovelace blood. You're only benefiting from Dad's dream of having a son. He promoted you to a position of power in Lovelace Pharmaceuticals.
Otherwise, you wouldn't have had the power to assert dominance overas a 'brother." "Mandy Lovelace!" Despite nearly fainting from the anger, Joseph couldn't retort.
It was indeed true that he was adopted. Edgar Lovelace, who failed to produce a son over many years, had secretly adopted Joseph from an orphanage with his wife, Agatha Borne, to continue the family lineage.
Five years after adopting Joseph, Agatha got pregnant with Mandy and gave birth to the only flesh and blood of Edgar. Alas, Mandy was a female.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmStill, she quickly becEdgar and Agatha's favorite due to her good looks and intelligence. For a while, Mandy's talent had challenged Edgar's prejudice SEI oS in positions of power.
It all ccrashing down when Mandy met the striking and distinguished Winston Taylor at a ball. If she hadn't made the shocking decision to be Winston's second wife, she would have been sharing power with Joseph in Lovelace Pharmaceuticals.
"This is for Julien. You're ridiculous for punishing him just because he wanted to treat Winston!" Mandy was filled with animosity. "Still, this isn't enough to punish you. Let's meet again as business rivals.
"I'm warning you now—Lovelace Pharmaceuticals will never dominate Belbanks while the KS Group stands.
Julien, cwith me!" "Sure, Aunt Mandy!" Julien, teary-eyed, immediately answered to her. He listened well to Mandy, totally unlike the rebellious son that Joseph labeled him as.
Alyssa and Jasper exchanged looks and let out a long sigh of relief. Their greatest fear was the Lovelaces exploiting family relationships and using hierarchy to coerce julien.