Chapter 376: Vanessa, What Are You Doing Now?

"Stop right there."

Christopher glanced at her coldly.

At that moment, Vanessa then realized she had no way out anymore.

"Don’t get mad. This is not the place to talk. Let’s go. I’ve already asked someone to prepare a lounge."

Christopher turned around and said gently to Janice.

She nodded and looked at Vanessa. "Come with me."

With that, she turned and left the ballroom with the help of Christopher.

Seeing that she could no longer run away, Vanessa could only follow obediently.

Seeing this, Yvonne also wanted to follow along but was stopped by James.

"Let’s not get involved. Come, I’ll introduce you to a few friends."

After saying that, he pulled her hand and left.

In the lounge:

Christopher helped Janice to sit down on the sofa and ordered someone to bring some tea for her.

Knowing that the two sisters had something to say, Christopher waited for her to calm down before saying, "Take your time if you have something to say. Don’t get mad. I’ll wait at the door. Call me if you need anything."

After saying that, he walked towards the door. When he passed by Vanessa, he did not forget to stop and warn her coldly, "You know what the situation is like now."

She kept her head lowered and dared not make a sound.

After he left the room, she breathed a sigh of relief. She looked up and met Janice in her eyes. A trace of disdain flashed across Vanessa’s. "What do you want to say? Just get to the point."

Janice did not care about her disdainful look, but her heart ached to see her like this.

Although she had never gotten along well with Vanessa, she was still unwilling to see her in this state.

Especially when she saw her shuffling between men like it was no big deal.

Thinking of Christopher’s advice, Janice suppressed her anger and asked, "Vanessa, what are you doing here?"

Hearing her question, Vanessa laughed sarcastically. "Why? Can’t you see what I’m doing?"

As she spoke, she calmly took out a cigarette from her handbag and lit it up. She took in a big mouthful and breathed out a huge ring of second-hand smoke.

The layer of smoke above her thick makeup made her look like she was a woman with a story to tell.

Janice coughed because of the smoke and immediately covered her nose.

Vanessa glanced at her reaction and snorted.

It was as if she was mocking her for being delicate.

Actually, it was not hard for Janice to guess what Vanessa was doing.

Vanessa’s gestures, what Janice had seen and heard at the banquet, and Christopher’s hesitation...Janice already had a rough idea of what her job was, but she was still unwilling to believe it.

When the smoke in the room faded a little, Janice moved her hand away and said, "Vanessa, I don’t care what you are doing now. Put an end to it. Come home with me."

Upon hearing her words, Vanessa laughed. "Go home? Janice, didn’t you know that Gladwell has already gone bankrupt? Where else can I go?"

She sneered with trembling shoulders.

Looking at her like this, Janice felt extremely furious and at a loss. She managed to suppress her anger and said, "Although Gladwell has already gone bankrupt, you still have a place to stay."

A hint of emotion flashed across Vanessa’s eyes when she heard this. Her expression changed for a split second before she recovered and said mockingly, "A place to stay? You can’t be talking about the places about the bridge."

Her words were full of contempt.

...

Janice was stunned by her words. She closed her eyes and said, "The Gladwells still have an old house and I’ve already gotten people to fix it up. Dad has already moved in. You can live there when you go back."

"Really? So we have an old house. Why didn’t I know about it? What a pity. If I had known, I would have sold it as well."

"Vanessa Gladwell, do you still have a conscience? How can you say such things?" Janice found it hard to believe what she was hearing.

Vanessa, on the other hand, sneered and countered. "Conscience? Do you have such a conscience? How did Gladwell wentgo bankrupt? My good sister, you haven’t forgotten, have you?"

Janice knew that Vanessa was blaming her for it but she did not feel that she was wrong in that matter.

She said, "I have nothing to explain about how Gladwell went bankrupt. Anyway, come with me immediately and don’t do such things again in the future."

Vanessa laughed when she heard that. "Such things? What did I do? I don’t steal or rob - I live on my own skills. What? Do you feel embarrassed?"

Vanessa scoffed and continued, "That’s right, you’re the famous Mrs. Bateman now. How could you be willing to let others know that you have a younger sister who’s using her body to exchange for money?"

Her words were filled with mockery.

Janice felt that Vanessa had changed. Vanessa had become someone that she couldn’t even recognize.

Although she used to be rude and unreasonable, she still knew what shame was.

But now, Vanessa could even say openly that she was making money using her body now.

Janice closed her eyes and said, "That’s not what I meant."

"Is that so? Would you dare to go out and tell those people outside that you are my sister? Would you dare to?" Vanessa asked.

Janice didn’t say anything.

She sneered and mocked, "You don’t dare, do you? After all, it’s all about you. Don’t think so highly of yourself. What kind of conscience do you have? You want to ask for what you don’t have from others. What a joke."

Janice was going to listen to Christopher and restrain her temper, but at this moment, she couldn’t bear it anymore.

She stood up from the sofa and asked, "Vanessa, do you still not understand why you’ve ended up in this state?"

"Why? What other reason could there be?"

She sneered, "It is of course because I’m not as lucky as you. I haven’t met someone who truly loves me. What other reason can there be?"

She smiled with contempt.

Upon hearing that, Janice found Vanessa rather ludicrous. She still did not understand.

It was both sad and pitiable.

Janice said, "If you are just complaining about your bad luck, then you are very wrong. In this world, happiness is not a lucky occurrence. Even if you are lucky in the beginning, what will happen after that? Can you really keep being lucky forever without working hard? Why? Because you are pretty? Let me tell you, the most unreliable thing in this world is your appearance."

"So what if I let you have it temporarily? In the end, you will still lose it. You are also a highly educated person. Have you never thought about what you can rely on to get what you want?"

Janice asked, but Vanessa had a disapproving expression on her face as if she didn’t hear her at all.

Janice knew that Vanessa wouldn’t listen, but as her older sister, there were some things that she had to say.

As such, she paused for a moment before continuing.

...

"Vanessa, there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. It’s understandable that you want to live a better life, but a person must have limits. We have to know what we can and cannot do. That’s the most important thing about being human."

"Don’t talk nonsense. Those things didn’t happen to you. Try having a greedy and selfish mother. Try to be instilled with those thoughts of sucking up to others since you were a child."

There was a cold glint in Vanessa’s eyes.

Did she want to sell her body? She didn’t have a choice!

She had a greedy mother who only knew how to enjoy life.

What else could she do?

Janice knew that the fault did not just lie with Vanessa.

But she couldn’t agree with what Vanessa had said.

Whether a person was good or bad might have something to do with what he or she learnt from their family. However, this was not absolute.

Besides, Vanessa was a talented student and had received a good education. She was capable of independent thought.

But yet...

Even though she knew that she had been instilled with wrong values by her mother, she still insisted on doing things her way.

Was she not responsible for her own situation then?

"Vanessa, you claim that it’s your mother’s fault, but haven’t you thought that you might be culpable as well? Did your mother force you to abandon your father and sell your family’s property?"

Vanessa fell silent.

Janice continued, "You’re an adult now. You can choose the path you want to take, but you’ve never done so before. Isn’t this your own fault?"

Vanessa’s expression was cold. Janice’s words had spoken straight into her heart.

But so what?

So what if she was wrong?

Was it wrong to want to live a better life?

She sneered.

"Janice, no matter what you say, I won’t go back with you. You’d better give up."

Janice felt that it was pointless to say anything else given how stubborn Vanessa looked.

She closed her eyes and said, "Vanessa, let me ask you one last time. Are you really not willing to go back with me?"

"No," Vanessa said firmly.

Janice nodded and replied, "Alright, since that’s the case, then I won’t waste my breath anymore."

Janice walked past Vanessa and walked towards the door.

Vanessa hurried to catch up when she saw this.

Christopher was waiting for Janice outside the lounge. When he saw her, he asked, "How did it go?"

"She’s not willing to come with us." Janice sighed.

Christopher had already expected this result. He asked, "What do you want to do?"

Janice paused briefly before she continued, "Let’s take her back first. Dad doesn’t have much time left."

Christopher did not object. He nodded and said, "Okay, I’ll ask someone to send her back."

"Wait."

Janice suddenly recalled something and said, "She can’t go to see Dad right now. I’m afraid that her current state will only make Dad feel even sadder."

Christopher had also thought of this, so he suggested, "Why don’t we arrange for her to stay in a hotel first until we think of something?"

Janice nodded. That was all they could do at the moment.

After that, Christopher ordered someone to bring Vanessa away from the banquet and to a hotel.

After settling Vanessa in, he accompanied Janice home.

After an entire night, Janice was exhausted. She quickly washed up and went to bed.

Christopher looked at her exhausted face. Even though she was asleep, her brows were still tightly knitted. His heart ached when he looked at her.