After Divorce I Married a Tycoon-Chapter 213: Argument

Before Judith Caldwell received Scarlett Jewel’s call,

the family of three was gathered around the dining table in their small, simple, and dilapidated rented apartment, about to eat dinner.

But the atmosphere between them was so oppressive it was hard to breathe.

On the table sat a bowl of stir-fried cabbage and two cups of prepared instant noodles.

This was their dinner for the night.

Ever since the Mercer Family went bankrupt and fell into massive debt,

they had moved out of their luxurious villa.

They had been constantly on the run, hiding from creditors.

A few days ago, they had nearly run out of money.

To avoid becoming homeless, they had rented this apartment of less than fifty square meters in an urban village.

Now, they were living hand-to-mouth, barely able to make ends meet.

Their former life of luxurious villas, gourmet food, and fine clothes was now nothing but a distant memory.

The two hundred thousand Scarlett Jewel had given them before was also gone.

With no other choice, Judith Caldwell had to go out and find two jobs to support them.

She now left early and returned late every day, so exhausted her back ached constantly.

Even so, she could only barely cover the family’s basic living expenses.

Sometimes, to save a little money, she would even go to the market to pick up leftover vegetables that others hadn’t sold, bringing them home to make a simple dish.

But Oscar Mercer, who had grown up eating gourmet food, simply couldn’t adapt to their current life.

He stared at the unappetizing food before him.

’No!’

’What was on the table didn’t even qualify as a meal.’

They had finished the last of their rice just yesterday.

Judith Caldwell hadn’t had time to buy more after getting off work today.

All she could do was buy two cups of instant noodles to make do for a meal.

Oscar Mercer stared at the cabbage and instant noodles, his brow tightly furrowed, his face a mask of disgust.

Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore.

He angrily threw his chopsticks hard onto the floor.

The chopsticks CLATTERED to the ground with a harsh sound.

"I’m sick of eating this garbage every day! I’m going to puke!"

Oscar Mercer’s voice was filled with complaint and anger.

"When are we ever going to get our old life back? I can’t go on living like this!"

Seeing her son act like this, Judith Caldwell felt both angry and anxious.

She sighed and said wearily, "Oscar, stop making a scene. This is our situation now. We’re lucky to have food on the table at all."

"You think I don’t want to go back to how things were? But there’s nothing we can do!"

"Nothing we can do?" Oscar Mercer sneered. "This is all your fault! If you hadn’t mistreated Claire Mercer back then, would she have exposed everything online? Would the Mercer Family’s reputation have plummeted, making a bad situation worse?"

"And if Dad hadn’t made me take out a loan to buy the Southedge property, our family wouldn’t be in this mess!"

Her son’s words left Judith Caldwell speechless, and her eyes instantly turned red.

Now, her face was weathered and full of sorrow.

Where was the pride she once had as the wife of a tycoon?

She knew her son felt wronged, but she was suffering too.

Meanwhile, Julian Mercer, who looked as if he had aged ten years, heard Oscar’s words and his already grim face twisted in fury.

He slammed his hand on the table, making the dishes clatter and clink.

Then he pointed at Oscar Mercer’s nose and roared:

"Who was it that swore up and down to me that CZ Group was going to build a resort at Southedge, telling me to sink our entire fortune into that land?"

"If I hadn’t listened to your nonsense, would I have made such a disastrous miscalculation?"

"Now the company is bankrupt and the family is ruined, and you have the nerve to blame me?"

Julian Mercer’s chest heaved, his eyes shot with blood.

The rage he had been suppressing for so long finally erupted.

He shot to his feet and flipped the table.

"Julian, what are you doing...?"

"He said the food was unappetizing, didn’t he? Then fine, nobody eats! Nobody eats anything!"

Judith Caldwell watched as the cabbage she had painstakingly scavenged scattered across the floor, along with the bowls and instant noodles.

"If you can’t stomach the food, then get the hell out and earn your own money!"

"You just laze around all day, not looking for a job, not earning any money."

"You have no skills whatsoever, yet you do nothing but complain. If you’re so great, stop leeching off your parents and get out there and make some damn money for me!"

Startled by his father’s roar, Oscar Mercer flinched but remained stubborn. "I was just repeating what I heard... How was I supposed to know CZ Group had no such plans? Is that my fault?"

"You dare talk back to me!" Julian Mercer trembled with rage.

He snatched a nearby glass of water and hurled it at Oscar.

The glass grazed his arm before smashing on the floor, splashing water everywhere.

Seeing this, Judith Caldwell frantically stepped between them, pleading through her tears, "Stop fighting! Look at the state we’re in, and you’re still fighting!"

Her voice was heavy with exhaustion.

Gazing at the dilapidated home and the squabbling father and son, she felt the world spin as her head throbbed.

Just then, her phone, which was on a small table, started to ring.

The screen displayed the two words "Scarlett Jewel".

She immediately snatched the phone, her grip tightening on it.

It was as if that call from Scarlett Jewel was her only lifeline.

"It’s our daughter calling! She must be calling to send us money."

"Once she sends the money, our lives will get better."

Judith Caldwell’s hands trembled with excitement as she spoke.

But Oscar Mercer just snorted coldly.

"Only you would still be dreaming that she’d send us money."

"Has she cared whether we lived or died this whole time we’ve been running from debt?"

"The Mercer Family bought her so many nice things, worth millions."

"And her? She’s stingy and reluctant even when giving us living expenses."

"She didn’t even invite her own family to her wedding."

"Isn’t it just because she’s ashamed of us now that the Mercer Family is bankrupt and destitute? Because we’re an embarrassment to her?"

During this time, he had come to see Scarlett Jewel’s true colors.

He had seen all the explosive scandals about her online today, clear as day.

Normally, she never called them.

She had even unilaterally cut off contact with them.

And she had repeatedly warned them not to call her.

Today, her ugly secrets were exposed, and only now did she remember to call them.

"To put it bluntly, she’s a heartless, ungrateful wretch."

"After she came back to the Mercer Family, they bought her so many expensive luxury gifts."

"But as soon as the family ran into trouble, she found every excuse to hide and play dead."

"Now that her scandals are out, do you think the Sinclair family will let her off easy? What good could come from her calling us at a time like this?"

Hearing her son’s words, Judith Caldwell froze for a moment.

"Scarlett isn’t that kind of person. Don’t talk about your sister like that."

’Her daughter was so well-behaved, kind, gentle, and understanding.’

’How could she possibly be a heartless, ungrateful wretch?’

She refused to believe her daughter would actually abandon them.

After all, this was the daughter she had carried for ten months.

And the mere mention of the term "ungrateful wretch"...

...naturally made Judith Caldwell think of Claire Mercer.

’She was the true culprit who had ruined their family and brought them to this state.’

She had entered that stupid competition and grandly taken first place multiple times.

And what about their family?

Now they were hiding in this tiny, cramped apartment every day, with only rats for company.

At the thought of their current destitution, hatred flashed in Judith Caldwell’s eyes again.