Tang Xiaonan stopped making a fuss. ’Fine, I’ll go to a few classes in a couple of days. If Phoenix Golding behaves, I’ll keep going to school. But if she tries any funny business, hmph, I’ll just run home and tattle again.’

"I’m not going to school either! I’ll stay home with Xiaonan," Jim Thorne declared. A slap landed on his head instantly.

"If you’re not going to school, you can get out there and farm for me!"

Felix Thorne glared at his youngest son, utterly exasperated. Phoebe Huxley gave him a slap, too. When it came to their sons, the couple was on the same page: hit them as they pleased, as long as they left them breathing. After all, their three boys were tough as nails.

"Hurry up, eat, and get to school. This is for lunch."

Phoebe Huxley shoved the lunchbox into Jim Thorne’s schoolbag, giving him another swat for good measure. Jim winced in pain, then shot Tang Xiaonan a funny face before obediently starting to eat. ’But his mind was already churning, plotting how to teach the Spann siblings a lesson they’d never forget.’

Amanda Chapman and Jim Thorne went off to school together. Felix Thorne and Phoebe Huxley also left for work, dropping Tang Xiaonan off at Raina’s place. Raina didn’t have to go to work; she was at home looking after Phoebe Thorne.

After just a few days at home, Phoebe Thorne’s color had already improved significantly. Raina wouldn’t let her lift a finger and was very particular about her diet. Though Raina was usually frugal with herself, she had slaughtered a laying hen the moment Phoebe Thorne returned, serving it to her over several meals. There was a steady supply of eggs and meat.

"Let your aunt see your hand. Oh, my... How could Phoenix Golding be that kind of person?"

Seeing the large bruise on Tang Xiaonan’s hand, Phoebe Thorne was furious. Back when she was a young woman, she and Phoenix Golding had actually gotten along quite well. Even though they never became sisters-in-law, it hadn’t affected their friendship. It was only after she married and moved to Wraven that they’d drifted apart.

But Phoebe Thorne had always thought Phoenix Golding was a decent person. She never imagined she would bully her own niece. ’What a wretched woman.’

The members of the Thorne family all shared one common trait: they were fiercely protective of their own.

No matter how bad their own family members might be, only they had the right to dish out punishment; they’d never let an outsider bully one of them.

"Mom, it’s a good thing she never married into our family. She’s such a good actress. All these years, and we never realized she was such a vixen."

Phoebe Thorne gossiped with Raina in a hushed voice, her face filled with contempt at the mention of Phoenix Golding. Phoebe Thorne despised "hussies" who were improper with men more than anything. This was because her own husband, Brian Chapman, had once been ambiguously involved with a young widow at the market. She never found any concrete proof, so all she could do was keep a tighter watch on him. Now that she was back at her parents’ house, she figured Brian Chapman would be out looking for trouble again.

The thought of these things made Phoebe Thorne’s blood boil, and her disdain for Phoenix Golding grew even stronger.

"Mom, is it true what my sister-in-law said about Phoenix Golding and Storm Xavier?" Phoebe Thorne asked, her face alight with gossip. Tang Xiaonan, pretending not to understand, pricked up her ears. ’Who the heck is this Storm Xavier?’

Raina pursed her lips. "Who knows? It’s probably true. I heard Storm Xavier looks down on Verna and won’t even speak to her at home. People are also saying they started sleeping in separate beds a long time ago. Storm Xavier doesn’t have much of an appetite, so he must be getting his fill elsewhere."

"Bah! That Storm Xavier is a piece of work, too. If he looked down on Verna, why did he marry her in the first place? They have a son together, and now he’s sick of her? That heartless bastard! He ought to remember that back in the day, besides Verna, what girl would have married a ’landlord’s whelp’ like him? Now that he has a son, he just casts her aside!"

Phoebe Thorne was filled with righteous indignation, but there was another layer to her anger.

Raina shot her a sidelong glance. "So now you see he’s no good, huh? You were the one who wanted to marry him back in the day. Hmph. What good is a handsome face? A good heart is what’s most important."

Tang Xiaonan’s heart skipped a beat. ’Holy crap, Storm Xavier was my aunt’s old flame?’

’Phoenix Golding was Dad’s old flame, and now her lover is my aunt’s old flame. What a small world!’