Underneath his childlike and naive face, Justin's clever mind and sharp tongue couldn't be ignored. Every word he said was like a fist landing on Mary's nerves. Despite witnessing it with her own eyes, Mary found it hard to believe that such shrewdness and indifference could exist in such a small child. Although Justin might have gained the upper hand over Mary now, his actions would unfortunately bring himself trouble very soon.
"Daisy, is this the way you're raising your child? By letting him insult other people and doing nothing about it?" Mary snapped indignantly. Her dignity had been ripped off, thrown into the dirt, and trampled on. After getting nothing but humiliation from the boy, she started to lash out at Daisy, who had been sitting silently the whole time.
"I know my son. Under normal circumstances, he would be a proper gentleman. I think the problem in the way he treats you lies in you. I've always upheld the right of an individual's freedom of speech. Even if he's a child, Justin has every right to freely express his feelings to those he likes and dislikes. I'm in no position to stop him from doing that," Daisy replied calmly.
She wouldn't be so tolerant of Justin's impudent remarks if the person he was talking to wasn't Mary. But given that Mary had already shown so much hostility since she and Justin entered the cafe, Daisy didn't think it was proper to sit back and take in the verbal abuse silently. Therefore, she just let Justin exercise his right to express himself.
"So you mean that he doesn't like me," Mary said, and then turned to face Justin, "Hey, did I ever do something to offend you? Why are you always so mean to me? Every time we meet, you stir up trouble for me. Are you really expressing yourself or are you just holding a grudge because your mom told you to do so?" As she was talking to Justin, Mary shot a challenging look at Daisy from the corner of her eye to see how she would react.
Justin was enraged by her insinuation. "Since you asked, let me put it to you straight. It's not that I don't like you in particular; I just don't like any woman who goes after my daddy. And you happen to be one of them. My mommy has never put such thoughts in my head. Everything I say comes from my personal opinion. I do what I feel is right."
Justin was a little worried that his mother would scold him for being so rude. He still remembered the stern look on her face when she heard that he had been using the computer too much on their way to the coffee house. He certainly didn't want to upset her again so soon. But from his mother's reply, he sensed that she approved of the way he was talking to Mary, so he tossed aside his worries and let himself say whatever he wanted to the woman in front of him.
His words soon took effect. Mary was seriously pissed. With clenched teeth, she pointed a finger at Justin furiously, but was unable to say anything to defend herself. After a few moments, she suddenly broke out into a smile. "You're afraid, aren't you? You're afraid that your dad will dump you and make you a bastard again, because your mom isn't nearly good enough for him. Am I right?"
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