Family on Their Knees Heart Turned to Ice novel Chapter 1444

The horrifying memories of his last visit to Halfridge Villas began to aggressively dominate Sebastian's mind.

But last time, there hadn't been an entire crowd of high-society elites watching.

Today was completely different.

Sebastian felt like he was suffocating under the weight of the collective stares.

Ever since Lillian's true identity had been exposed, this was the first time Sebastian genuinely felt she was acting irrationally and lacking any sense of decorum.

Shouldn't she be desperate to repair her fractured relationship with her son?

After all, she had loved Noah with every fiber of her being. From the moment he was born, she had poured her heart and soul into caring for him, feeding him, and navigating the most grueling stages of his infancy completely on her own.

It went without saying that her love for the child ran deep.

Today should have been a golden, rare opportunity for her. Sebastian had painstakingly orchestrated everything, coaching Noah extensively just for this moment.

Why was Lillian actively throwing it all away?

Instead of cherishing the chance, she had dragged her mentally unstable mother into the mix.

Wasn't this just begging for chaos and conflict? More importantly, didn't she find it utterly humiliating?

For a fleeting second, Sebastian's gaze toward Lillian was a tangled mess of complex emotions.

The most prominent among them was sheer disbelief. He couldn't fathom how Lillionix's genius founder could be so dense.

Surely she understood that if her mother had an episode, she would become a laughingstock, pushing Noah even further away. Was she only brilliant when it came to her career?

Did she possess zero emotional intelligence when dealing with human relationships?

After a brief flash of anger, Sebastian resolved that in addition to counseling Noah, he needed to find a moment to teach Lillian the basics of social graces and appropriate behavior.

Having made up his mind, he snapped into damage-control mode.

With so many eyes on them, and Eleanor already present, he had to minimize the risk of the gala becoming a total joke.

Noah's dramatic exit plunged the courtyard into an awkward silence.

Lillian didn't seem the least bit bothered or responsible for the tension.

Instead, she offered the stunned guests a graceful smile. "Kids can be so temperamental. Please excuse the scene.

I suppose it's my own fault for not being able to raise him personally after I went to prison."

In an instant, every pair of eyes locked onto Sebastian.

Everyone knew about Lillian's past and her time behind bars.

If she couldn't raise Noah herself, who exactly had been raising him for the past few years?

A child who immediately screamed 'psycho' at his own grandmother?

While some guests knew the dark history behind Eleanor's mental state, blood was still thicker than water. Furthermore, the Eleanor standing before them was impeccably dressed and hiding timidly behind Lillian. She hardly looked like a violent threat.