Family on Their Knees Heart Turned to Ice novel Chapter 459

Lillian heard him and laid on the car horn, holding it down.

The powerful blast from the supercar silenced the crowd for a moment. Everyone turned to look.

They had seen cars like Lillian’s convertible on TV, and now they all started moving toward it.

A tough-looking, middle-aged woman at the head of the group pointed at Emma in the passenger seat. “Are you the big boss?”

Seeing their aggressive approach, Emma hesitated, unsure whether to claim the title and draw their fire or to deny it.

Fortunately, Lillian spoke up first, raising a hand. “That’s me. I’m the owner of this factory. Whatever your problem is, you talk to me. I’m the only one who can help you.”

At that, a gaunt, unshaven man with a sun-beaten face walked toward the driver's side.

“You’re the boss? So that means you’re our Candy’s boss, right? Good, you can be the judge here.

“That girl, Candy, she was born a Bennett, and she’ll die a Bennett. She belongs to our family.

“Years ago, the whole family worked the fields to send her to school. And now? She thinks she’s better than us and is trying to abandon her own family!

“We worked our fingers to the bone to give her a future, and she never once thought about paying us back. What kind of person does that?”

Lillian suddenly recalled that Celia Bennett’s resume did list a former name: Candy Bennett.

Now, seeing these parents, things were becoming clearer.

During her two years in prison, she had met several female inmates with similar stories.

They came from poor, remote villages, excelled in their studies, and landed good jobs after graduation.

Celia’s parents clung to the car doors on either side, jogging alongside it as it moved slowly forward.

“Young lady,” her mother said, “you’re so young and already a big boss. You’re really something.”

“Of course she is!” her father added. “She pays Candy such a high salary, she must be someone important. Hey, young lady, your factory is so big, you must need more workers, right? What do you think of us? Let me tell you, I’m not bragging, but everyone from our village is incredibly hard-working.”

Lillian drove at a crawl, listening to them as she pulled into the factory grounds.

Upstairs, in an office on the second floor of the factory building, Celia hid to the side, watching the scene unfold below.

She stared at Lillian in the car but couldn't make out her expression. She wondered if Lillian, too, would abandon her now that she had become a liability.

Just then, Lillian looked up, and her eyes met Celia’s.