Larissa's Game of Thrones (Larissa) novel Chapter 119

Thatch flinched and didn't dare say another word. Valeria and Draven also bowed their heads, not daring to interject.

Zoltan continued his tirade without reservation. “Thatch, of all my children, you are the most worthless. If you hadn’t married a capable woman who gave you such an exceptional son, you’d still be a nobody. Do you think you would have earned the right to live here otherwise?”

“Here” was the Palmer family’s ancestral estate, a manor that had been in their name for over a century. Zoltan only permitted children and grandchildren he deemed worthy to reside within its walls, an implicit acknowledgment of their status as potential heirs.

In other words, Thatch, Draven, and Valeria owed their prestigious address entirely to Haskell’s merit.

At this, Zoltan shot a cold glance at Valeria. “My grandson Haskell is the only heir to the Palmer family I currently recognize. To disrespect him is to disrespect the entire Palmer family. How you deal with your adopted daughter is your decision, Thatch. Settle it before I’m forced to intervene.”

Valeria looked at her father in a panic. “Dad…”

Desperate to quell the storm, Thatch gritted his teeth, hardened his heart, and slapped Valeria across the face.

The sharp crack of the slap echoed loudly in the night air. A red mark immediately blossomed on Valeria’s cheek. Her eyes welled with tears as she looked at her father, a portrait of wounded betrayal.

Unable to meet her gaze, Thatch looked away and commanded sternly, “Valeria, apologize to Haskell. Now.”

Thatch’s fists tightened. “Haskell,” he said, turning to his son, “you and Valeria have lived under the same roof for three years. You’ve always treated her like a sister. Are you really going to throw her out?”

Haskell’s placid smile never wavered. “Isn’t it a little late for you to be pleading her case, Dad? I gave you a chance. If you had corrected and punished her when she first stepped out of line, we wouldn’t be here. She is, after all, just an adopted daughter. Since she can no longer recognize her own position, what’s wrong with asking her to leave?”

Seeing that his appeal to fatherhood held no sway, Thatch clenched his fists even tighter. Today’s humiliation was a bitter reminder of the years he had spent living in the shadow of Haskell’s mother. He remembered a time when he’d shown a bit too much warmth to a young woman at the company, and his wife had immediately reported it to her family. They had descended upon the manor, a furious mob, warning him that if he dared to disrespect his wife, they would make his life a living hell.

And now, his son was doing the exact same thing. All it took was a few snide remarks from Valeria, and Haskell had escalated the matter straight to Zoltan, dead set on expelling her from the family.