The Day I Quit Him (Autumn and Mars) novel Chapter 283

You People Are Vicious

No one expected a single party to serve up this much drama.

Owen Bennett proposing was a spectacle in itself–a true once–in–a–lifetime

moment.

But the second he was done, Autumn Lopez’s ex–husband showed up to stir the

pot.

Even though times have changed, the things Mars Wright said were enough to get under any man’s skin.

Autumn’s comeback was powerful, but people’s prejudices are like mountains- you can’t just wish them away with a few words.

Everyone figured that was the climax of the evening’s drama, but then came

another twist.

Now some other guy had appeared, claiming Mars stole his woman. Was this guy another one of Autumn’s admirers?

The crowd’s eyes snapped back to Autumn, their faces lit up with the glow of fresh

gossip.

Autumn just looked confused.

She studied the man in front of her, certain she’d never met him before, and shook

her head at Nina.

Nina immediately turned to Owen. “Owen, Autumn doesn’t know this guy.”

Nina said it loudly on purpose, but only some of the guests believed her.

A few even scoffed. “Oh, she says she doesn’t know him, so that’s that? He tracked her all the way here. Saying they’re strangers now seems a little fake, don’t you think?”

“This party is something else. So much juicy drama. Looks like we’ll all have

You People Are Vicious

something to talk about tomorrow.”

Nina’s face hardened.

“Watch what you say.”

This was a Bennett family event, after all.

No matter what, everyone was supposed to show the Bennetts some respect.

But after what had just happened, people were finding it hard to hold back.

“Are our words nasty, or is a certain someone just a magnet for trouble?”

“I’ve lived a long time and I’ve never seen anything like this. Are the Bennetts just going to stand there and watch? Isn’t this embarrassing?”

“If this happened in my family, I’d be too ashamed to leave the house the next day.”

“But look at her, acting like nothing’s wrong. She’s got some nerve, I’ll give her

that.”

They were clearly throwing shade at Autumn.

Nina was furious. She started to step forward to confront them, but Autumn

grabbed her wrist.

“It’s fine.”

Autumn knew she couldn’t shut them all up. Trying to silence them now would

only make them look down on her more.

She didn’t want to cause trouble for the Bennett family.

“Autumn, you’re just too nice.”

Nina’s expression was grim.

Her eyes were filled with disgust for the gossiping crowd.

26

Maybe the Bennetts had been too gentle over the years, which was my ey Tom, Dick, and Harry now felt they could be passive wyreseve night in their om

home.

“This isn’t about being nice or not?

Autumn explained, Rumors and slander are like a bottle of soda, The more you shake it, the more pressure builds up, because they think it’s getting to your

“But if you act like it’s no big deal, they’ll run out of steam fest. They wont be able to touch you

Nina kind of understood, but not completely

“But doesn’t it suck to hear all that?”

After all, the things they were saying were genuinely awful

“You get used to it.”

Ever since she was a child, Autumn had been surrounded by those kinds of anide

remarks.

Her relatives pretended to be on her side, but they were really just using her to belittle Lydia and her mother.

That was because Lydia and her mom were even more disliked than she was.

Ever since the pair had moved into the Lopez home, Oliver’s relationship with his relatives had soured.

Before, those relatives could always count on Oliver for handouts to get by.

But Lydia and her mother were incredibly possessive and controlling, and they kept Oliver from getting too close to his family.

When the relatives realized the freebies had dried up, their opinion of Lydia and her mother naturally plummeted.

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You People Are Vicous

So they started using praise for Autumn as a way to put the other two down.

In reality, Autumn was also caught in the crossfire of their passive–aggressive comments, which had caused a lot of trouble for her as a child.

Nina looked at Autumn like she was some kind of alien.

“Autumn, you seem so calm no matter what happens.”

“Is it because you’ve been through too much?”

Autumn nodded.

Nina’s eyes suddenly welled up.

“Autumn, was your life really that hard before?”

Nina had been spoiled by her family her whole life. If she ever felt wronged, she’d get her payback immediately.

She never let sadness or anger linger overnight.

She couldn’t even imagine what kind of life Autumn must have lived to become *used* to something like this.

“It wasn’t hard or not hard. There are always trade–offs. If I hadn’t been through so much, I probably wouldn’t have developed this kind of personality. And honestly, this calm, collected nature has helped me a lot in my career.”

When she was first starting her business, investors were drawn to her because they saw how incredibly steady she was.

Autumn never liked to glorify suffering.

But she had to admit that it was because she had endured so much hardship that she had a resilience few others possessed.

It had trained her to handle any situation with composure, a reflex born from experience.

4.0

You People Are Vicious

“Stop it! Stop fighting!”

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