Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Yvonne Sherman Will Pay the Price for Her Shamelessness

"Vincent Grant, what do you mean by that!" Yvonne Sherman was known for her aloof demeanor; she couldn’t tolerate being treated this way. "Is it wrong for us to come celebrate our dear grandson’s birthday?"

"And Jennings is the boy’s biological maternal grandfather!"

Vincent Grant didn’t answer, simply closing the door gently.

His somber eyes held a piercing sharpness that saw right through the two people in the car.

Chad Jennings was a shrewd man; he knew Vincent Grant had seen right through their intentions.

He quickly pulled Yvonne Sherman back, stopping her.

The car started up.

Yvonne Sherman flung Chad Jennings’s hand away.

"Why didn’t you let me finish!"

"What gives Vincent Grant the right to talk to me like that! I’m his elder, after all!"

Vincent Grant treated Joanna Sherman well, but he was always cold and indifferent to her mother, showing her no respect.

Yvonne Sherman had been resentful for a long time.

"Just think of how much our Joanna suffered because of him!"

Chad Jennings quickly tried to soothe her. "Honey, don’t be angry. It’s not worth ruining your health over."

"You know what Vincent Grant is like. Look at Sophia Shaw—she was married to him for years, and he never showed her a shred of warmth!"

"By comparison, he treats our Joanna very well."

"The fact that he invested so much money in Joanna’s rocket research is enough to make every girl in the city green with envy! Let’s not get hung up on the other stuff."

"Hmph!"

At the mention of this, Yvonne Sherman’s expression softened.

After all, the fact that Vincent Grant was throwing money at Joanna Sherman was a huge boost to her own prestige.

"It’s just a shame we couldn’t get Joanna into that Grant family project."

"The Grants are so rigid! Our Joanna is going to be their daughter-in-law. When she succeeds, won’t that bring them even more glory?"

Chad Jennings felt nothing but contempt for the Grants’ inflexibility.

Yvonne Sherman snorted.

"At the end of the day, isn’t it your ’good’ daughter who caused all this trouble?"

"She was so standoffish she wouldn’t even eat. How could Miles Grant and the others possibly ask her to stay?"

At the mention of Sophia Shaw, Chad Jennings grew resentful and annoyed.

"That Sophia Shaw is nothing but trouble!"

Yvonne Sherman didn’t reply, a haughty look in her eyes.

’So Sophia Shaw is trying to make me unhappy, is she?’

’Then she can’t blame me for hurting the one she cares about most.’

...

Sophia Shaw was having lunch when she got a call saying Yancy Shaw wasn’t feeling well.

To Sophia, Yancy Shaw was no less than a father.

She dropped everything and drove straight to the Shaw residence.

Seeing June Evans, she rushed to ask, "What’s wrong with Uncle? What’s hurting him?"

June Evans glanced toward the room and pointed to her own chest.

"He’s sick with anger."

"Who?"

"Who else? Yvonne Sherman."

At the mention of Yvonne Sherman, Sophia Shaw’s expression turned frigid.

"What did she do?"

June Evans sighed and handed her the phone.

The phone showed a video of Cedric Grant making a wish and blowing out his candles. Afterward, Yvonne Sherman asked him about his wish.

Throughout the entire thing, Cedric only expressed good wishes for Chad Jennings and the Shermans. He didn’t say a single word about her, his own mother.

Even though Sophia already knew where Cedric’s loyalties lay, it still stung.

A dull ache spread through her chest.

And now she finally understood why her uncle was so upset.

Her uncle had poured his heart and soul into Cedric, even when he was still in the womb.

From her nutrition to prenatal education, he didn’t miss a single detail.

After Cedric was born, her uncle visited constantly. He’d read more parenting books than she had.

If the boy so much as had a slight fever, her uncle would rush back immediately, even from thousands of miles away.

And how had Cedric repaid him?

He gave his best wishes to Chad Jennings and Yvonne Sherman, who had done nothing for him, and didn’t mention his great-uncle once!

"Your uncle isn’t just upset about Cedric’s attitude toward us; he’s more upset for you," June Evans sighed again and again.

"How did you end up with a son like that?"

"I’m sorry." Sophia lowered her head.

She couldn’t face June Shaw, much less Yancy Shaw.

"I didn’t raise Cedric right."

June Evans patted her gently. "I didn’t call you here to get angry with you, and I definitely don’t want an apology."

"I was afraid Yvonne Sherman would use this video to provoke you, so I wanted to give you a heads-up."

"Your uncle cares about you so much. He’s not worried about himself being hurt; he’s worried about you being wronged."

"You know how much he blames himself for what happened back then!"

The incident June Evans was referring to was the period after Sophia’s mother died.

Sophia had nowhere to go and had to stay with the Jennings family.

Chad Jennings let Joanna Sherman bully her, while Yvonne Sherman constantly slandered her.

The mental and physical torment drove her into a deep depression.

Even now, two thin scars remained on her wrist.

Sophia stared down at the scars on her wrist, her mind flooded with indelible images of violence and emotional abuse.

"Auntie, don’t worry. I’m a grown-up now. I won’t let people bully me so easily."

’Yvonne Sherman is truly audacious.’

’Acting so wantonly just because she has Vincent Grant protecting her.’

’I warned the Shermans not to bully my family.’

Sophia Shaw pressed her lips into a thin line.

After a moment, she said, "Auntie, please go in and talk to Uncle. Tell him I’m fine. And tell him Yvonne Sherman will pay for what she’s done."

"What about you?" June Evans asked.

"I have something to take care of. I’ll come back to see Uncle later tonight."

Sophia left the Shaw residence and sat in her car for a while.

Just then, Levin Sawyer called. "Sophia, have you seen Yvonne Sherman’s livestream?"

"No. What’s up?"

"You should see it. In a word, it’s pretty shameless."

Sophia opened her phone.

Yvonne Sherman’s livestream was a massive hit, with hundreds of thousands of concurrent viewers, so it was easy to find.

Yvonne Sherman was selling skincare products on a livestream, under the banner of: "Mother of Joanna Sherman, the First in Rocketry."

Thanks to this persona, sales went through the roof. In just a short time, thousands of orders had been placed.

People came for the skincare, but they were naturally more interested in Joanna Sherman.

Many people asked about her.

While applying a cooling face mask, Yvonne Sherman said, "My daughter has been exceptional since childhood. Her grades were always top of the class."

"She came back after graduating a little over a year ago and started developing rockets on her own. Through her own efforts, she became Cathan’s foremost pioneer in rocket launches."

"Really? All on her own? She didn’t have help from anyone else?" the viewers asked.

"Who would she ask for help?" Yvonne Sherman retorted.

"She came back with the goal of building a truly Cathanese rocket. As you all know, the top experts in the rocketry industry nowadays are all foreigners."

"Our Joanna would never be like those other companies that hire foreigners, hide the fact, and then claim their rockets are domestically produced."

This was a clear jab at Lead Aerospace.

"What about Cathanese talent? There are plenty of brilliant people in Cathan."

Yvonne Sherman scoffed.

"Of all the brilliant talent in Cathan, is there anyone who can compare to my Joanna?"

"I ask you all to be honest with yourselves: in all of Cathan, who else has launched a rocket entirely on their own?"

Rocketry is such a niche field with few players that information is limited.

Any minor breakthrough would have been widely reported.

Everyone was well aware of who had what capabilities.

"She does have a point."

"We have to support Ms. Sherman, if only for Joanna Sherman’s patriotism."

"We love Joanna Sherman! We admire Joanna Sherman!"

"Buy! If you don’t buy, you don’t love Cathan! For a great woman like Joanna Sherman, for the pride of our nation, let’s get buying!"

The viewers placed orders in a frenzy. The purchase notifications at the bottom of the screen could barely keep up.

Sophia watched in silence, her lips tightening.

"Yvonne Sherman is so shameless. Are you really not going to do anything?" Levin Sawyer asked.

"Of course..."

"...I am."