Chapter 0009

As soon as Louis finished speaking, Mrs. Smith immediately jumped up and shouted, "What the hell are you talking about, you bastard!"

She then turned to Ariana and quickly said, "Don't listen to him, he's clearly ungrateful and not in his right mind!"

She looked back at Louis and continued, "If you dare say another word, don't blame me for slapping you back to your senses!"

Despite her threat, she actually acted on it as soon as she finished speaking. She raised her hand, aiming for Louis's face with considerable force.

However, Louis wasn't about to let her succeed. Without hesitation, he grabbed her wrist, effortlessly blocking her slap.

He looked at Mrs. Smith and said in a deep voice, "You all are finished."

Mrs. Smith's eyes widened as she looked at Louis, almost unable to believe he had the nerve to stop her.

Clearly, before this, no matter what she did, Louis never dared to resist even a little!

Meanwhile, Ariana, standing next to Louis, witnessed the scene and Mrs. Smith's words.

She immediately frowned in discomfort.

However, looking at Louis, she sensed he wanted to handle this himself, so she decided not to intervene for the moment.

At this point, Louis had already pushed Mrs. Smith away without hesitation. She stumbled back, her body slightly unsteady.

She glared at Louis with eyes that seemed to want to devour him. But Louis paid her no mind, and his disregard only made Mrs. Smith angrier.

Mason supported his mother, also glaring at Louis with fury.

He scornfully said, "I can't believe how shameless you've become in just a few hours. A man pretending to be weak in front of a girl, don't you feel disgusting?!"

He then looked at Ariana, as if waiting for her to agree with him.

However, Ariana said nothing, merely looking at the Smiths with cold indifference.

Whatever Louis did, she was satisfied.

It only took a glance for her to realize that Louis must have had a difficult time in the Smith household.

A foster mother who yelled and was ready to hit him at any moment, a younger brother who treated him no better than a servant, looking down on and trampling over him.

Thinking about Louis being tormented in such a family for nearly eighteen years made Ariana's heart ache.

And now these shameless people dared to show up at the Astor house...

Ariana's eyes turned icy, and she started planning how to deal with those who had caused her brother so much pain.

At this moment, Mrs. Smith had steadied herself.

Seeing Louis, her anger only grew.

"You bastard!" she suddenly screamed, lunging forward with her hands flailing, as if to scratch Louis's face.

Louis remained still, not making any move.

But just then, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him. It was none other than Ariana.

"Smack!" She raised her hand and without hesitation, delivered a resounding slap to Mrs. Smith's face.

Mrs. Smith was stunned, stopping in her tracks and staring blankly at Ariana.

However, faced with Ariana's cold, emotionless eyes, Mrs. Smith instinctively took a step back, lowering her head, sweat pouring down her face, even forgetting the pain on her cheek.

In her heart, she was lamenting endlessly.

That's right, how could she forget that this was the Astor residence? How dare she cause a scene here like a fool!

It was like a bucket of cold water had been poured over her head, and Mrs. Smith could only bow her head in silence.

Everything fell into a brief silence.

Ariana looked at Louis, about to say something. But at that moment, the sound of many footsteps approached.

The people there turned to see a group emerging from the mansion, led by Louis's father, Vincent. Mr. David seemed to have gone to rest.

The others followed Vincent, their eyes curious as they assessed the Smiths and Louis.

Their gazes showed interest and a hint of gossip, clearly drawn by the commotion.

The servants and the butler almost immediately stepped aside and bowed their heads upon seeing Vincent and the others.

However, Louis remained where he was, which made Mrs. Smith and Mason feel a bit uneasy.

Yet the sight of Vincent, the head of the Astor family, made them temporarily set aside this unease, looking at Vincent with eyes bright and reverent, as if seeing a deity.

Indeed, to the Smith family, the Astor family, and Vincent in particular, were like holy beings.

Vincent, a nationally renowned businessman, was famous not only as the head of the Astor family but also for his exceptional business acumen.

Anyone could know about him through prominent news channels or major global wealth rankings.

Mrs. Smith widened her eyes and enthusiastically greeted Vincent, "Hello, Mr. Vincent. I am Elly Smith, the lady of the Smith Corporation, and this is my son, Mason."

She then nudged Mason to greet him.

Mason quickly gathered himself and said, "Hello, I am Mason."

Sensing his introduction might be too brief, he added confidently, "I have been selected for an internship at the AST Corporation!"

Hearing their introductions, Vincent raised an eyebrow slightly. He recognized them as Louis's foster family.

Thinking of how they had raised Louis for nearly eighteen years, Vincent immediately put on a polite smile.

Normally, he wouldn’t engage in small talk, but at this moment, he replied, "Hello, I am Vincent, head of the Astor family. What brings you here today?"

Hearing Vincent’s polite tone, both Mrs. Smith and Mason felt as if they were dreaming.

Truthfully, they had never expected Vincent to respond to them!

This greatly improved their mood, and a sense of smugness even began to show in their eyes.