William wasn't the type to care about repaying life-saving debts. And even if he did, he owed his life to Irvin, not the Hardwells.
If Magnus had genuinely been heartbroken over Irvin, William could give him the project he wanted. But with the way he was acting now, why should William give it to him for nothing?
Magnus clearly hadn't expected that response. Disgruntled, he argued, "Irvin got seriously injured to save you two!"
He couldn't understand how someone could be so ungrateful.
"So what? It's not like I asked him to save me," William retorted.
His expression screamed, "Yes, I'm ungrateful. But so what? What are you going to do about it?"
William's attitude infuriated Magnus. He sputtered indignantly but couldn't think of a comeback. In the end, he turned to me instead.
"Irvin is in this mess because he wanted to save you, Emilia! If you have even a shred of conscience, you shouldn't be treating me, his father, like this!" Magnus shouted.
He was trying to use me to manipulate William into ultimately agreeing to give him the project. Unfortunately for him, I wasn't some saint, either.
Yes, Irvin did get hurt while saving me. But what did that have to do with Magnus? He didn't even care about his own son, so why should I care about him?
I looked him in the eye and said the same thing William had. "So what? It's not like I asked him to save me."
My ingratitude hit Magnus harder than William's had. It made him go back to sputtering from outrage. He truly hadn't expected either of us—especially me—to be so ungrateful and heartless.
"It's rare to come across a mother like you. I bet you were even secretly happy when you heard the news. You were probably glad something had happened to Irvin because you wouldn't have to get your hands dirty!"
I had studied psychology, and Mom was also a piece of work. So, even though I hadn't seen Agatha's reaction when she had first heard the news about Irvin, I could still guess what she had felt in that moment.
I added, "You're a pathetic excuse for a mother. Yet, you demand justice for Irvin and act as though you love him so much. That is honestly disgusting! You make me sick! Someone like you has no right to criticize others!"
I used to think Mom was already the worst mother out there. But it turned out Irvin's mother was actually even worse.
I didn't know if it was a cruel twist of fate or something else, but Irvin and I somehow both ended up having the worst possible blood family members.
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