Reborn, She's Back for Revenge novel Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Karen sat in her chair, rubbing her brow wearily.

She’d been busy all day trying to deal with the Crawford family’s mess, but came back empty–handed.

The evidence of their failing to pay taxes was solid and already on file. There was no way to sweep it under the rug. All they could do was do the best they could.

The Crawford factory only made a few million dollars a year, so the taxes they failed to pay wouldn’t be that much. But sentencing was based on the percentage of back taxes.

Her brother had failed to pay about 350 thousand dollars over the years, which was half of what he owed. He would be sentenced to about five years in prison.

On top of that, they had to pay back the taxes and get fined.

The Crawford factory couldn’t shut down. If it did, the rest of the family would be doomed.

But the Crawford family spent the past seven years eating, drinking, and having fun. They didn’t save a single cent. The back taxes plus fines add up to 1.6 million dollars.

And Henry’s case needed another 1.6 million dollars to smooth things over. In other words, she had to scrape together 3.2 million dollars in just three days.

That was a massive sum of money, even for the Lovett family.

Vincent would never fork over another cent to bail the Crawfords–out. She was on her own now.

Fortunately, she’d always kept a backup plan for herself. Over the years, she’d squirreled away more than 1.6 million dollars. She planned to use the money to expand her beauty salon, but now she had no choice but to use it for this emergency.

Watching years of saved cash vanish in an instant, Karen could barely control his anger.

“Edith!” said Karen through gritted teeth.

She thought, ‘It was my own fault for underestimating that little brat. That’s why she keeps pushing my limits again and again.

‘That little brat always keeps an eye on me. No matter what I do, she somehow manages to see it coming. I have to send someone else to deal with her this time.‘

Then Karen got up and walked to the next room.

She knocked softly, and Joseph’s voice came from inside. “Come in.”

“Joseph, you’re working so hard,” Karen said with a warm smile as she walked over to Joseph’s desk and put a glass of milk in front of him. “Have some milk and take a break. You look gaunt,” Karen continued.

Joseph downed the milk in one gulp and politely said, “Thank you.”

“My pleasure. I’m your mom,” Karen replied with a smile and reached out to ruffle his hair.

Joseph was somewhat resistant to her touch.

But after all, Karen had been the one who raised him, so he stayed seated, not moving away.

Karen sat down beside Joseph and said softly, “Joseph, you know, you haven’t called me Mom for a long time.

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Chapter 82

“Back when Edith got sick, I was the one who suggested sending her back home to recover. I know she resents me for it. Has the cald something to your Is that why you’ve been so distant with me lately?”

Joseph frowned, “No.”

Edith had never talked badly about Karen in front of him.

But he knew the tensions between Edith and Karen, and between Edith and Hallie too.

Joseph thought, ‘Honestly, before Edith came back, I didn’t like her at all. I was seriously resistant to her presence.

‘But it had only been two weeks. How did I end up getting along so well with her?

‘Well, not really getting along. Edith forces me to do homework every day. I’d become an emotionless homework robot.

Karen sighed, “You and Edith are brother and sister, so you feel closer you like my own kid. I love you, so please don’t keep me away.”

Joseph began to think back.

to

her. I understand you. But Joseph, you have to believe me. I’ve always treated

He thought, ‘As long as I could remember, Karen had never treated me badly. She always let me have whatever I wanted, and she never let me down.

‘One time when my dad tried to hit me, it was Karen who stepped in to protect me.

‘She is always good to me, but I never felt close to her. Is it because we aren’t related?‘

“Hallie cares about you too,” Karen said, ruffling his hair again. “Do you have any difficulty with your lessons? I’ll have Hallie help you.”

She called out, “Hallie, are you done? Come over and help Joseph with his homework.”

Hallie had been staring at her exercise book for a long time. She was happy to take a break. Soon, she walked into Joseph’s room and started helping him with his homework.

“Joseph, you got this one wrong,” Hallie said and quickly wrote the solution down on the paper. “See? It’s easy. Just copy it as I told you.”

Joseph’s brow furrowed.

He thought, ‘Copying the answer doesn’t mean I can solve the problem. It is just about getting the task done.

‘Was copying answers really going to help me improve my grades?‘

Joseph didn’t realize that he sat here obediently doing his homework because he wanted to deal with Edith.

But now, with someone else helping him, he felt a twinge of annoyance.

He looked up and forced a smile, “Thanks, Hallie. I get it.”

Just as he said that, Edith was walking past his door.

When she got home and saw the empty living room, she went straight upstairs to look for Joseph, only to see an unpleasant scene.

Joseph sat at his desk while Hallie was helping him with his homework, and Karen stood by with a smile. They looked sweet.

Edith slipped the chocolate back into her pocket.

The magical chocolate from the system was meant to be a reward for Joseph, but now, she was not using it.

But she wasn’t about to give Karen any chance to drive a wedge between them.

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Chapter 82

She stood at the doorway and knocked loudly.

Joseph turned his head and broke into a smile. “Edith, you’re back,” Joseph exclaimed.

Edith said calmly, “Did you finish your homework?”

Karen started, “Edith, aren’t you being too hard on Joseph? He’s just a kid. What he has to do now is have fun. Every kid deserves a happy childhood, right?”

“All I know is, if you don’t work hard, someone else will call the shots in your life,” Edith said and turned to Joseph, “Where’s your homework?”

Joseph had finished long ago, so he quickly handed it over to Edith.

Edith glanced over it, tapping the page with her finger. “This one, this one, and this one are wrong. Do them over and bring them back to me when you’re done.”

With that, she turned and walked back to her room.

Karen was livid. She thought, ‘That little brat didn’t show any respect to me.’

“Joseph, did you see how Edith treated me? She really got me wrong. What do you think I should do?” said Karen.

“I’m just a nine–year–old kid. This isn’t something I

I can deal with. Please leave. I need to finish my homework,” said Joseph as he opened his textbook.

Hallie smiled and said gently, “Joseph, I can help you.”

“No, thanks. I want to finish it by myself,” Joseph replied.

Hearing that, Karen and Hallie left.

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