Fiona Sutton walked up to Nia Mitchell with a dark expression and took the stack of money from her. "Quite the lavish gesture." Suddenly, Fiona’s face brightened into a radiant smile. Yancy Hastings scoffed even more. Just look at her, acting lofty a moment ago, it’s clear now she simply wanted the money. Fiona, clutching the cash, walked over to Yancy Hastings, smiling gaily at him. "Thanks for the money. I haven’t seen this much cash since I was a little girl." Her radiant smile was extraordinarily dazzling. Even though she hadn’t dressed up, her natural beauty made her smile exceedingly captivating. Yancy Hastings had to admit, the woman before him was rather beautiful when she stayed silent. But once she started talking... her words were grating, to say the least. "HMPH, take the money and scram!" Yancy Hastings waved his hand dismissively and rolled his eyes in disdain. Fiona lowered her head, the smile on her face gradually fading, replaced by a fierce, hardened look. "And what are you so proud of? You were just lucky to be born into aristocracy; your status and position were all given to you by your father." Having said that, Fiona sharply stomped on Yancy Hastings’s foot. Caught off guard by Fiona’s action, Yancy Hastings instinctively raised his hand, wanting to slap her. But seeing her defiant face, his hand stilled mid-air. "This money is your tip." Fiona smacked a handful of banknotes onto his face, showering cash all around in an instant. The atmosphere tensed instantly. Fiona lifted her chin to look at Yancy Hastings, whose face was dark with anger, and turned around with a haughty look. "Nia, let’s go. No matter how they beg, I won’t come to this godforsaken place again." Once Fiona finished speaking, she took Nia’s hand and walked towards the exit. Follow current novᴇls on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✦𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✦𝕟𝕖𝕥 Nia looked embarrassed while being led away. She turned her head to look at Evelyn Peary, showing an apologetic smile. Evelyn Peary returned the smile, waving her hand to show she didn’t mind. Once Nia left, Evelyn Peary turned her head to look at Yancy Hastings, who was still standing there, stunned. "Yancy Hastings, you went too far today." Evelyn Peary stood there without taking a step forward. She had accompanied Yancy to this meal because he had mentioned many unsatisfactory aspects of Madgar Pavilion. She had wanted to experience Lotus Residence for herself. But she had not expected Lotus Residence to turn out this way. The main point was, none of this was the fault of the waitstaff. Yancy Hastings was entirely to blame. "Nia is my sister-in-law, so wipe that sour expression off your face. She doesn’t need you to like her." What Evelyn Peary said here was the plain truth. All that mattered was that her brother Maxwell loved Nia. Others were irrelevant. "Is that what you have to say after so many years without seeing each other?" Yancy Hastings kicked the hundred-dollar bill that had fallen on his foot and walked over to Evelyn Peary. "I think it would be hard for Maxwell not to hear about what happened today." Evelyn Peary looked around at the chaos. "I believe Maxwell must have had a word with you before he left." In Capital Town, before Maxwell left, he had entrusted every reliable person he knew to look after matters. And Yancy Hastings was one of those capable individuals. He had the ability to protect Nia. But is this how he was protecting her? "Evelyn... do you think that crass woman is a good match for Maxwell? Look at how she acted earlier, and even before today, haven’t you seen how crude she is?" She’s even more crude than the wild men in the military camp. "Yancy Hastings, it’s you who needs to change. I think you’ve lost your senses from being in the military camp for too long. Shed your old-fashioned thinking and your machismo too. What was it you said about liking noble, well-bred young ladies? Does any of the ladies at these banquets even catch your eye?"