Chapter 465

In the car, James began, "I'm sure Uncle Oliver didn't give you the whole story. The man who insulted my mom was Henry. He's her half-brother, but he's also an illegitimate son. "Terence had only one daughter with his first wife, and all his other children were from mistresses. My mom and Henry are both among them, but since Terence only has one son, Henry became the sole heir, raised in luxury to carry on the family name. "Yet, Henry inherited all of Terence's worst traits. He drank, gambled, and had a terrible temper. By the time he was ten, Terence was already teaching him to hit my mom, insisting that hitting a woman was what made a man strong. "My mom was treated worse than a maid in the Stone family—at least the maids got paid. She served them and took the beatings too." As he spoke, James' fists clenched, his gaze fixed on two men inside the café, hatred simmering in his eyes. "When my mom got married and returned home for the first time, the Stones shut the door i