Chapter 221: The meter has spoken

"Julianna?" Dorothy murmured, her brows furrowing as she watched her daughter approach.

Julianna stopped in front of her, breathless and visibly distressed.

"Mom, what’s happening? Why have they sealed the mansion?"

After all this time, Julianna had finally decided to show up, only to find her entire world falling apart.

She waited for Dorothy to answer, but instead, a sharp slap landed across her face, leaving her completely stunned.

"This is all your fault!" Dorothy snapped, finally losing her temper.

Julianna slowly turned her face back, her cheek burning from the impact.

All this time, Dorothy had believed Julianna was a clever girl who would make her proud. She had trusted her judgment and supported her decisions, never imagining that one reckless mistake would end up destroying their entire family.

A stinging pain spread across Julianna’s cheek as she slowly looked up at her mother.

Dorothy was seething.

"You ruined everything!" she shouted. "Do you even understand what you’ve done?"

Julianna opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Before she could defend herself, Dorothy raised her hand again.

This time, Julianna instinctively flinched and shrank back.

"Mom..."

"You lied to us! You said you have everything in control, and yet you dragged your father into this mess, and now look where we are!" Dorothy’s voice trembled with anger. "Your father is in prison, Hayes Enterprise is collapsing, and we’ve lost the mansion!"

"I didn’t mean for any of this to happen," Julianna whispered.

"But it did!" Dorothy shot back.

Julianna lowered her eyes, her confidence completely shattered. But after a moment, she composed herself and looked back at her mother.

"Mom, this is all Clara’s fault. She’s the reason everything happened."

Even now, Julianna tried to shift the blame onto Clara, refusing to accept that her own choices had set their downfall in motion.

Dorothy let out a bitter scoff.

"You still think this is her fault?"

Julianna froze at the mocking tone in her mother’s voice.

Dorothy had never spoken to her like this before. She had always supported Julianna, defended her, and stood by her decisions no matter how questionable they were.

But now, there was something different in her eyes.

Disappointment. And that hurt far more than the slap.

Julianna clenched her fists, forcing herself to remain calm. She wanted to argue, but the words refused to come out.

For the first time, she couldn’t bring herself to challenge her mother.

Dorothy stared at her for a few seconds before suddenly asking, "Where have you been these past two days?"

Julianna’s expression stiffened.

"And why was your phone switched off?"

Dorothy had originally intended to confront her daughter about everything that had happened to Vincent. But Julianna had disappeared immediately afterward and hadn’t returned home.

Now that she was finally standing in front of her, Dorothy wanted answers.

"I..." Julianna hesitated.

She couldn’t exactly tell her mother that she had been staying with Alex.

Especially after Alex had thrown her out.

Dorothy narrowed her eyes.

"You disappeared without a word while your father was being investigated, and you didn’t even bother answering my calls."

"I had things to deal with," Julianna muttered.

"Things?" Dorothy repeated coldly. "What could possibly have been more important than your family falling apart?"

Julianna lowered her gaze again. She had no answer that wouldn’t make things worse.

Dorothy’s eyes narrowed as she watched Julianna remain silent. Before she could question her again, another voice came from the side.

"Finally, your mother showed up. I was starting to think I’d be spending the entire night here."

Dorothy turned toward the voice and saw the taxi driver standing nearby, his arms folded impatiently.

She looked at the man, then back at Julianna.

"Who is he?" Dorothy asked.

Julianna pursed her lips, clearly embarrassed.

The driver answered before she could.

"Well, your daughter refused to pay the fare for the taxi she hired to get here. She kept telling me that her mother would come and pay me."

He gestured toward Julianna.

"So I followed her here. And now that you’ve finally arrived, I’m hoping you really are the mother she kept talking about."

Dorothy stared at him in disbelief.

Then she slowly turned toward Julianna.

"You didn’t pay the taxi fare?"

Julianna’s face flushed.

"I told him I didn’t have any cash with me."

The driver immediately shook his head.

"Not exactly. She told me she owned this mansion and could make my life miserable if I didn’t stop bothering her."

Dorothy’s eyes widened.

Julianna shot him an angry glare.

"Why are you telling her that?"

"Because you threatened me over a taxi fare," he replied matter-of-factly. "I thought your mother deserved to know."

Dorothy closed her eyes for a moment, clearly struggling to process the situation.

Her family had lost their company.

Their mansion had been seized.

Vincent was in prison.

And now her daughter couldn’t even pay for a taxi.

When she opened her eyes again, she looked at Julianna with utter disbelief.

"Of all the problems we have right now, you decided to add an unpaid taxi fare to the list?"

"Mom..."

The driver cleared his throat.

"Sorry to interrupt the family drama, but I’d still like my money."

Dorothy let out a long sigh.

"Fine. How much?" Dorothy asked, already reaching for her purse.

The taxi driver immediately brightened.

"For the entire day? That’ll be 200 dollars."

Dorothy froze.

"200 dollars?"

"Yes, ma’am."

Julianna’s eyes widened.

"You’ve got to be kidding me!"

The driver shrugged innocently. "You told me to wait while you went inside to get the money. I waited. The meter kept running."

Dorothy stared at him in disbelief.

"You left the meter running for an entire day?"

"Well, she said you were coming right back."

"I thought it was just a fare for the drive," Julianna voiced

The driver folded his arms.

"That’s not my problem. I had a passenger sitting in my taxi, and the meter was running."

Julianna stepped forward angrily.

"I wasn’t sitting in your taxi!"

"No, you weren’t," he agreed. "But you also never told me I could leave. In fact, you kept saying your mother would come and pay."

Dorothy slowly turned toward Julianna.

"Is this true?"

Julianna looked away.

"Technically..."

"Don’t say technically," Dorothy snapped.

The driver cleared his throat.

"So, if we could settle the 200 dollars, I’d really appreciate it. I’ve already wasted an entire day waiting here."

Dorothy’s jaw tightened. She reached into her purse, only to stop when she realized just how little cash she had left.

The driver noticed her hesitation.

"Please don’t tell me you don’t have that either."

Dorothy’s face turned pale.

She had lost her company, her mansion, and almost everything else.

And now she was standing outside her own seized home, arguing with a taxi driver over 200 dollars.

Julianna quietly muttered, "Maybe we can negotiate..."

The driver immediately shook his head.

"No discounts. The meter has spoken."

Dorothy closed her eyes.

For the first time, she wondered if her life could possibly get any worse.