Sure enough, Rayson’s heart instantly sank after hearing what Carlos said.

He had come here today to demand an explanation from the Stones. Carlos had clearly promised to marry Maddy to his son Cody, and they had agreed to get their marriage license today. Yet Carlos not only didn’t send Maddy over but instead said that he would pick another female member of the family to marry his son.

What did he take Rayson and Cody for?

In his opinion, being able to marry his son was already the fortune of a second-class family like the Stones. Carlos was simply ignorant!

Thus, Rayson had planned to teach the Stones a hard lesson, take Maddy away, and force her to marry his son immediately.

But Rayson actually heard from Carlos that Maddy, whom he wanted to make his daughter-in-law, was actually close friends with Lucas!

Wh-what should I do now?

In that case, it seemed that his plan to take Maddy away by force and make her his daughter-in-law would fall through. Finding trouble with the Stones would be impossible too.

Rayson gritted his teeth and forced himself to smile. Just as he was about to give Carlos an out, Lucas glanced at him and asked coldly, “What does my close friendship with Maddy have to do with the Stones?”

Carlos instantly froze in shock. He didn’t expect that Lucas, who was polite to him previously, wouldn’t care about what he said and directly say that he had nothing to do with the Stones.

Seeing Rayson looking over hostilely, Carlos frantically asked, “Mr. Gray, when you were here at the Stones’ previously, you personally promised to keep the family safe and also to bring us to greater glory in the future! Have you forgotten?”

Lucas sneered. “I naturally remember what I said, but I also remember saying that I’ll protect the Stones on the condition that Maddy is part of the family!

“Now that Maddy has been kicked out of the Stones and severed all ties with you, she no longer has anything to do with the Stones. So what makes you think that I’d still protect you?”

Lucas’s words were extremely cold, as if they were a hammer pounding Carlos’s head ruthlessly!

Indeed, Maddy had already been kicked out of the family and no longer had anything to do with the Stones. But if Lucas refused to help them, what would happen to them?

After thinking about it for a long time, Carlos bit the bullet and said stubbornly, “Uh… I-I don’t care. Anyway, Maddy and Jordan are the ones who caused the trouble today, so they should be the ones to resolve it. It has nothing to do with the Stones!”

Then he looked at Rayson and said, “Mr. William, you’ve already heard it yourself. Maddy indeed has nothing to do with the Stones anymore. If you want an explanation, go look for her. She’s right there!”

Carlos pointed to Maddy, for fear that Rayson would find the wrong person.

In his opinion, Lucas could leave the Stones alone, but he couldn’t leave Maddy and Jordan in the lurch!

Since they were the ones who caused the trouble, they should be the ones to deal with it!

When Lucas heard what Carlos said, anger surged in his heart, and he wanted to slap him.

Carlos was itching for a beating!

What Lucas said earlier was very clear. As long as Maddy was still related to the Stones, he would definitely protect them. If Carlos had a little more common sense, he would have been able to understand what Lucas meant.

Yet Carlos refused to swallow his pride and compromise to allow Maddy back into the family. He even pushed all the blame on her and told Rayson to take his anger out on her!

He wasn’t acting like a father at all!

Maddy looked deeply at her father with immense disappointment in her eyes and a touch of self-mockery for herself.

She found it ridiculous that she actually felt some hope for her father!

Lucas sneered. “Carlos Stone, you’re really stupid! If you say that the incident with the Bransons has to do with Maddy, then whatever. We’ll take care of it on our own. But you’re the one who provoked the Williams. It has nothing to do with Maddy!

“Even if the Williams want to deal with you, you should face their wrath and handle the matter yourself!”

Hearing this, the Stones immediately panicked.

Lucas made sense. Since Maddy had already been kicked out by the Stones and never agreed to marry Cody, Carlos was the one who caused the trouble. In that case, what were they supposed to do now that the Williams were coming after them?

“Carlos, hurry up and come up with a solution. What should we do?”

The Stones surrounded Carlos in panic.

Suddenly, a family member said, “Mr. Gray said that he won’t help us because Maddy is no longer related to us. But if she’s still one of us, he probably won’t leave us in the lurch, right?”

“Yes, that’s it! Carlos, you’d better hurry up and get Maddy to return to the family. Retract your previous orders!”

“Yes! Carlos, no matter what, Maddy is your daughter and our family member. At the time, we persuaded you not to drive her out, but you refused to listen. Now, the only solution is to get Maddy to return to the family!”

“As long as Maddy returns to the family, Mr. Gray will definitely help us. Carlos, hurry up and get Maddy to come back!”

…

The Stones persuaded Carlos incessantly.

But after Maddy heard what these family members said, her heart was full of disappointment. Looking at their faces, for the first time, she found them shameless and disgusting.

When Carlos wanted to sever ties with her to protect the Stones, they all supported him and eagerly wanted her to sever ties with the Stones so that they wouldn’t be implicated.

Later, when she returned to the Stone residence, they had suggested tying her and sending her to the Bransons to let them deal with her or sending her to the Williams to marry the intellectually handicapped and violent Cody. Some even wanted to kill her so that she wouldn’t have the chance to bring trouble to the family again.

But after learning that Maddy had two strong backers, Florence and Lucas, they immediately wanted her to return to the family.

The sudden change in attitude was entirely based on pros and cons. It had nothing to do with kinship.

Her family was terrifyingly heartless!

Looking at them, Maddy felt her heart bleed.