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Chapter 50: Chapter 50: A Toad Critiques Humans

”Don’t think you can fool me again.” Chloe shook her hand off, her voice cold. ”I might be gullible, but I won’t let the same person trick me again and again.”

Mia’s eyes reddened with tears. She stepped forward, opening her mouth to explain, but froze when Chloe shot her a glare.

Chloe turned and hurried back, afraid someone might be bullying Lynn.

Lynn leaned against a round table, sipping her wine. She glanced around with an air of boredom at the guests, who were all staring at her with odd expressions.

Everyone invited was a prominent young master or lady from Quartos society, all of whom knew how to have a good time. They were currently gathered in small groups, making Lynn, who stood alone in their midst, look like a complete outsider.

She couldn’t be bothered to care. She wasn’t worried about Chloe being deceived by Mia’s silver tongue again, either. She was just bored.

Right on cue, the entertainment arrived.

A man in a suit walked over, his hair slicked back and his face greasy. He radiated an air of overconfidence.

Lynn blinked, watching him approach. He said condescendingly, ”Miss Winslow, I presume?”

”Mm, I am. And you are?”

The man scoffed. ”I’m Mr. Goldsmith, the heir to the Goldsmith Group of Quartos.”

”Oh, wow. How impressive,” Lynn said, setting her wine glass on the table. A smile played on her lips as she clapped softly.

Not far away, Liam Clayton watched them with narrowed eyes, casually sipping his wine.

’Whose idiot is this, anyway? And how did he even get in?’

Liam thought hard for a moment.

’Ah, the Goldsmith family. We sent them an invitation because of a recent business partnership.’

’But he wasn’t going to interfere. They said the Winslow family’s only daughter was every bit as spoiled and arrogant as his own sister. He was curious to see how she would handle this.’

Mr. Goldsmith grew even more self-assured. He brazenly looked Lynn up and down and said arrogantly, ”Good that you know. Miss Winslow, I’ve heard you have a bad reputation for throwing your weight around. I don’t mind all that. Even though you used to be with Ian, I’m willing to accept you. Why don’t you come with me? At the very least, people in Quartos will show you some respect.”

Upon hearing this, Lynn gripped the edge of the table, her slender fingers digging in. She bent over, her head lowered, her delicate frame trembling uncontrollably.

The onlookers were completely bewildered. All they could hear was the sound of Lynn’s laughter spilling out, reaching the ears of everyone nearby.

”Wait, hold on.” Lynn waved a hand, forcing down her laughter before smiling faintly. ”Since when are toads allowed to critique humans?”

Mr. Goldsmith’s brow furrowed. ”How dare you mock me?!” he fumed.

”And what if I am mocking you?” Lynn slowly straightened up, her eyes growing cold as she took a soft step forward in her high heels. ”Forget about you being some whatever-heir of the Goldsmith family. Of all the people here who can’t stand me, which one of them would dare criticize me to my face?”

Her lips curved slightly. ”You’re the only one this stupid.”

Humiliated and enraged, Mr. Goldsmith raised his hand to strike her. Lynn’s hand shot up, grabbing his wrist with a deft twist. Mr. Goldsmith let out a pained AARGH! as Lynn viciously stomped her high heel onto his instep. While he was reeling from the pain, she kicked him again.

Mr. Goldsmith’s shriek was loud. He staggered back a step and fell to the ground, clutching the spot where she’d kicked him as he writhed in pain.

Lynn paid him no mind, instead looking down to adjust her gown. ”Dresses are so cumbersome,” she muttered in disgust.

The room fell dead silent. Everyone was afraid to speak, lest they provoke the ruthless Miss Winslow.

Mr. Goldsmith groaned in pain, gritting his teeth. ”I’m not letting you get away with this.”

Lynn looked down at him, her demeanor shifting back to that of a gentle, docile young lady. ”You should be more worried about whether the Winslow family will let the Goldsmith family off the hook,” she said softly.

Only then did Liam step forward. He walked up slowly and said to the security guards, ”Take him away.”

The guards moved in, grabbing Mr. Goldsmith by the arms and dragging him roughly out of the Clayton Estate. The Goldsmith family’s chauffeur was chatting with some other drivers when he caught sight of a figure being thrown to the ground. Recognizing his young master, he rushed over.

”Sir! Sir! What happened?” he asked, helping Mr. Goldsmith to his feet and demanding an explanation from the guards.

The guard looked down and sneered. ”Mr. Goldsmith, you’ve ruined our Miss’s birthday party. Mr. Clayton will be paying your family a personal visit about this.”

Mr. Goldsmith was sweating profusely from the pain, his lips pale. ”No, no, no, it wasn’t me!” he said with difficulty. ”It was that bitch who hit me! Why would Mr. Clayton come after my family?”

The guard gave him a contemptuous, mocking smile before turning to leave.

On her way back, Chloe ran into the two guards dragging Mr. Goldsmith away. When they told her what had happened, she was so furious that she landed a kick of her own.

The message the guard had delivered was also on Chloe’s orders.

She quickened her pace. The other guests were staring at Lynn as if she were some kind of monster. ”What are you all looking at?” Chloe snapped. ”Lynn is my guest!”

Lynn just gave her an unconcerned smile. Chloe walked up to her and said guiltily, ”This is all my fault. I never should have gone to see Mia. If I hadn’t, that idiot wouldn’t have bothered you.”

Lynn chuckled. ”You know my reputation. Did you really think I’d let him just bully me? I’d have already dealt with him myself.”

Chloe was stunned. She had assumed her brother had someone beat Mr. Goldsmith up. She never imagined that Lynn—who looked like she couldn’t even harm a fly—had done it herself.

”What’s wrong? Think I can’t handle myself?”

”No, no!” Chloe shook her head frantically. ”It’s just... you don’t look like the type of person who would get into a fight.”

”My grandfather was worried I’d get bullied, so he had me learn judo with my childhood friends when I was little.” Lynn shrugged. ”I’m not that great. I only ever made it to white belt.”

Chloe swallowed hard, remembering how she’d mocked Lynn before. She felt a wave of relief that she hadn’t gotten beaten up too.

Watching his transparent sister, a flicker of amusement crossed Liam’s eyes. He stepped forward and said to Lynn, ”Miss Winslow, this incident was an oversight on our family’s part. I will personally visit you to apologize.”

Lynn’s lips curved. ”No need. I’ve already dealt with it myself.” She glanced toward the main gate and added wistfully, ”It’s a shame, though. He probably won’t be able to be a man anymore.”

Her voice was low, and only the Clayton siblings heard her clearly. An inexplicable chill ran down Liam’s spine, but Chloe just stared at Lynn with a look of pure admiration.

”Lynn, can you teach me?”

Chloe had a bad reputation in Quartos, but she’d never actually fought anyone herself—she had plenty of lackeys to do that for her. Seeing how formidable Lynn was, she genuinely wanted to learn.

Lynn gave her a puzzled look. ’This Miss Clayton is different from how she was in the original story,’ she thought. ’She seems a bit dense, and she’s getting friendly way too fast.’

’Could my rebirth have changed the original story?’

Lynn nodded. Just as she was about to speak, a security guard hurried over and whispered something to Liam.

Liam’s expression tensed slightly. Then he said, ”Show him in.”