Chapter 3 Go to Juvenile Detention if You Don't Pay

Nothing could have been more shocking or insulting than the scene before us.

Harper felt ice-cold all over.

Even drugged, Rupert wouldn't sleep with her? He'd rather use Irene's underwear to take care of himself manually.

She took two steps back, the last glimmer of light in her eyes extinguished.

All these years, her pursuit and feelings for him had become nothing but a complete joke.

She was the biggest joke of all!

Harper didn't dare to push open the door, and returned to the room with heavy steps.

Divorce. She had to leave him.

Harper made it through another night with the help of melatonin.

But the next morning, she was awakened by crashing sounds coming from the living room.

"What ugly crap is this? Why is it displayed in the living room? It's seriously hideous."

When Harper came downstairs, she found Jared taking down all the framed artwork from the living room walls.

He had smashed the glass frames and deliberately blackened the carefully crafted images.

Harper's pupils constricted in shock.

These paintings were her debut works, the ones that had first established her reputation in the art world.

Although she had gradually stepped back from the art scene to better help Rupert manage his company, these achievements were real and significant.

The auction prices for her paintings had skyrocketed, but she hadn't been willing to sell them; instead, she carefully hung them in her home as a collection.

Now they were all destroyed, reduced to garbage.

"Trash belongs in the trash can," Jared said, smirking with satisfaction after destroying all the displayed paintings.

He would be the master of this house someday.

What hung on the walls, what was displayed here, would be his decision!

Harper stood on the stairs, coldly watching his every move. "Had enough fun? If not, keep smashing. There are many more paintings like these in the rooms upstairs."

Jared jumped, startled. "Are you serious?"

"Yes." Harper's anger had completely dissipated.

Even though her life's work lay destroyed on the floor, she appeared utterly indifferent as she sat down on the sofa with a calm face.

"Would you like me to show you where the art storage room is?"

Jared couldn't figure out what game Harper was playing with her sudden change in attitude, but he still responded self-righteously.

"Mom says this will be my home from now on, and these ugly things should be destroyed! I'll just throw these out today, and when I'm in a bad mood again, I'll continue with the rest."

Harper nodded expressionlessly. "Since you're done destroying things for now, let's calculate the damages."

She took a calculator from the living room drawer.

"That one under your foot was valued at twenty million at auction."

"The one on your right, let's say eight million."

"And the rest, all had willing buyers at high prices. Since we're family, I'll give you a discount."

"Fifty million."

Harper held up the calculator, showing the figure in front of Jared's face.

"Pay up."

Jared's eyes widened in disbelief, shocked by the long string of digits.

"Your ugly stuff is worth that much? Impossible! Don't think you can trick me just because I'm a kid!"

Jared braced himself, but there was already more than a little wince inside his eyes.

Harper saw it all and couldn't help but smile coldly.

She had always been called a rare genius in the domestic art world.

Her paintings had won countless major awards, and these prices were perfectly normal.

Judging by Jared's reaction, he probably knew exactly how expensive these paintings were.

A child his age wouldn't understand such things on his own—clearly someone was pulling the strings behind him!

"If you don't believe me, I'll have to let the police discuss it with you. Deliberately destroying someone else's valuable property without compensation can land you in jail."

"Or I could call a lawyer right now to calculate exactly how many years in prison these paintings will cost you."

"It doesn't matter that you're still a child—there's juvenile detention for that. After you get out of juvie, you can continue your sentence in prison."

Harper counted on her fingers. "You should regain your freedom around your fiftieth birthday."

Jared's face instantly turned pale. He sat on the floor and burst into loud sobs. "I don't want to go to prison! I don't want to go to prison!"

The crying finally drew Irene's attention. She hurried downstairs and picked Jared up.

"What happened? Jared, tell Mom what happened?"

Jared, hiccupping between sobs, pointed at Harper.

"She wants to send me to prison and make me pay money. I don't want to go to prison!"

Irene glared at Harper with annoyance. "Jared is just a child. How could you frighten him with such things? If this leaves him with psychological trauma, will you take responsibility?"

"It's okay that children didn't know any better, there are his guardians for that." Harper replied.

She pointed at the destroyed paintings on the floor, then at the calculator. "Pay up."

Irene's eyes widened in disbelief, with a hint of barely contained rage.

"Harper, children make mistakes. Are you going to be this petty? Besides, you've been out of the art world for so long—these paintings can't possibly be worth that much anymore."

She took a deep breath. "But considering these were your hard work, I can give you a hundred dollars."

Harper almost laughed out loud at the offer.

When the paintings were worth tens of millions, she hadn't sold them.

Now they thought they could brush her off with a hundred dollars.

Seeing Irene come down to back him up, Jared started to become smug again. "Mom, these aren't worth even a dollar."

"So you're not going to pay, is that right?"

Harper nodded casually and took out her phone to call her assistant. "Find me a lawyer. I want to file a lawsuit for malicious damage to my property."

Irene's pupils constricted. "Harper, are you serious? Is this necessary? You're an adult—do you have to be so vindictive toward a child?"

This was the second time Irene had called her petty.

After hanging up, Harper looked at her calmly.

"I think you're confused. The person I'm suing is you, since you're his primary guardian."

"You—!" The hatred in Irene's eyes was almost overflowing. For days, she had been keeping Harper under her thumb, thinking she had already surrendered, but never expected Harper to have been waiting for this moment.

She was about to say something more when footsteps sounded at the entrance—Rupert was home.

Irene's face instantly transformed into one of hurt, her voice choked with emotion.

"I know you've always wanted to drive me and my child away, but I'm only staying here temporarily because I have no choice. If you have issues with me, you can take them up with me directly. Why target an innocent child?"

"You even threatened Jared with prison?" Jared joined in with loud crying.

Rupert's face immediately darkened. "What's going on here?"