Chapter 151: Chapter 151: Why Are You Yelling at Me?
Jade Coleman didn’t mind Mark’s slightly indifferent attitude, her smile growing even deeper.
After greeting the others, Jade nodded softly to her daughter and Ashley Shaw, saying "You’re here," before bending down to change into slippers.
Ashley Shaw observed Jade’s clearly preferential treatment, fully understanding why Ariana Grant insisted on bringing her along.
Hailey Hayes may be a bit impolite, but it wouldn’t cause someone as good-natured as Ariana Grant to lose her composure.
What truly upset Ariana was her own mother’s attitude.
Treating her newly-formed family better than her own flesh and blood—no matter how strong, even someone like Ariana couldn’t withstand such favoritism.
Ashley Shaw squeezed the hem of Ariana’s clothes, signaling with this gesture that she had her support.
Ariana Grant smiled, pretending her mother’s attitude didn’t affect her, but Ashley could clearly see the sadness in her eyes.
However, Ashley soon saw Ariana pull herself together, walking over to ask her mom, "Where’s Hailey? Didn’t she go to pick you up?"
"Hailey’s parking the electric cart and should be up any moment now."
"Oh..." Ariana responded, casting Ashley a glance that said, "Wait and see what happens."
Initially, Ashley was a bit reluctant to assist Ariana in this dramatic showdown, but after seeing the forlorn look in Ariana’s eyes, she readily agreed to help.
After all, no one from the Prescott Family was here, so helping Ariana put on a show had no downside and would cheer up her friend—why not?
At this moment, footsteps could be heard coming from the stairs outside.
Ashley Shaw took a few steps toward the door.
When Hailey Hayes entered, Ashley was about to speak, but Hailey spoke first.
"Ah! You’re here!?"
Ashley thought Hailey was talking to her and was puzzled until she saw Hailey push past her to rush over to Assistant Lowell.
"Cousin, I thought you were too busy with work to come!"
Mark Lowell smiled, "It’s your birthday; as your cousin, how could I not come? Happy birthday."
After saying this, perhaps due to Ashley’s presence, Mark didn’t say much more.
Since the two rarely interacted, Hailey didn’t notice her cousin was speaking less than usual today.
She simply beamed with satisfaction, saying, "Thank you, Cousin!"
Assistant Lowell forced a slight smile, which seemed a bit stiff, and there was a trace of confusion in his eyes.
How strange, his cousin usually didn’t contact him much and only nodded briefly when meeting him—now she was calling him cousin at every turn as if they were particularly close.
On the other side, Ariana signaled to Ashley, reminding her that it was time to put on a show.
However, Ashley had already missed the perfect chance when Hailey first came in.
Speaking up now would directly embarrass Assistant Lowell.
Ashley didn’t know how important Mark was to Warren Prescott, but she was sure that once Warren took over the Prescott Group, Mark would be his most valued subordinate. If she embarrassed Mark now, what if he held a grudge?
But she couldn’t refuse to help Ariana put on this act.
After all, as the saying goes, friends stick together through thick and thin. Not helping her put on a show might disqualify her from calling herself Ariana’s sister.
In that moment, Ashley found herself in a dilemma.
Just as Ashley was troubled, Hailey suddenly spoke up in a soft voice.
"Cousin, we haven’t seen each other in ages, could you help me with something?"
Before Mark could reply, Mrs. Lowell cheerfully interjected, "It’s your special day, whatever you ask for, your cousin will certainly agree!"
Ashley and Ariana both looked on, curious about what Hailey was planning this time.
Hailey suddenly turned toward Ashley.
As their eyes met unexpectedly, Ashley instinctively looked away.
The next moment, Hailey reached over and held Ashley’s hand.
"What are you doing?" Ashley asked instinctively.
"Don’t worry, it’s to your benefit!" Hailey declared, practically dragging her over to Assistant Lowell.
As they approached, Hailey said, "Cousin, this is Ashley Shaw—sort of a friend of mine."
Mark thought Hailey had simply forgotten to introduce a guest, and was about to say he already knew Ashley, when Hailey beat him to it—
"Cousin, Ashley’s family is extremely struggling, they can’t even afford college tuition, so after the entrance exam, she had no choice but to deliver food. She was the one who delivered my cake this morning; I didn’t expect her to be Ariana’s friend."
"Stru-struggling?" Mark Lowell’s mouth twitched slightly.
As far as he knew, after Ashley severed ties with the Prescott Family, Elder Prescott continued to spoil her like a treasure. If she were truly struggling, she could have gone to Elder Prescott for help.
Had Hailey misunderstood something?
"Yeah!" Hailey responded quickly, not waiting for Mark to explain, she continued, "So the favor I wanted to ask was this. Could you, as a favor to me, sponsor Ashley’s education?"
After speaking, Hailey felt like a hero, as if she was radiating righteousness and nobility.
She helped Ariana’s friend, whereas Ariana herself couldn’t do anything about her friend’s plight—this time, she had thoroughly outdone Ariana!
But Assistant Lowell’s face instantly turned pale, as if all the blood was being drained from his body.
Him? Sponsor Ashley Shaw? Forget Elder Prescott, even Mr. Prescott Jr. would tear him to pieces!
What on earth was Hailey blabbering about?
"Hailey, you’ve misunderstood, Miss Shaw’s family isn’t as struggling as you think," he dared not look at Ashley’s expression, merely bracing himself to explain to Hailey.
But Hailey thought her cousin was reluctant to help Ashley.
She was about to persuade him further when a "pfft" sound was heard.
Following the sound, she saw Ariana with a face trying but failing to suppress laughter.
"Why are you laughing?" Hailey asked, slightly annoyed.
"Hailey! Just stop!"
Kevin Hayes had been helping Jade Coleman arrange things and hadn’t paid attention to what was happening. Hearing the last bit about "sponsoring Ashley Shaw," he suddenly put down what he was holding, walked over with a stern face, and said, "If you have nothing better to do, help Mrs. Coleman with the cold dishes, instead of staying here spouting nonsense!"
Hailey stared in disbelief, unable to believe her ears.
"Dad, you’re scolding me?"
Her mom had passed away early on, and her dad had always doted on her, never scolding her, not even once.
But today, at her birthday party, in front of so many people, her dad suddenly and inexplicably scolded her?
The more Hailey thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt. Before she could even speak, tears started to flow.
"Why are you scolding me!? I was just trying to ask Cousin to help someone in need, why are you reprimanding me!"