From Forgotten Wife To Fierce Queen - Chapter 358: Chapter 358

Right now, Paisley felt like she was falling apart. She thought, 'If I've committed a crime, then let the law punish me. Or better yet, just let the heavens strike me down with lightning. Anything would be better than dealing with this situation at Serena's kindergarten.'
To keep the sports day running smoothly, Paisley pulled everyone involved with her to the side.
"You guys—" Paisley glared at the group of people who shouldn't even be here, grinding her teeth. "Why are all of you here?"
She felt like a clown at a kindergarten circus, with all the parents, teachers, and students staring at her.
"Mommy." As soon as Serena saw her, Max and Tyson didn't matter anymore. Serena just wanted Paisley to hold her.
Grayson hadn't seen Paisley for a while either. The moment he spotted Paisley, he walked straight to her.
Serena and Grayson grabbed onto Paisley, one on each side, completely ignoring the other adults. Right now, all they cared about was their mom.
Maria, who had just snapped out of her shock, saw that Paisley was upset and quickly explained, "I called Mr. Godard and asked them to come.
"I saw you handling the sports day all by yourself with the kids, and it just... it just didn't feel right. I wanted to give you a surprise. I didn't expect things to turn out like this."
Paisley twitched the corner of her mouth but couldn't really get mad at Maria. After all, Maria had good intentions.
Not wanting Paisley to take out her frustration on him, Nathaniel quickly stepped up. "I only came because Tyson's flight got delayed. He was worried he wouldn't make it to Rena's sports day and was afraid you two would get bullied, so he sent me ahead to check things out."
As he spoke, Nathaniel shot a knowing smirk at Dominick. "Uncle and I have legit reasons for being here. Can't say the same for some other people, though."
Dominick, of course, caught the meaning behind Nathaniel's words. He shot him a cold glance. "Paisy—"
But before Dominick could finish, Lauren walked over and cut in. "Paisy, I'm just gonna say it—you're really not doing a great job as a mom. You didn't even know Rena was being bullied at kindergarten!"
"Rena was bullied?" Paisley had no idea. She had noticed Serena was feeling down, but she thought it was just because of the sports day.
Plus, she'd asked Sophia about it, and Sophia hadn't mentioned anything.
Lauren said, "Yeah, she's been bullied. Ever since she got back to kindergarten, a kid named Jasper has been leading the class in excluding her.
"He keeps pulling her hair and stepping on her heels. Rena told Sonny about it, and ever since then, Sonny's been working out every day, saying he has to stand up for his little sister."
Hearing that Grayson had been training just to protect Serena, Paisley looked down at him.
Under Paisley's gaze, Grayson pursed his lips in embarrassment. He scratched his head and mumbled, "I'm her brother."
Lauren's face lit up with pride. She thought, 'Sonny's my grandson, after all. Who said I wasn't worthy of a good offspring?'
Lauren said, "I noticed something was off with Sonny, so I asked him about it. That's how I found out Rena was being bullied.
"As her biological grandmother, and Dom as her biological father, of course, we're here to stand up for her. It's only right. We just didn't expect to run into the sports day."
Truthfully, Lauren still resented Paisley for not forgiving Dominick and keeping them from seeing Serena. But no matter what had happened in the past, she knew their family had been in the wrong. That was why she hadn't dared to stand tall in front of Paisley for a long time.
But this time was different. This time, Lauren was the one who noticed something was wrong first. She was the one who insisted on coming to protect her granddaughter and put the Gough family in their place.
And yet, Paisley, as Serena's mother, had no idea Serena had been bullied for so long. She had been too busy with work to properly take care of her daughter. Even on such an important day, she had shown up late.
At least this time, on this matter, Lauren felt she could finally stand tall in front of Paisley.
"So, are you here to call me out or something?" Paisley asked, her face emotionless.
Lauren hesitated. "No, what I mean is... You, as a mom, didn't notice your kid was being bullied, but I did, so I—"
"So what?" Tyson walked over, his expression dark. "So you think Paisy isn't fit to raise her kids? Is the Vanderbilt family planning to fight us for Rena's custody?"
Tyson's words instantly escalated the situation.
Lauren panicked and rushed to explain, "No, that's not—I just meant—"
"Enough, Mom, stop talking." Dominick understood his mother well—she had a habit of getting carried away. If she kept talking, she was only going to make things worse.
Dominick then turned to Paisley and Tyson and assured them, "Uncle, don't worry. I would never try to take Rena's custody away from Paisy. My mom didn't mean that either. She just wanted to show her love and concern for her granddaughter."
"Y-Yeah, exactly." Lauren was scared now. She realized she had gotten a little too carried away earlier. More importantly, she had overlooked the fact that Paisley wasn't the same Paisley from before. Paisley now had the powerful support of her family.
"I sincerely apologize. My wife absolutely did not mean to challenge custody. The Vanderbilt family would never do such a thing." Reginald had no choice but to put on a friendly smile, though deep down, he felt a bit anxious.
The Godard family and the Vanderbilt family might be evenly matched financially, but in terms of political and military influence, the Godards were far superior.
Even though there were rumors that Logan Godard was planning to retire from the military, Reginald knew that even a retired tiger was still stronger than a live house cat.
More importantly, Paisley herself was powerful enough without needing to rely on the Godard family.
Besides, in Paisley and Dominick's past marriage, it was clear that Dominick and the Vanderbilt family were the ones at fault.
If they really fought over custody, they wouldn't just lose their granddaughter—there was a good chance they'd lose their grandson Grayson as well.
"Paisy, I'm really sorry. We should've let you know before coming." Dominick sounded sincere as he apologized. He was already regretting it—he shouldn't have acted on impulse and let his parents rush to the kindergarten under the excuse of standing up for him.
Just then, a wave of surprised gasps erupted outside. The murmurs quickly grew louder and louder.