Raelynn struggled violently, screaming hysterically, "No! Arthur! I am your mother! I carried you for ten months, endured all the hardships to raise you! I gave you life! How could you treat me like this?" Susie had initially regretted her outburst, but when the bodyguards forcefully restrained them, she lost all composure. Fear, humiliation, and panic overwhelmed her. She shrieked uncontrollably, "Arthur! I am your sister! We grew up together! How can you be so heartless? How can you treat us like this? You’re not even human!" Her piercing screams stunned the entire room into silence. Julie and Rosie were also being held back by the guards. They could barely take care of themselves, let alone stop Susie. Arthur’s body stiffened at their words. Blood ties. Life. These two things were wounds he could never erase. He wanted nothing to do with the Gray family, yet the undeniable fact remained—his life was given to him by John and Raelynn. He carried their blood. The murmuring in the crowd grew louder. "They have a point. Blood ties aren’t something you can just sever." "No matter how many conflicts they had, she’s still his mother and she’s still his sister. You can’t just treat them like this." "Filial piety is the greatest virtue. A man’s engagement is a huge event, and yet he didn’t even invite his biological parents. That doesn’t sit right." "All parents discipline their children. Maybe their methods were wrong, but as parents, they still love their kids." "But wasn’t the way they treated Mr. Gray just too cruel? I heard he had to start working part-time washing dishes to support himself when he was barely a teenager." "Yeah, I also heard that even though he lived in the Gray family mansion, he was forced to stay in a storage room! Is that what they call love?" "But still, she is his biological mother. Without her, he wouldn’t even exist. That kind of bond can never be erased." Standing beside Arthur, Ashley immediately noticed his reaction. She couldn’t hold back any longer! Stepping forward, she positioned herself in front of Arthur. She didn’t care that she was still wearing her wedding dress. Without a second thought, she pointed at Raelynn and furiously shouted, "Mrs. Gray! Do you really think Arthur chose to be born to you? Being part of the Gray family was the worst thing that ever happened to him! And now, you have the audacity to guilt-trip him just because you share blood? Have you forgotten how you treated him? You doted on your adopted son, Zac, and let him torment Arthur for eight long years! Even when Zac broke Arthur’s arms and ribs, you still took his side! You always believed Zac. You always blamed Arthur for being disobedient! He lived under your roof, but you made him sleep in a storage room for eight years! Eight years! Not only was he crammed into that tiny space, but you never gave him a single cent to survive. He was just a kid—not even ten years old—forced to wash dishes and do manual labor just to get by! When did you ever show him kindness? When Zac bullied him at school and he came to you for help, what did you do? You blindly took Zac’s side! You accused Arthur of starting fights! You said he deserved to be hurt! And after that, he stopped coming to you altogether—because every time he did, you only hurt him more. He was terrified of you!" Ashley took a deep breath, her chest heaving with fury. She turned to the others, jabbing a finger at them. "And you! Julie, Rosie, Susie! Now you suddenly want to act like loving sisters? Do you even remember how you treated him back then? Can you recall a single day when you weren’t insulting him? Do you even remember the awful things you said? When you were tearing him down, did family bonds ever cross your mind? For eight years, did it ever occur to you that he was your real brother?" Ashley’s voice trembled with rage, her heart aching as if it were being torn apart. Every time she thought about the suffering Arthur endured as a child, she could barely breathe from the pain. She hated herself—hated that she hadn’t noticed him sooner, hadn’t protected him earlier. The Gray family... they were nothing but monsters! Spencer, Nancy, and Natalie had quietly moved to stand beside Ashley and Arthur. Though their status prevented them from saying too much, they would offer Arthur and Ashley the strongest support they could.