Linara lay against Chloe's shoulder, her eyes brimming with tears, but they held no sadness—only a deep, seething resentment. She'd never been humiliated like this before. More and more people now looked at her with disdain, mocking her instead of admiring her as they once had. And it was all because of her. Her arrival had ruined Linara's life, destroyed everything she cherished. Listening to Linara's sobs, Chloe's heart broke. Her precious daughter, raised with such care, had never cried this hard. "Don't cry, sweetheart. I'll take care of this," Chloe soothed, gently patting her back. Vroom… The unmistakable roar of a luxury sports car echoed from afar, quickly pulling into the driveway and into the garage. Seraphina, with her backpack slung over one shoulder, walked through the courtyard toward the house. As she approached the entryway, Jasmine frantically signaled to her with warning glances. "Mrs. Whitewood is very upset. You might want to keep your head down, Miss Seraphina," she whispered. "Is she back, Ms. Cooke?" Chloe's voice called from the living room. "Yes, ma'am." Seraphina passed by the living room, intending to head upstairs. "Stop right there." Seraphina turned her head to see her mother watching her from the living room with an unmistakable look of displeasure. "What did you do at school today?" "Nothing." "Don't lie!" Chloe snapped, her anger evident. Just looking at this daughter filled her with irritation—a daughter who, in her eyes, lied and lacked any sense of propriety. "The Thomson Family is a business partner of our family. Mr. Thomson is your father's friend. How could you go and file a lawsuit over such a trivial matter? How is your father supposed to face him after this?" Chloe suddenly softened her tone, speaking in a gentler voice. "A lawsuit?" Oberon walked into the living room, gesturing for Seraphina to sit down. "Honey, there was just a small conflict between Seraphina and Kelly. Seraphina acted without thinking and went straight to filing a lawsuit. Honestly, what kind of message does it send when you drag someone to court over such a minor issue?" Chloe spoke with a carefully crafted concern. "You sued Kelly?" Oberon's sharp gaze focused on Seraphina. Seraphina glanced at her mother, a cold smile tugging at her lips. Chloe and Linara were so similar—always downplaying the actual issues, twisting events to highlight Seraphina's actions, and quietly distorting the facts. Her mother's protectiveness toward Linara was so fierce it could alter reality itself, even if it meant throwing her own daughter under the bus. "Yes, I sued her," Seraphina admitted without hesitation."Withdraw it," Oberon ordered firmly, leaving no room for debate. "No." Chloe tried coaxing her gently, "Seraphina, listen to your father. He wouldn't ask you to withdraw if it wasn't best for you. Stop being stubborn, alright?" Her refusal only deepened Oberon's displeasure, and after hearing his wife's words, he looked at Seraphina with even greater disapproval. "Don't you care about the reason?" "No matter the reason, when I tell you to withdraw, you withdraw," Oberon commanded coldly, leaving no room for debate. He couldn't fathom what could be so serious between young people that it needed to go to court. Seraphina let out a silent, bitter laugh. Her father was always this authoritarian, never asking why—only imposing his will without any thought for whether it would hurt her. He was selfish to the core. And yet, he was her father.