When Clara opened her eyes the next morning, she nearly screamed when she saw a young woman—slightly younger than herself—feeding her husband.“Victor…”But instead of a scream, only a weak cry escaped her lips.“Honey, you’re awake?”Hearing Clara’s voice, the two of them immediately panicked and tried to act as normal as possible.“Oh, right. I haven’t introduced her to you yet,” Victor said quickly.“This is Eleanor, the babysitter for our children. I don’t want you to exhaust yourself taking care of two kids at once, so I decided to hire her. I know you’d agree with my decision, wouldn’t you?”Victor smiled as he brought a bowl of soup to his wife and gently fed her.“Come on, open your mouth. Let this food give you some strength.”Clara did as he asked, slowly opening her mouth.She smiled and nodded.But deep inside, she could feel something drifting in the wrong direction—terribly wrong.Even so, for reasons she couldn’t understand, she couldn’t bring herself to be angry at her

Eleanor didn’t only want to steal Victor away from Clara—she also wanted the Harrington family fortune, using the baby as her leverage.That was why she kept pressuring the man to claim the inheritance from Havenport’s wealthiest family.“How are we supposed to survive if you’re too weak to fight for your daughter’s rights?!” she screamed.“I don’t care. You will take this to court and get their money as soon as possible.”On the other side, Theodore—still consumed by rage and grief over being unable to bring his granddaughter to Havenport—naturally refused to let his grandchild’s inheritance fall into someone else’s hands.But Eleanor was more cunning.She bribed court officials, who not only granted Victor custody, but also ordered Theodore to pay child support to him under the name of childcare expenses.More than a decade passed.Raised under Eleanor’s influence since childhood, Catherine grew up believing that Clara was a homewrecker who wanted to steal her father from the woman

“Hey, you whore!”Henry immediately wrapped his arm around Catherine’s neck and yanked her violently backward.“Get your filthy hands off my mother!”“You’re all demons! Every single one of you deserves to die by my hands!”Screaming, Catherine struggled fiercely, trying to break free from Henry’s chokehold.“Hahaha!”Lying on the floor, Eleanor showed no fear—nor did she seem to feel any pain from Catherine’s earlier attack.Instead, she burst into loud laughter.“I really never imagined it would be this easy to destroy Clara’s life and her bastard child! Truly mother and daughter—equally stupid! You’re nothing but trash!”“Shameless bitch!”Hearing Eleanor insult her mother, Catherine completely lost it.“You’re the real whore! You stole my father from my mother and destroyed their marriage! You’re a sick psycho! Die already, you filthy, rotten-hearted woman!”Even trapped in Henry’s grip, Catherine continued trying to lunge at Eleanor.But no matter what she said, none of it seemed

“A-an arrest warrant?”Staring at the police officer, Catherine’s body trembled.“Oh God, what is this?” she thought. “What have I done wrong?”Unconsciously, Valentina’s hands loosened their grip on the jerrycan she was holding.She couldn’t recall committing any serious crime that would land her in prison.If she truly intended to burn this hotel down, hadn’t she failed to do it yet?Then how was it possible that a police officer was already standing right in front of her?“Do you know who we are looking for, and where she is?”The officer asked again, frowning slightly, growing suspicious of Catherine’s sudden strange behavior.“Hahahaha!”Suddenly, loud laughter echoed from inside the room.“Oh my God! Mother, look at this!”Henry laughed loudly as he turned his head toward the outside.“That slut was just running her mouth about taking revenge on us. And before she could even do anything, the police already came to arrest her. I don’t know why, but I feel incredibly blessed. This

What?Everyone’s gaze instantly turned to the police officer.He came here for the matriarch?Why?While those questions echoed in everyone’s mind, the officer’s voice rang out again.“I hope you are willing to cooperate and come with us to the police station.”He stared at Eleanor sharply yet politely, his tone matching his gaze.“And not only you,” he continued. “Mrs. Elizabeth and Mr. Henry, I also expect both of you to come with us.”Raising one hand and gesturing toward the car, the officer added, “Mrs. Hayes, please.”Unfortunately, his courtesy was met with the complete opposite response.“Huh! What nonsense is this?”Elizabeth shook her head with a mocking sneer.What the officer said sounded utterly absurd to her.“What exactly are you talking about?”She glared sharply at the officer.“Have you lost your mind? Do you even know who you’re talking to? Even a governor would bow his head when speaking to us. And you dare try to take us away without even asking first? Weren’t you