Chapter 7

Anna stood to the side with a troubled expression. "That was Ms. Sophia's favorite set of tableware, Mr. Daniel."

But Daniel stuck his tongue out at Anna. "You're just the housekeeper! You don't get to tell me what to do."

Anna fell silent. It was indeed not her place to chide him.

Sophia's expression remained calm as she took in the mess. "Is that all? Even a frog can do a better job messing up the place."

"Who says so!" Daniel refuted at once. "Believe it or not, I'll—"

"I don't care what you do. Just don't touch anything else in my house, especially the vases."

Sophia turned around and walked toward the stairs. She had only taken five steps when she inevitably heard the sound of porcelain shattering behind her, followed by Anna's startled cry.

"Oh, no! That vase is an antique from the 19th century! It's extremely valuable!"

Daniel huffed angrily, "See that, you nasty witch? You thought I wouldn't dare to do it, huh?"

Sophia smirked in amusement.

Meanwhile, the commotion woke Tamara, who rushed down the stairs, calling out anxiously, "Danny! What's going on?"

"Mommy, that nasty witch thought I'd be too scared to do it, so I wrecked her entire house!" Daniel stood beside Tamara and reported smugly.

"Soph, this is—"

"You should be addressing me more respectfully," Sophia corrected her curtly.

In the past, Tamara had only ever bothered showing Sophia proper respect when the Hartman elders were around. Sophia never took it to heart, but she wasn't going to be that tolerant anymore.

"What…" Tamara looked at the chaos all across the floor. "What on earth happened, Sophia?"

"Danny broke the vase."

The moment Tamara saw the shattered vase, her expression stiffened. Wasn't that Wilma's favorite vase?

If Wilma found out, she would definitely make a huge fuss about it.

"Well… Danny is young. He doesn't know what he's doing. Let me apologize to you on his behalf, Sophia." Tamara bowed her head meekly.

However, Sophia wasn't the least bit appeased. She instructed Anna to call for a professional restorer to collect the shattered vase for restoration.

Anna hesitated. "Ms. Sophia, should we inform them at Hartman Manor, too?"

Tamara jerked her head up to look at Sophia, her expression tight.

"Sophia…" she said pleadingly. "Danny is still so young. He doesn't know anything…"

"Then it's his mother's fault for not teaching him properly." Sophia wasn't in the habit of being a saint.

Hearing this, Anna immediately got the message and made a call to Hartman Manor. The moment Wilma heard her favorite vase had been broken, her blood pressure spiked.

"Why on earth would you let that happen? What did we hire you to do?"

"Mr. Daniel broke it," Anna reported in a troubled tone.

After she gave a brief recount of the situation, Wilma became even more infuriated.

"Well, isn't that wonderful? Tamara can't even raise her own child properly!" she snapped.

The vase had been a birthday gift from Benjamin last year. It was a valuable antique, and she loved collecting them. In fact, this vase was her favorite one yet. She treasured it very much and was always very careful with it. Once, a maid had accidentally set it down a little too hard when dusting the place, and that had been enough for her to fret over the vase.

She only had the vase brought over to Benjamin and Sophia's house because she trusted Sophia's careful nature. Her plan had been to take it back sometime later to put it away for safekeeping. Who would've thought it'd end up shattering instead?

Wilma was determined not to let Tamara off so easily this time.

Half an hour later, Benjamin rushed back home. The mess had already been cleared.

A heavy fog shrouded the sky outside, and a fine drizzle made the air bitingly cold. Tamara was being forced to kneel in the courtyard, flanked by two bodyguards. Sophia looked on without a trace of sympathy.

"What's happening?" Benjamin asked as he scanned the house for Tamara.

The moment he saw her, his expression hardened sharply. He rushed outside and immediately removed his coat to drape it over her.

"Who made you kneel here?" he asked anxiously.

Upon seeing him, Tamara burst into tears, feeling deeply aggrieved. "Hurry up and divorce Sophia! She's a vicious woman!"

Benjamin was completely caught off guard. "What did she do?"

"She goaded Danny into breaking Mom's vase! She's the reason why I'm being forced to kneel here!" Tamara ranted. "She's a terrifying woman."

"That's impossible!" Benjamin denied that at once. "Sophia would never do such a thing."

He might've believed that of anyone other than Sophia. She didn't have it in her to do that. He knew that she was a kind person at heart and would never goad a child into doing something that was wrong.

Out of the entire Hartman family, she had the best personality. She was the kindest and gentlest of them all, so he didn't believe Tamara when she claimed that Sophia was a vicious woman.

But his denial made Tamara widen her eyes in disbelief. "Why wouldn't she? Do you think I'm lying to you? Danny's just a child! He doesn't know anything. Why would he dare to do something like that?"

"Tammy, Sophia isn't that kind of person. She has a kind soul." Benjamin started to feel a little angry himself. "It's precisely because Danny's a child that he'd break something without knowing it was wrong."

Tamara's expression shifted from shock to disappointment.

"Why have you changed, Benny? You're seriously doubting my words now?"

For some reason, Benjamin felt a flicker of annoyance, but it immediately vanished the moment he met Tamara's gaze. He patiently softened his tone and said, "I haven't changed, Tammy. It's not that I'm doubting you. I just think there's been some kind of misunderstanding.

"Come on. Let's get up first. Don't stay out here in the cold."

Sophia didn't catch much of their entire conversation, but she knew that word of their open display of affection would surely get back to the other Hartmans.

She snapped a photo of Benjamin and Tamara all wrapped up in each other's arms, her lips curling into a smirk.

"See that? Uncle Ben takes good care of Mommy and me. He said he'll look after me like a daddy, nasty witch!"

Daniel had no idea what was about to happen to him. He spared no opportunity to mock Sophia, but she didn't bother holding it against him.

For a three-year-old to say such things and think such thoughts, he must've been fed these words and ideas constantly.

"Danny!" Benjamin came in just in time to hear Daniel address Sophia as "nasty witch", and his expression turned grim at once. "That's your aunt! How can you talk to her like that?"

Daniel stuck his tongue out. "She's not my aunt! She's just a nasty witch!"

"Mr. Benjamin, Mdm. Wilma has instructed us to take Mr. Daniel back to Hartman Manor. She says that since Ms. Tamara can't do a good job raising the child, she will do it personally," Graham reported.

He swiftly instructed the housekeeper who came with him to pick up Daniel.

"No! I'm not leaving!" Daniel finally looked frightened. Sobbing, he screamed, "Mommy! I don't wanna go. I don't wanna—"

Tamara's heart ached. She went forward to hold Daniel, but Graham blocked her path, his expression neutral. "Ms. Tamara, Mdm. Wilma wants me to give you a message—to ensure that Mr. Daniel isn't taught the wrong things, she will be in charge of raising him."