Chapter 4

Julian didn’t answer as he couldn’t hear clearly.

Derek, however, seemed to have found a new form of entertainment. He suddenly reached out and yanked the hearing aid straight off Julian’s ear.

“You can’t hear, can you? Then I’ll make sure you can’t hear a thing.”

With the hearing aid yanked off, blood immediately seeped from Julian’s ear. His body swayed slightly, but he still didn’t make a sound.

Derek threw the hearing aid onto the ground and brought his foot down, stomping on it viciously until it crunched. Just like that, the device that had accompanied Julian for so many years shattered into several pieces.

The floating comments instantly boiled over.

[Yeah! Put the supporting character in his place!]

[Well done, Derek! Show him who you are.]

[I hope the female supporting character knows who she shouldn’t be messing with now.]

In a fit of fury, I stepped up behind Derek and kicked him hard in the back of his knee.

Caught off guard, Derek lost his balance, and his knees dropped down right beside the broken pieces of the hearing aid, and blood began to bleed through his pants immediately.

Everyone fell silent.

I looked down at him and said, “Stay down. I’d hate for you to stand up and forget what a piece of trash you are again.”

Derek looked up, his eyes wide with disbelief. “Sofia, how dare you hit me?”

“What if I did?” I kicked him once more. “You love stomping on things, don’t you? Well, today, you get a taste of how it feels.”

News of the incident spread quickly to the Hugh family. In under twenty minutes, Derek’s parents arrived at the school accompanied by their entourage.

When Mrs. Hugh saw Derek on the ground, she shrieked at me hysterically, “Sofia, have you gone mad? How dare you lay a finger on Derek!”

Mr. Hugh looked equally furious, his face dark with rage. “Is this how your father raised you?”

Mom arrived right on their heels. Seeing the chaotic mess on the floor, she rushed over immediately to grab my arm.

“Sofia, apologize to Julian now!”

I yanked my hand back. “What for? He was the one who raised a hand first.”

Derek clutched his knees, glaring at me with hatred in his eyes. “Father, you can’t let her get away with this. If she has the nerve to kick me today, she’ll be walking all over the Hugh family tomorrow!”

Mr. Hugh gave me a frigid look. “Sofia, you’d better apologize right now. Otherwise, the Roberts family can forget about getting that South City project.”

I pulled a black card out of my bag and replied, “The South City project? Are you referring to the project that requires overseas technological support?”

Mr. Hugh’s eyelid twitched.

I dialed a number on my phone and switched it over to speakerphone.

“Notify the legal team. Terminate all partnerships between Star and Hugh Corporation immediately.”

A respectful voice quickly responded from the other end. “Understood, Miss Roberts.”

Mr. Hugh’s face instantly turned ashen. He looked at me as if I were a clueless little brat.

I hung up the call, bent down, and used a tissue to gently wipe away the blood beside Julian’s ear. Unable to hear, he could only stare intently at the movement of my lips.

I lowered my voice, shaping my mouth clearly so he could read my words. “Does it hurt?”

Julian shook his head.

I raised my hand and touched his cold earlobe.

“Remember this. No one gets to kick what’s mine.”

Julian’s breath hitched for a second.

Derek, on the other hand, lost it. “Sofia, do you really think cutting off a single supplier can threaten the Hugh family? You’re nothing more than a useless daughter of the Roberts family. Stop pretending to be some big shot!”

Before I could reply, my phone suddenly rang. It was Dad calling, and his voice was trembling with panic.

“Sofia, come home now! The Hugh family has made their move! They fired Arthur, and they even teamed up with the Chamber of Commerce to freeze our company funds! Your mother wants you to apologize to Derek right this second!”

Meanwhile, Mr. Hugh watched me with calm composure, a triumphant smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.

Derek stared at me and said, “Sofia, I’ll give you two choices. First, make Julian bark like a dog. Second, you can be Eliza’s personal assistant for a month. As long as you do as you’re told, I’ll spare the Roberts family.”

The floating comments flooded my vision again.

[This is the true power of money!]

[The supporting female lead is dead meat this time!]

[This is so satisfying!]

Just as I was about to speak, a roaring engine sound resonated from afar. Ten Rolls-Royce Phantoms with sequential number plates came speeding toward us, and the motorcade had sealed off the school gates.

The car doors opened all at once. Dozens of bodyguards dressed in black suits stepped out, lining up neatly on both sides.

From the very last car, an elderly man with a head of gray hair stepped down. He wore a tailored black suit and held a walking cane in his hand. Even though he was over sixty years old, his imposing presence intimidated everyone.

The elderly man did not spare a glance at Derek, nor did he look at anyone from the Hugh family. Instead, he walked straight up to Julian.

In the next second, under the shocked gazes of everyone present, the elderly man bowed his head. His voice trembled yet echoed clearly across the entire school entrance.

“Sir, we’ve finally found you. Your father has fallen critically ill. Please return to the New City to inherit the Grey family’s billion-dollar empire!”