Chapter 3

In less than five minutes, more than a dozen burly bodyguards dressed in black quickly entered the estate.

Not a word was wasted.

They went straight upstairs and began clearing out their belongings.

The calm expression on Matteo’s face finally cracked.

He shot to his feet and barked furiously,

“I’d like to see who dares touch my things!”

The bodyguards didn’t even turn around.

With swift, practiced movements, they packed Matteo’s watch case, Lucas’s laptop bag, and the clothes Isabella had just unpacked, piece by piece, into black duffel bags.

Matteo rushed forward to stop them.

The lead bodyguard simply raised a hand and blocked him, easily pushing him aside.

Matteo staggered back two steps, nearly falling.

Lucas’s face instantly turned livid.

He pointed at me and shouted, “Mom, what are you thinking? Just because Serena threw a little tantrum, you’re really going to kick us out?”

I took the disinfecting wipe the butler handed me and slowly wiped my fingers.

“You?”

I lifted my eyes to them.

“When did you start thinking of yourselves as the owners of this house?”

“I gave you identities, resources, and opportunities to enter the Group’s inner circle—not so you could turn around and bully my daughter.”

“If you don’t know how to appreciate what you’ve been given, then leave.”

Isabella could only watch as her luggage was thrown out the front door, and her expression immediately changed.

“What are you doing? Those are the skincare products I just bought!”

She hurried over, trying to snatch her things back.

The bodyguard stepped aside, and she stumbled, falling awkwardly onto the lawn.

Lucas immediately helped her up.

With tears in her eyes, Isabella buried herself in his arms, too aggrieved to say a word.

That scene made Alessandro completely drop the careless smile from his face.

He stared at me coldly.

“Fine.”

“If you insist on taking things this far, then don’t blame us.”

“But you’d better remember this. You’re the one who told us to leave today.”

He stepped forward, and the confidence in his voice returned.

“We four have been in charge of the West District development project all this time, and those key suppliers only recognize our signatures.”

“If we walk away, the project’s funding will be affected immediately.”

“And if the Group ends up breaching its contracts, can you bear the consequences alone?”

Enzo let out a cold laugh as well.

“Mom, you’ve been away from the Group’s management for too long.”

“I’m afraid you’ve forgotten who’s been holding the Group together all this time.”

“We can leave, and you may not be able to stop us. But if the Group’s stock price is affected tomorrow, don’t come crawling back to us.”

I looked at their smug faces without saying a word.

They seemed convinced that with the projects and resources in their hands, even if I kicked them out of the estate, there was nothing I could do to them.

When the four of them left with Isabella, their backs were still perfectly straight.

As if they weren’t being thrown out at all, but were choosing to leave on their own.

I stood at the door and watched their figures disappear from sight.

A moment later, I turned to the butler.

“Go through every project they’ve handled recently.”

“Especially the West District development project.”

“I want to know exactly what they’ve been doing behind my back.”

The next morning.

Serena pushed open the door to my office with red-rimmed eyes.

She was clutching a notice tightly in her hand.

Tears rolled down her cheeks and landed on the paper.

“Mom… my eligibility for the competition has been revoked.”

I took the notice from her.

It was her qualification notice for the International Youth Business Competition.

Serena had spent six full months preparing for this competition.

She had gone through almost every relevant piece of information, stayed up countless nights, and personally completed an entire business proposal.

That proposal had even earned the approval of several senior executives within the company.

But now, someone had crossed out her name in red ink.

In its place was Isabella’s name.

“I went to the organizing committee.”

Serena sniffed, her voice still trembling.

“They said Matteo contacted them personally.”

“He said… he wanted to transfer my spot to Isabella.”

She lowered her head, and tears fell again.

“Mom, I spent six months preparing for this. How could they just take it away because they said so?”

I didn’t answer.

Because I already knew the answer.

In Matteo and the others’ eyes, Serena’s hard work could be sacrificed without a second thought.

As long as Isabella shed a few tears, they could hand over anything that originally belonged to Serena without hesitation.

I took Serena’s cold hand.

“Come.”

“We’re going to the Group.”

I had the driver prepare the car and took her straight to the Group headquarters.

Although I had kicked the four of them out of the estate the night before, they clearly hadn’t taken my words seriously at all.

When I pushed open the door to the Group’s executive conference room, the four of them were gathered around Isabella.

And on the computer screen was Serena’s business proposal.

They had already started editing it for Isabella.

Matteo pointed at the data on the screen, his tone gentle.

“You don’t need to understand all of this. Just remember the key points when you’re competing.”

Lucas smiled and chimed in,

“That’s right. With the Group supporting you behind the scenes, the judges will have to take that into consideration.”

The voices in the conference room abruptly fell silent the moment they saw Serena and me.

Matteo closed the laptop and took a sip of his coffee.

His expression remained completely composed.

As if he were not the one who had been kicked out of the estate last night.

“Mom, you came at just the right time.”

“If you’re here about the West District project, Serena should leave first.”

“There are confidential business matters being discussed here.”

I ignored him.

I walked straight to the conference table and slammed the altered notice onto it.

“Give Serena her spot back.”

Matteo glanced down at the notice.

Then, to my surprise, he let out a soft laugh.

“I thought something serious had happened.”

“Serena is still young. She’ll have plenty of opportunities in the future.”

He leaned back in his chair, speaking as though his reasoning were self-evident.

“Isabella is different.”

“She doesn’t have Serena’s family background. This experience will be very important for her future, whether she wants to get into college or build a career of her own.”

After saying that, he actually turned toward Serena and spoke in the tone of an elder lecturing a younger person.

“Serena.”

“You can’t go through life thinking only about yourself.”

“You already have so much. Why can’t you give one opportunity to someone who needs it more?”

Serena’s body trembled slightly.

She clenched the hem of her clothes.

“That’s my business proposal. I spent six months preparing it.”

“What gives you the right to hand it to someone else with just one sentence?”

Enzo’s expression darkened.

“Watch your words.”

“What do you mean, ‘hand it to someone else’?”

“This competition is sponsored by the Group in the first place.”

“As Group executives, we naturally have the authority to decide who should receive the resources.”

Alessandro scoffed.

“Even if you took your own proposal and entered the competition, people would only say you got there because of your family.”

“Isabella is different.”

“She has no background, yet she can make it to the finals through her own ability.”

“A story about someone rising from the bottom step by step is exactly the kind of story judges like to see.”

Isabella immediately lowered her head.

She hid behind Lucas, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible.

“Miss Serena, I’m sorry.”

“If you really want it, I’ll give it back to you.”

She paused, and her eyes quickly reddened.

“Besides… it’s okay if I don’t go to college.”

As soon as she finished speaking, tears fell at exactly the right moment.

Lucas immediately pulled her into his arms.

He looked up and glared at Serena.

“What more do you want?”

“Do you have to push her this far before you’ll be satisfied?”

“If you insist on taking the spot back, then I’ll withdraw from every project I’m involved in at the Group right now.”

The four of them stood together.

In their twisted logic, Serena protecting the work she had poured her heart into was selfish.

But Isabella taking someone else’s opportunity had somehow become what they called “protecting the underprivileged.”

I watched them silently.

Especially Matteo.

His expression barely changed.

Because he was convinced that I didn’t dare touch them right now.

The West District project was still in their hands.

Several of the Group’s key projects also depended on them.

That was why they dared to challenge my boundaries again and again.

I suddenly smiled.

“Fine.”

Everyone froze for a moment.

“If you want this spot so badly, take it.”

Serena’s head snapped up.

“Mom?”

I didn’t explain.

I simply looked at Matteo and said each word clearly.

“I hope you can keep your positions for a long time.”

With that, I took Serena’s hand and turned to leave the conference room.

Behind me came Matteo’s confident laugh.

“Mom, if you’d thought this way from the beginning, wouldn’t everything have been easier?”

The moment we walked out of the Group headquarters, Serena finally broke down.

She climbed into the car, her shoulders trembling softly.

I handed her a tissue.

“Don’t cry, Serena. Remember everything that happened today.”

“Because tomorrow, even if they come back and get on their knees to beg me, it will already be too late.”