Chapter 1

The content of the video made my blood boil.

The moment I stepped off the plane, I immediately pulled out my phone to call my eldest brother, Gerard Roth.

Unfortunately, the line was busy.

I tried calling my second and third brothers next, but none of them answered.

Eventually, my fourth brother impatiently snapped at me on the other end.

“Beatrice Roth, what’s this about?! You’re acting like I owe you money! It’s Mom’s birthday today, and we’re busy! Stop bothering us!”

I scoffed and asked, “Which Mom?”

“Beatrice, did studying abroad turn you stupid? Who else could it be?!”

My fourth brother angrily told me to stop joking around and hung up right after.

Seeing his attitude, I began to be suspicious of the video. It could have been deliberately generated with AI to sow discord within our family.

Indeed, our mother in the video bore no resemblance to the one I remembered.

Everyone knew that every asset the Roth family owned came from my mother’s family.

My father was, to put it nicely, the Roth family’s chosen son-in-law. But to put it bluntly, he was a social climber.

Every honor and glory he earned was thanks to my mother, so he had always obeyed her every word.

So, how could I possibly tolerate my mother being humiliated like that in the video?

I took a deep breath and held back my anger. I was determined to look into what had happened at the banquet hall and discover the truth.

I hailed a cab and arrived at the entrance.

Right then, a girl got out of another car alongside me.

She glanced at me before standing right in front of me. Her expression dripped with contempt.

“You’re here for my mother’s birthday banquet too? Isn’t this place reserved exclusively for the Roth family? How can a random stray stroll in?”

She was wearing the season’s latest gown, and her neck was adorned with a pendant as big as a pigeon’s egg.

Seeing my plain short-sleeved shirt and long pants, disgust filled her eyes.

Thinking that I might be in the wrong place, I politely asked her, “Is the wealthiest family in Annfort, the Roth family, here?”

She tilted her head back and scoffed derisively.

“Since you already know, why are you here to cause trouble? Watch yourself. My dad could make your family disappear from Annfort overnight!”

I pulled out my phone and showed her a photo of my father.

“Who’s this?”

She looked at me like I was an idiot.

“My dad! Oh, I get it! You’re here hoping for a chance to be my dad’s mistress, huh?

“My dad loves my mom like his life depends on it. Save your breath! As for the last one who tried to climb the ladder, my mom could make her beg for mercy with just a glance!”

I immediately had my suspicions and played the video I had received.

The girl across from me burst into laughter.

“If you already know everything, why are you still trying your luck? How pathetic can you be?

“Since we’re the same age, let me give you some advice. That woman claimed to be my dad’s legitimate wife, but my brothers tossed her out into the wilderness.

“In the end, she crawled back with a broken leg and demanded that my dad return her daughter. Hilarious! Her looks make my dad want to vomit! How could he possibly have a child with her?!”

Hearing her words, I clenched my fists tightly.

So, while I was studying abroad for three years, these people had tormented my mother!

However, my brothers were all her biological children. Why would they side with outsiders to mistreat her?

My mother might be gentle, but they knew that she was quite vindictive.

Besides, our grandfather had long said that once I returned, I would be in charge of the Roth family!

How dare these people?!

I shoved the girl in front of me aside and ignored her shrieking as I charged into the banquet hall.

What I saw there was a sight I would never forget for the rest of my life.

My brothers were pinning my mother down in the banquet hall. Forced to kneel, she licked that unfamiliar woman’s shoes…