Chapter 4

The tables turned in an instant.

A bodyguard stepped forward and drove a vicious kick straight into Frederick’s chest. Frederick crashed hard onto the floor and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Bennett lunged forward to shield him, only to get an even worse beating for it. A dozen bodyguards whaled on Frederick and Bennett right in front of the whole family.

A dozen bodyguards furiously kicked and punched Frederick and Bennett before our eyes.

“Stop it...” My father let out a cry of pure despair. He turned to William in a pleading tone. “I’ll sign. You can have my life. Just let my family go. Let my wife and daughter go.”

William pulled out a pristine white handkerchief and slowly wiped the blood from his neck. He walked up to my father and threw the bloodstained cloth in his face.

Then, he leaned in close, his voice dripping with arrogance, “Your son hurt me. I’m not happy about that. So, what do you suppose we should do about it?”

My father’s face was streaked with tears. He had been in the business world for decades. He was a self-made billionaire who had never once in his life begged anyone for anything.

But at that moment, his legs gave out, and he dropped to his knees in front of William.

“Please—”

“Not good enough.” William shook his head gently.

Seeing my father humiliated like that, all seven of my brothers’ eyes turned bloodshot with rage. In perfect unison, every one of them dropped to their knees.

William’s smile only widened. He turned to look at Joanne and me huddled in the corner and mocked us, “Oh, look at the Clack family’s precious little princess, how does it feel watching your father and brothers grovel like that?”

Joanne lunged over and pinned me tightly beneath her, shielding me with her fragile body.

“Sylvia, don’t be scared,” she said in a trembling voice as her tears fell onto the back of my hand. “No matter what happens, you must survive!”

I watched Joanne quietly as her tears fell onto the back of my hand. Then, I looked at my father, humiliated, and at my brothers, beaten half to death.

Deep in my heart, a layer of ice that had been frozen for over a decade cracked open.

I had saved countless powerful people and seen the fight for survival more times than I could count.

I had witnessed the ugliest sides of human nature and watched too many people abandon their wives and children, debasing themselves in the face of death just to stay alive.

After I returned to the Clack family, I had pretended to be mute for three years. I treated them as nothing more than strangers connected to me by blood.

I had assumed that in such an obscenely wealthy family, relationships would be cold and calculated, driven by nothing but money and self-interest.

But my newfound family was willing to risk their lives to protect me, a mute girl they had only found three years ago.

Being shielded behind someone’s back, with no reservations and no regard for their own safety, was unfamiliar to me. But I liked it.

How dare William try to mess with my family?

I was not done living the spoiled trust-fund life just yet.

William walked over and gently pulled Joanne aside. Then, he leaned in close and stared at me with open arrogance, hiding neither his interest nor his contempt.

“Are you scared, little mute girl?

“Enjoy your last bit of peace while you can. Starting tomorrow, you’ll be caged like a dog.”

I slowly stood up.

What I did next shocked my whole family.

After pretending to be mute for three years, I spoke in fluent Marlovian.

“Send my regards to your grandpa. Three years ago, I treated his heart condition and put him on medication. Did it work well for him?

The smile on his face froze instantly. His blue pupils contracted violently with panic. He stared at me as if he had seen a ghost.

I looked calmly into his eyes and said deliberately, “Tell him that his three years are up. I’m stopping his medication.”