Sadie's jaw dropped in astonishment. "Mom, are you kidding me? How can you say Marco Marseille looks nice and capable when he's so skinny? I won't even be surprised if he weighs less than me! I bet Missus Marseille brought him here to meet with us last time because she's afraid her son doesn't have much longer to live."Dad didn't mention introducing someone like him to me, so you better not have any strange ideas about this. You're my mom, after all!"Karen frowned. "What do you mean by that? You should know that as your mother, I'm not going to recommend just anybody to you! I care about your marriage the most. Have you ever thought that if your marriage is good, it would benefit me as a mother too?"Even though Marco doesn't look like he's in the best of health, his family fortune is second only to the Parr family. So just think about it. If Marco doesn't live long, it's even better, right? You'd inherit his family fortune effortlessly without having to cater to your husband. You

Rita did not even glance back as she went to her father's study, leaving Sadie alone on the floor.Sadie gritted her teeth as she watched Rita's retreating figure. "I swear you'll pay for what you said today, Rita!"A servant downstairs saw Sadie on the floor and hurried over to help her up. "Miss, you should be more careful. Did you hurt yourself?"Sadie, instead of being grateful, slapped the servant hard across the face. "I know you're all on that woman's side. You're only here to mock me, right? Get lost, now!""I didn't..." The servant covered her face and ran off crying, leaving Sadie alone, silently seething.She knew that if she caused more trouble, Vince would definitely hear of it. By then, she and her mother would both be in trouble.Rita had Sherman's support, which meant she did not need to fear Vince. Sadie, on the other hand, could not afford to do that as she still needed Vince for her survival.'It's okay,' Sadie reassured herself. 'Once Esmond deals with Rita,

"Sadie's last semester's grades were passable but not outstanding, so I didn't mention it to your father. Of course, her grades aren't at a level where we need to worry too much yet. Besides, she has me to worry about her."I'm sure you know we mothers care about our daughters the most. I worry about every aspect of her life, including her education," Karen said deliberately, hoping to see Rita's expression darken.Regardless, Rita's mother was gone, while Karen was right there. Thus, what right did Rita—a girl without a mother—have to compete with Sadie?"Alright, since your stepmother said so, you don't need to worry yourself over Sadie. Aren't you busy with the newspaper lately? Instead of wasting time worrying about Sadie's grade, why don't you use that time on your work? Everyone has their fate. Even if we hire a tutor from Harvard for her, it won't help if she doesn't focus on her studies. So don't bother worrying about her."Karen did not like what she was hearing. She was a

After all, if Sherman and Rita were to have a baby, he would cherish them regardless of gender. He would spoil the baby like a princess if it were a girl, and if it were a son… Well, he would spoil him just the same.Sherman smiled wryly at the thought. As long as it was his and Rita's baby, he could not possibly not adore them.Rita, unaware of Sherman's thoughts about their future child's gender, was grumbling on her end. "I hate it here. If it weren't for getting evidence, I wouldn't have come back. I'm losing my appetite more and more in this house. Even Donna's cooking can't save it."Sherman naturally felt distressed to hear that. "Then why don't you hurry out? Do you want to sit at the dining table until the end of time?"Rita was surprised. "Are you saying you're here to pick me up already?"As she walked outside while holding her phone, she smiled when she saw the car parked at the door. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I wouldn't have stayed for lunch if you had told me

Sherman quickly scrolled through his phone and dialed Vince's number, which had been blocked.Vince was sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper, which reported another world record broken by the Parr family. He was sour about it when Sherman suddenly called. He immediately sat up and answered the call happily."Hello, Sherman. To what do I owe this pleasure? Are you coming over with Rita to have dinner with us?"Sherman did not have time for pleasantries. "Rita is in trouble. Something happened on her way home!""What?" Vince exclaimed. "You must be joking, right? She's used this road countless times, so how could something happen? Maybe you just couldn't reach her because she had switched off her phone or it ran out of battery…"After the initial panic, Vince calmed down and sat back down on the sofa, trying to reassure both himself and Sherman on the phone. "Don't worry. We've traveled this road back and forth countless times, and there's also a security patrol, so I'm sure sh