Before Rita could draw another breath, Amilia’s voice exploded into the room.

“You ungrateful bitch! Have you forgotten your place? Who gave you permission to contradict me?”

The contrast struck like lightning against the darkness. Bexley stood composed and respectful; Amilia postured with arrogance, her voice scraping like rusted metal. One woman carried herself as though born to grace a noble house, while the other resembled nothing more than a common marketplace shrew.

Edgar and Elsie flushed crimson with shame at the contrast. Kaleb felt humiliation prickle across his skin. He lifted his gaze to meet Elliana’s eyes.

Before Kaleb could form words, Elliana struck with precision.

“Mr. Thompson, you extended an invitation under the pretense of treating your father’s condition, yet it appears you secretly dispatched your niece to seduce me instead. When her pathetic scheme collapsed, she threw a tantrum and commanded her bodyguards to cripple me. This gives me every reason to suspect your father’s health was never the true concern. Were you simply hunting for some fool desperate enough to take your rotten-to-the-core niece off your hands? Tell me I’m mistaken.”

Rita had to bite down hard on her amusement. Who knew her daughter wielded words as lethally as she wielded her fists? The accusation landed like an open-handed slap across Kaleb’s face; she wondered if he might actually detonate from the insult.

Levi, who had been observing the chaos unfold from a comfortable distance, awarded Elliana a silent mental salute. Kaleb’s expression darkened like storm clouds gathering before thunder. He understood Karlee’s behavior around handsome men all too intimately, which made him inclined to believe every syllable that fell from Elliana’s lips.

It wasn’t only Kaleb who trusted Milena. Deep down, Edgar and Elsie believed in her too. They had taken to Milena almost instantly; her natural warmth starkly contrasted with the irritation Amilia and Karlee always stirred in them. If cutting family ties were possible, they would gladly go their entire lives without seeing Amilia and Karlee again.

Edgar’s condition had worsened because of the constant trouble Amilia and Karlee caused, and both he and Elsie still bore deep wounds from everything they’d endured. Their faces were as somber as Kaleb’s, but no one guessed the real reason for their dark moods—everyone assumed they were upset by Milena’s boldness.

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The room fell completely still, every gaze fixed on Milena. This was the Thompson residence. The Thompsons were powerful beyond measure, and Kaleb stood at its head. A man of his standing had never been questioned so openly. Karlee had acted without his approval, and even if she had acted with his authorization, Milena shouldn’t have exposed it so bluntly.

The onlookers grew uneasy. Did Milena possess great skill but no sense of how to survive among nobles and giants? She should have smiled politely, apologized—anything but challenge Kaleb in front of everyone. It seemed that after today, Milena might vanish from their world; no one could survive offending Kaleb.

Even Levi felt panic rising. Afraid Kaleb might snap and hurt Elliana on the spot, he stepped forward with a shaky smile, hoping to smooth things over.

“Move.” Elliana gripped Levi’s collar and pushed him back. Then she faced Kaleb, her voice sharp enough to cut.

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