Chapter 3

I was driving.

Ethan sat in the passenger seat.

Brittany was in the back seat.

She had stopped crying but was still sobbing.

Muttering curses at me intermittently.

“Witch…”

“Bad luck…”

“Just you wait, when Dad gets back, he’ll definitely take care of you…”

I ignored her.

Ethan did too.

The atmosphere in the car was so oppressive it felt like it could explode.

Ethan finally couldn't take it anymore.

He turned his head and looked at me.

“Scarlett, you were… too impulsive today.”

His tone carried a hint of blame.

“Saying something like that at the gala, where does that leave Dad’s reputation?”

I gripped the steering wheel, looking at the road ahead.

“Reputation?”

I scoffed.

“When she slapped me in front of hundreds of people, why didn’t you say anything about reputation?”

“When she pointed a finger at my nose and told me I was only fit to polish her shoes, why didn’t you say anything about reputation?”

“Ethan, that’s your dad’s reputation, not yours.”

“You seem to have missed the point.”

Ethan was speechless.

He opened his mouth but then closed it.

Brittany in the back seat started screaming again.

“Ethan! Listen to what she’s saying!”

“She doesn’t care about us Sterlings at all!”

“She just wants to sow discord in our family!”

I slammed on the brakes.

The car screeched to a halt at the side of the road.

The sudden inertia threw Brittany forward, and her head hit the back of the front seat.

“Ah!” she cried out in pain.

I unbuckled my seatbelt, turned around, and looked at her coldly.

“Brittany, try saying one more word.”

My eyes were ice-cold.

Cold as frost.

Brittany shivered under my gaze.

She缩了缩necked her neck, not daring to make another sound.

I stared at her.

Speaking word by word.

“You’d better start praying now that you are Dad’s biological daughter.”

“If not…”

I paused.

“I will make your life a living hell.”

Brittany’s lips began to tremble.

She looked at me, her eyes filled with terror.

Ethan also stared at me in shock.

He probably had never seen me like this.

In his eyes, I had always been a docile, tolerant wife.

A daughter-in-law who would endlessly compromise for family harmony.

He didn’t know.

Even a mouse will bite when cornered.

Besides, I was never a mouse.

I was a wolf.

A wolf disguised in the Sterling family for ten years.

I restarted the car.

The rest of the drive was silent.

The car pulled into the Sterling family mansion.

The mansion was brightly lit.

In the living room, Arthur, my father-in-law, sat on the mahogany sofa at the head of the room.

His fingers were steepled, his gaze distant and unreadable.

Seeing us enter, he didn't even lift an eyelid.

Brittany rushed in and immediately ran to him.

“Dad! You have to stand up for me!”

She knelt by Arthur’s leg, crying piteously.

“Scarlett is crazy! She’s talking nonsense outside, saying I’m not your biological daughter!”

“She’s ruining my reputation, she’s ruining our Sterling family’s reputation!”

Arthur finally stopped his stillness.

He opened his eyes, his gaze sharp as a hawk’s.

He didn't look at Brittany.

Instead, he looked at me.

“Scarlett.”

He spoke, his voice hoarse and low.

“What you said at the company today, are you sure?”

I walked to stand opposite him.

Meeting his gaze without humility or arrogance.

“Dad, I merely offered a reasonable suggestion.”

“One that could thoroughly resolve the ongoing disputes in our family.”

Arthur scoffed.

“Gambling with the reputation of our Sterling family?”

“You have quite the nerve.”

I smiled.

“Dad, aren't you curious?”

“You’ve been a formidable figure your whole life, decisive and sharp.”

“Ethan, while not possessing your drive, is still steady and reliable.”

“Why is Brittany, of all people, so foolish, so venomous, and completely lacking in self-awareness?”

“Doesn't that seem like a genetic anomaly?”

“You!”

Arthur slammed his hand on the armrest and stood up abruptly.

A powerful aura pressed down on me.

If it were before, my knees might have buckled.

But today, I stood perfectly straight.

Brittany was still crying.

“Dad! Don’t believe her! She’s jealous of me! She’s jealous that you love me!”

Arthur stared intently at me.

After a long time.

The anger in his eyes slowly receded.

Replaced by a bottomless well of doubt.

My words were like a thorn.

Piercing deeply into his heart.

He wasn't foolish.

On the contrary, he had been sharp his entire life.

Some things, he hadn’t thought of, not because he couldn’t, but because he didn't want to.

Today, I ripped off the band-aid.

He had no choice but to think.

“Alright.”

He slowly sat down, picking up his steepled hands again.

“I’ll give you this chance.”

“And myself an answer.”

He picked up his phone and dialed a number.

“Mr. Davis, contact Dr. Lee at St. Jude’s Hospital.”

“Arrange for an urgent DNA test.”

“I want the results first thing tomorrow morning.”

He hung up the phone.

In the living room, there was a deathly silence.

Brittany’s crying also stopped.

She collapsed on the floor, her face ashen.

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