Chapter 3

I raised my phone, pretending to open the files, then looked at the man who had been a coward his entire life.

"And Dad, did you really think I didn't know? You've suspected Leo’s parentage for years. You were just too embarrassed to admit you'd been cuckolded."

Arthur’s face flushed red, then turned white. He couldn't utter a single word.

"If you keep harassing me and disrupting my company, I am calling the police right now."

I raised my phone to dial. "Harassment, trespassing, and defamation can get you arrested. Leo is already hiding from loan sharks. If he gets a criminal record today, his life is officially over. Do you want to keep playing, or are you leaving now?"

Leo was terrified of the loan sharks and jail. The moment he heard this, he dragged my mom up.

"Mom, let’s go! There's no point talking to her!"

My mom tried to struggle, but Leo dragged her out with all his strength.

Arthur quickly got up and scurried after them like a beaten dog.

The sight of the three of them fleeing in humiliation drew quiet laughs and looks of utter disgust from my colleagues.

I thought they would back off after that lobby disaster.

But three days later, I was dragged right into the center of a massive online storm.

My mom had taken Arthur and Leo onto a popular local live-stream show called "Family Confrontations".

In front of the cameras, they wept hysterically.

"Host, viewers, please help us! I worked so hard to put my daughter through college. Now she makes millions, lives in a luxury house, and she wants nothing to do with us! She even claimed my son isn't his father's child, which shocked my husband so badly he's bedridden. I had nowhere else to turn!"

Arthur sat next to her, clutching his chest, coughing weakly.

Leo added with red eyes, "My sister has completely changed. She only cares about money! I just wanted to borrow some money for my house. She got a $150,000 bonus, but she wouldn't give us a cent. She even threatened to cut us off and throw us out..."

My mom pulled down the collar of Leo's shirt, showing a small bruise to the camera. "Look at my poor boy! She beat him up just because he talked back to her!"

I watched the whole broadcast. The host didn't bother to investigate anything. He just painted me as a heartless monster to get views.

Topics like "Sister with $150k Bonus Refuses to Help Brother" and "Brother Abused by Wealthy Sister" quickly went viral on Snapchat and local forums.

My name, my company, and even my address were leaked by internet trolls. My inbox was flooded with hate mail and death threats.

To make things worse, the client saw the trend and immediately sent a notice suspending our contract.

Under immense public pressure, the company’s upper management called an emergency meeting. They decided to put me on temporary suspension.

When the HR director spoke to me, his voice was full of pity.

"Chloe, you are a key asset to this company, but the public backlash is too big. This suspension is our only option for now. I hope you can resolve this family drama quickly and clear your name."

The day my suspension was officially issued, I contacted my lawyer.

The next day, the show's producers, wanting to milk the drama for more views, arranged a live mediation session. They even invited "relationship experts" to publicly judge me.

My mom, dad, and Leo sat on the stage. The moment I walked into the studio, they put on their most pitiful, victimized faces.

My mom even tried to rush over and hit me, but security held her back.

The host held the microphone, his tone clearly biased.

"Ms. Miller, in the face of your parents' tears and the public's outrage, what do you have to say for yourself? Are you really going to watch your brother stay single and your parents starve?"

One of the "experts" chimed in. "No matter what mistakes your parents made, as a daughter, you shouldn't be this cold..."

I ignored their moral grandstanding. I walked straight to the center of the stage, looked directly into the camera, and spoke calmly.

"Before I respond, I want to invite a very important guest onto the stage. He can tell everyone exactly whose son Leo is."

As soon as I finished speaking, Frank Sterling walked out from backstage and stopped right in front of my mother.

My mom’s face went paper-white.