The term "illegitimate daughter" is considered a taboo in the Scott family. Over the years, Sophie and Oliver only caught snippets of it during arguments between their mother, Alma Ferreira, and Ernesto Scott. Otherwise, Alma, Ernesto, and the entire Scott family never mentioned the matter. It is said that it was decreed by their grandfather, Aaron Scott. Sophie and Oliver vaguely know that they have a half-sister, who shares their father’s surname, born by Ernesto with another woman during his affairs outside. Throughout these years, Ernesto has focused on his career and neglected family affairs; his relationship with Alma is but a facade due to the other woman and the illegitimate daughter. When they first heard about it, Sophie and Oliver wondered whether Ernesto would divorce Alma and bring that mother and daughter back home. However, with no sign of that happening, they gradually let go of these worries. A bolt from the blue, utterly unanticipated. At the end of the corridor, Oliver stood by the open window, where the bare branches outside the school building swayed in the cold wind. Occasionally, dead leaves were caught up and spun into the gray sky. The white earphone wire slanted down from his earlobe, tucked into the collar of his school uniform jacket, winding all the way to the left pocket. "Oliver, are you going back?" Through the earphones, Sophie’s voice was soft and gentle, weak and helpless. His slender fingers curled slightly, then relaxed. Oliver shoved his hands into his pockets and said, "Yes, I am going back." "Then I’ll go back too," Sophie said sluggishly, "I’m afraid Mom might..." Oliver’s brows furrowed more tightly, and he asked, "Are you sure?" "Yes, I think so," Sophie whispered, "Mom just told me that Dad had the idea of bringing that... person back as early as two years ago, but it never materialized, so Mom would only argue with him privately. About half a year ago, Dad suddenly had the servants tidy up a new bedroom on the second floor. It was meticulously remodeled. Despite being so busy, he supervised throughout. Clothes, jewelry, bags, shoes were placed inside in sets." Oliver’s eyebrows knitted closer together. Both he and Sophie rarely stayed at home, so they were unaware of these matters, and Alma had not disclosed them to them. Sophie continued, "Later on, Mom found out that the woman passed away back then, just about half a year ago. Since the room was refurbished, while we weren’t home, Mom and Dad have quarreled countless times over that person. But as you know, they say Dad... would never relent before Mom." Near the end, Sophie’s voice faded slowly. Oliver lightly pressed his lips together. Rumor had it that Ernesto Scott and Alma Ferreira married due to family arrangements, and Ernesto could never forget the woman outside. Rumor had it that Ernesto left the Scott family and worked his way up over the years so he could openly bring that mother and daughter back. In the past, that mother and daughter only existed in "rumors." Although Sophie and Oliver sensed their father’s indifference and the family’s discord, they never took the "rumors" seriously. Now, those intangible rumors had become a rock-solid reality, gradually peeling away the concealed facade of harmony. On the phone, no one spoke, only breathing could be heard. "Oliver?" Sophie called out. Oliver regained his senses, "I’m here." Sophie said, "Mom just fought with Dad. I don’t have classes this afternoon, so I’ll go back now. You concentrate on classes this afternoon, and the driver will pick you up after school." Oliver replied absentmindedly. Perhaps it was nerves, but when he heard Sophie mention "the woman passed away just about half a year ago," his first thought was remarkably of Marcus Shaw’s mother... In the afternoon, as darkness fell. On the third floor, in the bedroom. Alma Ferreira sat on the sofa, wearing light makeup that couldn’t hide her haggard and exhausted expression, with red-rimmed eyes and her hands clasped on her knees, rubbing them. Despair and collapse engulfed her, bit by bit eroding her mental defenses. The floor was littered with cosmetics and furniture items in disarray, testifying to her recent bout of madness. Ernesto Scott stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, which was open, facing the courtyard, leaving Alma only a back view that was steady and resolute, yet somewhat impersonal. Alma stared blankly at his back, with shoulders wide and sturdy but cold and distant. Just then, he had watched expressionlessly as she went mad, without stopping her, without saying a word, as if watching a monkey show, numb and aloof. After venting, Alma was considerably calmer. She lowered her head, burying her face in her hands, rubbing it before looking up, exhaling, her voice hoarse and weak, "Do you know what others will think if you forcibly bring her back?" Ernesto finally turned around, his expression still indifferent, "I don’t care what others think. This is what I owe her." "And what about me? What about Sophie and Oliver? How do you expect others to view us?!" Alma’s tears burst forth, "Even if back then... what wrong did Sophie and Oliver do? Haven’t they been good enough for you?!" She cried pitifully, but in Ernesto Scott’s eyes, there was no ripple of emotion. He said coldly, "You know very well how they came to be here." Alma Ferreira was stunned, lightly bit her lip, and clenched her hands tightly, her freshly done nails digging deeply into her palms. Since childhood, she admired Ernesto Scott, and after Ernesto and Evelyn Easton divorced, she married Ernesto fearlessly, willingly. However, although Ernesto married her under Aaron Scott’s pressure, he never touched her. She had no choice but to use some tricks to get pregnant. Whether it was Sophie Scott or Oliver Scott, neither were born from Ernesto’s willingness. Every time Ernesto was out of his mind, he called out Evelyn Easton’s name. Recalling this, Alma felt as if a knife was gouging her heart, piece by piece, making it so hard to breathe that every inhalation and exhalation tore at her flesh. The next moment, Alma stood up abruptly, her frail body trembling, tears falling like broken strings of beads, her voice agitated, "Regardless of how they came to be, they are your flesh and blood! Just like Nora Scott, they are your own flesh and blood!" "I haven’t treated them badly over the years." Ernesto looked at her coldly, still calm and unfazed. He spoke frankly, "Nora Scott is, without a doubt, the rightful eldest daughter of the Scott family. I’m her father, and I can bring her back without anyone’s approval. Either you put on a good show in front of Nora and be a responsible stepmother, which is better for Sophie and Oliver, or if you secretly trouble Nora, then we can only divorce, and Sophie and Oliver can go with you." Ernesto’s cold and heartless words drained the color from Alma’s face, turning it pale as paper. There was no chance of redemption, and Ernesto had no intention of discussing it with her. He straightforwardly stated, if you treat Nora well, then I will treat Sophie and Oliver well; if you treat Nora poorly, then we divorce, and Sophie and Oliver will go with you. Without a doubt, choosing the former would at least save some face; choosing the latter would make Alma the laughingstock of the entire upper society. Being driven out by a former lover’s daughter along with her two children—if word gets out, how could she hold her face? Moreover, Evelyn Easton’s marriage to Ernesto was never made public, and in outsiders’ eyes, Nora was merely a "illegitimate daughter"... Furthermore, with Ernesto’s current capability, Alma could not stand strong in front of him. Years ago, Ernesto relied on the Scott family and had to comply with Aaron Scott’s wishes, but now, Ernesto’s career is flourishing while the Ferreira and Scott family’s businesses are declining. Before Ernesto, neither family has enough confidence, let alone to meddle with Ernesto’s family affairs. This man... Over twenty years, he accumulated legacy bit by bit with a pure and simple goal - just to provide a refuge for the daughter he owed. When he puts it into action, no one can stop him. "There are two choices, think them over carefully." Then, he threw down the final words, glanced at her coolly, paused briefly, then withdrew his gaze and strode out of the bedroom. The door slammed shut with a loud "bang". Alma’s body shuddered, and after a while, she cried hugging her shoulders, slowly crouching down, uncontrollably trembling all over. Disturbed all afternoon, even missing the implicit welcome ceremony for Marcus Shaw after school, Oliver Scott hurried away as soon as the school bell rang. Along the way, he took out his phone numerous times, but never used it. "Master, we’ve arrived." The driver’s voice snapped Oliver Scott back from his unstable thoughts. Oliver unbuckled the seatbelt, glanced out the window, and seeing the artificial mountain lake and carefully designed garden, he pushed open the car door, stepping into the onrushing cold wind. As soon as he entered, Lisa greeted him, calling out, "Master." Handing over his backpack to her, Oliver glanced at the empty living room and asked, "Has Dad returned home?" "He’s back, he’s upstairs with his wife." Lisa glanced at the first-floor study, opened her mouth, and then hesitated to speak. Noticing something unusual about the study, Oliver immediately looked in its direction, just in time to see the door opening, and a person emerging from inside. It was a woman about twenty-four or twenty-five years old. Wearing a white sweater and jeans, her figure was tall and slender, her hair loosely styled, holding two books in her arms, blending a unique kind of stunning beauty with an air of intellectual elegance. In the living room, the cold white light cast a faint halo on her, making her beauty seem almost unreal. She paused, two eyes shot over directly, no surprise, her lips curved with a subtle smile, her voice was lazy and drawling, "School’s over?" Oliver was speechless.