Everyone in the Briggs family, including Pauline Briggs, saw that newspaper article. Pauline had never imagined that the adopted daughter she had lovingly raised all these years would have such a disgraceful background. "Pauline, hurry up and send that woman away!" Grandma Briggs sternly said to her daughter. "Mom, is the news true? Could there be any mistake?" Pauline still could not accept that her adopted daughter had such a background. Grandma Briggs’ sharp eyes swept across her daughter’s face. It’s all my fault, she sighed inwardly. You are my late-life daughter. Your two brothers are successful, so I don’t need to worry about them. I thought it would be fine to just spoil you a bit. Your father and I shielded you from such sordid matters when you were young, and I didn’t expect you to grow up so naive of worldly affairs. "Mom, I’ve been so foolish!" Pauline admitted. "You are not foolish! Your nature is just too pure and kind," Grandma Briggs sighed. "Pauline, Sabrina Johnson has been living in our home for such a long time. I’ve observed her for a while, and she’s definitely not as kind and weak as you portray her. In fact, she’s very calculating. It seems that for all these years, she has often used you as a pawn," Grandma Briggs said, gently touching her daughter’s smooth hand. "The fact that you and Sienna, a biological mother and daughter, have become so estranged is undoubtedly due to your adopted daughter stirring up trouble between you two." "Mom, Sabrina wouldn’t do that..." Pauline began. "At a time , you’re still defending her?" "Mom, I feel so awful," Pauline said, clutching her chest. "Silly girl, don’t blame yourself too much." "Mom, is everything written in the newspaper true?" "If not entirely true, then at least eighty or ninety percent of it is!" Pauline asked, "But didn’t the Stewart family hire a team of lawyers to sue the newspaper for false reporting?" Grandma Briggs scoffed. "You silly girl, haven’t you heard the saying: swallow broken teeth mixed with blood? This approach is definitely the idea of that old fox, William Stewart." "Mom, I don’t understand." Grandma Briggs lovingly looked at her only daughter. I’m getting old, she thought, I don’t know how many years I have left. With her nature, my husband gone, and her biological daughter not close to her... My two sons are married men now; they can’t unconditionally protect their sister. Thinking it over and over, it was ultimately my husband’s and my fault. We’ve hindered our daughter’s growth. "Think about it," Grandma Briggs continued patiently, "if the Stewart family divorces Sabrina now, wouldn’t it be an indirect admission of the newspaper’s report?" "So the Stewart family believes the newspaper’s report?" "Your father had people investigate, and the findings were similar to what the newspaper reported. If your father could find out, so could the Stewart family. So, if the Stewart family knows the truth, why would they choose not to believe it?" Grandma Briggs patiently guided her daughter, hoping she would become "smarter"—not overly so, but at least enough not to be a burden to Sienna. "If my guess is correct, once this storm passes, the Stewart family will still have Frederick and Sabrina divorce." "Mrs. Stewart, what are you doing at the door?" a servant suddenly called out. Grandma Briggs asked in a resonant voice, "Who’s outside?" The servant replied, "Grandma, Mrs. Stewart. Mrs. Stewart was just standing outside the door, completely still. I don’t know what she was doing." The servant’s words, both overtly and covertly, suggested that Sabrina had just been eavesdropping. Sabrina boldly walked in. Avoiding Grandma Briggs’ sharp gaze, she turned to Pauline with a pitiful look and cried, "Mom, tell me, the newspaper report isn’t true!" Pauline had always been indecisive. Growing up, she listened to her parents and elder brothers. After marrying, she listened to her mother-in-law and her husband. "Sabrina..." Pauline didn’t know what to say to her adopted daughter. As a proper wealthy madam, Pauline was disgusted by women of ill-repute in her social circle; these women seduced their husbands and sons—they were all troublemakers. Although Dexter Johnson had never involved himself in such affairs when he was alive, the thought that she had raised a prostitute’s daughter for so many years made Pauline feel utterly revolted, as if she had swallowed a fly. "Mom, I’m your daughter, forever your daughter!" Sabrina cried, walking to Pauline’s side and kneeling with a thud. Sabrina’s tears softened Pauline’s heart again. She raised her hand, wanting to stroke her adopted daughter’s hair and comfort her, but she withdrew it upon catching her mother’s sharp gaze. "Sabrina, you should leave." Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on NoveI★Fire.net Sabrina choked back a sob. "Mom, what did you say?" Pauline couldn’t bear to look at her and turned her head away. "Mom, are you abandoning me?" Pauline remained silent. "Mom, how can you abandon me? I’m Sabrina, your beloved Sabrina! Don’t you remember when I was little and sick with a fever, how you held me all night without sleeping? You said you’d never abandon me... Mom, you’re my real mother! In my heart, only you are worthy of being my mother!" There were some things inappropriate for Grandma Briggs to say, given her status, but Second Sister-in-law could say them. Over the years, Second Sister-in-law had been closely watching the situation unfold, naturally keeping an eye on Sabrina’s actions, fearing that Sabrina might become desperate and drag the Briggs family into the mire with her. "Well, well, Sabrina," Second Sister-in-law interjected, "consider our Pauline’s status and then consider your own. You’re not worthy of being her daughter!" Sabrina was speechless. "Tsk, tsk... No wonder your biological parents didn’t come looking for you when Sienna returned. Your biological mother probably doesn’t even know who your biological father is," Second Sister-in-law said, contemptuously revealing Sabrina’s disgraceful background. Sabrina had actually known her true identity for a long time. It was precisely because she knew about Yvette Harris’s past that she had always been unwilling to acknowledge her. She didn’t expect her biological parents to be rich or powerful; an honest family would have been enough. Yet, her biological mother turned out to have such a shameful background. "Mom, Mom..." Sabrina called out to Pauline repeatedly, her cries making Pauline’s heart ache. "Don’t cry..." Pauline managed. "Mom, how can I not cry? I feel like dying right now... Why? Why aren’t you my real mother? Why?" "I..." Pauline didn’t know how to answer. She had asked herself these same questions when Sienna returned. Grandma Briggs’ sharp eyes stared at the woman before her, acting with such flawless skill. I despise her even more for this, she thought, then said to Second Sister-in-law, "Second Daughter-in-law, please escort Mrs. Stewart back to the Stewart family." "No, Mom, I won’t leave! I won’t leave!" Sabrina pleaded. Second Sister-in-law understood her mother-in-law’s concern; she was worried that Pauline’s soft heart would lead her to make another foolish mistake. Second Sister-in-law then said to Pauline, "Pauline, with such a major incident, shouldn’t you call Sienna?"