Chapter 3
In my brothers’ eyes, family means nothing. Only love matters to them.
But now I’m curious. When love and power are at stake, how will my brothers choose?
With this thought, I chuckled coldly.
“I’m asking you for the last time, who is the true heiress and heir of SkyRise Corporation?”
Before my brothers could answer, Celeste, the daughter of a business partner under the corporation, rushed out and slapped me.
“Outrageous! A funded poor student dares to act out in SkyRise Corporation? Know your place.”
I know Celeste because she’s not only been secretly in love with Finn but also dreams of marrying him to become the future chairman’s wife.
Since she heard Lydia is the granddaughter of the wealthiest, the heiress of SkyRise Corporation, she’s been flattering Lydia for two months, trying to build a good sister-in-law relationship and appear as a good wife to Finn.
But she’s flattering the wrong person.
Lydia isn’t the heiress of SkyRise Corporation; she’s Celeste’s rival, and the mistress Finn has secretly supported for years.
I wasn’t about to take Celeste’s slap for nothing, so I kicked her hard in the stomach.
“Who do you think you are? A daughter of a third-rate company’s CEO dares to hit me! With one word from me, your family goes bankrupt.”
Celeste clutched her stomach in pain, looking at me in disbelief.
“Adeline, you dare kick me? My parents never even scolded me!”
“Wait and see, I won’t let you off!”
Lydia, feeling guilty, grabbed Celeste’s hand.
“Celeste, don’t mind her. She’s not right in the head. I’ll apologize on her behalf.”
I looked at Lydia disdainfully and sneered.
“I think you’re the one who’s crazy. Giving up being a mistress to impersonate the heiress at such an important event.”
I turned to my brothers, pointing at the door, and coldly said,
“If you want to play role-playing games with your lover, then take your mistress and get out of my corporation!”
My brothers glared at me, their faces dark.
“Lydia, I’m telling you, we have real power in the corporation, while you’re still in school. If anyone leaves, it’s you!”
“What’s going on here? Why are you all standing? Go take your seats.”
A dignified, extraordinary middle-aged man squeezed in.
He is Declan, the CEO of SkyRise Corporation, and my biological father.
Yet, he hurried over to Lydia, raising his hand to wipe her tears.
“Lydia, don’t cry. Who bullied you?”
“Tell me, and I’ll stand up for you!”
Finn angrily pointed at me. “Who else but Adeline, this impudent girl, would dare bully Lydia under my nose?”
Hearing this, my father displeased, slapped me.
“Adeline, you really have some nerve, taking advantage of others’ power to bully Lydia.”
“Kneel and apologize to Lydia immediately, or you won’t get any living expenses for the next year.”
Looking at my father, who blamed me without understanding the situation, I felt utterly disappointed.
As expected, my father is just like in my past life, blindly favoring Lydia along with my brothers.
Though I anticipated this, my heart still ached.
I never understood why I, his daughter, was treated this way, while Lydia, just the brothers’ plaything, received his favor.
“Adeline, you really have some nerve, daring to push Lydia around using someone else’s influence.”
“Kneel and apologize to Lydia right now, or you can forget about receiving any living expenses for the next year.”
Seeing my father blame me without knowing the full story filled me with disappointment. As expected, my father remained the same as in my past life, blindly favoring Lydia along with my two brothers. Although I had anticipated this, it still pained me.
I never understood it before. I am my father’s daughter, yet Lydia was just a toy for my brothers. But once my father met Lydia, it was like he was bewitched by her. Especially after learning that both my brothers had been supporting Lydia, he was furious and punished them severely for an entire day and night.
At that time, I even tried to intervene and defend them, but my father accidentally struck me twice. The marks from those strikes are still on my arm to this day. Afterward, my father not only forbade my brothers from supporting Lydia but even used his connections to get her into the best university in Country A.
He also told my brothers that if they truly liked Lydia, they should compete fairly to win her hand in marriage. And whoever succeeded in marrying Lydia would inherit his fortune. In my past life, my father’s strange behavior piqued my curiosity, so I secretly investigated Lydia’s background. I later discovered that Lydia was the daughter of my father’s first love. Lydia resembled her mother, and my father recognized her immediately. The pull of a lost love is indeed powerful; just one familiar face was enough to capture my father’s heart.
It’s sad for my late mother, who never knew that my father harbored feelings for another woman. Thinking of this, I looked at my father with a mocking smile. “I won’t apologize!”
“But my brothers claimed Lydia is their sister, the heiress of SkyRise Corporation. Don’t you have anything to explain to everyone?”
Upon hearing this, Lydia immediately looked at my father with teary eyes because she knew he couldn’t stand seeing her cry. As expected, seeing Lydia break down, my father slapped me twice more. “Explain what? They’re right; Lydia is my beloved daughter, the heiress of SkyRise Corporation.”
Seeing my father lie so blatantly, I shouted at him in anger. “Declan, do you think you’re being fair to my deceased mother? Can you repeat what you just said with a clear conscience?”
My father ignored me and looked at my brothers. “Throw this trash, who bullied your sister, out.”
Looking at my cold and unfeeling father, my heart was filled with mixed emotions. Ha, is this the man my mother loved all her life? Is this the biological father I admired for 18 years? I think my mother never expected, while she was alive, that the two sons she kindly adopted would harm her beloved daughter for a mistress. And that her husband would not protect his own daughter but would instead throw her out for the child of his first love. At this moment, I truly felt sad for myself and my deceased mother.
I lifted my head and met my father’s eyes directly, speaking coldly. “This is my family’s SkyRise Corporation; you outsiders have no right to flaunt here!” I deliberately emphasized “my family’s.”
As soon as I finished speaking, my father was completely enraged. He ordered my brothers to come forward and hold me down tightly so I couldn’t move. “Yours? How laughable!”
Then my father walked behind me, grabbed my hair, and smashed my forehead against the glass wall of the hall. “For years, I’ve been managing SkyRise Corporation. Why can’t it be mine, Declan’s? Why can’t I decide the heir?”
I held back my tears and shouted firmly, “SkyRise Corporation belongs to my grandmother. I am the sole heir of the corporation!”
“Bang, bang, bang,” my forehead was pushed against the glass wall again as soon as I finished speaking. My father continued to roar, “Adeline, stop dreaming. I gave SkyRise Corporation to Lydia as a dowry last year. Whoever marries Lydia will inherit SkyRise Corporation!”
My father’s words shocked everyone present, and the way they looked at Lydia became even more intense. At this moment, an old and sharp female voice came from behind me. “Declan, dare to say that again! Who is the heir of SkyRise Corporation?”
I’m sorry, but it seems that the text for translation is missing. Could you please provide the Chinese text that you would like to have translated?