Livia was still sitting at the dining table, enjoying a few dishes. Even though she was alone at such a large table, she didn't feel strange at all. It was far better than having to be around people who were always looking for a chance to provoke her.
Just when she thought she had finally found some peace, someone suddenly yanked her hair, making the wound beneath the bandage ache.
Livia reflexively dropped her utensils. As soon as she reached out to stop the person gripping her hair, her head was violently pulled backward, forcing her to look up.
A moment later, a woman's voice rang out.
“Did you think you could get away with humiliating me?” Zoe tightened her grip on Livia's hair, completely ignoring the pain on Livia's face.
She had been furious after being humiliated, but she hadn't dared do anything while Ethan was there. Now that Ethan was gone and no one else was around, it was time to make Livia lick her shoes and beg for forgiveness.
“Miss Livia!” Beki, who was in the kitchen, saw what was happening at the dining table. She immediately ran over to help Livia. Pleading with Zoe, she said, “Miss Zoe, please let go of Miss Livia. Her head is injured. If you pull her hair like that, the wound could open again.”
Zoe was an arrogant woman. There was no way she would listen to a servant. With her free hand, she slapped Beki. “Who are you? How dare you tell me what to do? Get out of here! Otherwise, I'll make sure you lose your job.”
The slap made Beki retreat fearfully, but seeing Livia in pain, she hesitated over whether she should leave.
At that exact moment, Livia grabbed Zoe's wrist—the one pulling her hair—and squeezed it with all her strength until Zoe screamed and released her grip.
Unfortunately, her suffering wasn't over yet. Livia stood up and twisted Zoe's arm, producing a sharp crack as the bone broke. The next second, a scream of pain echoed through the dining room.
Emma was speaking with Zoe's mother in the living room. Although Ethan was still insisting on postponing Livia's imprisonment, the two of them still had several things to discuss. When they heard the screams coming from the dining room, they immediately stood and hurried over.
“Zoe, what happened to you?” Zoe's mother saw her daughter sitting on the floor, clutching her hand and crying.
“That crazy woman … she broke my wrist, Mom.” Zoe complained hoarsely, doing her best to endure the pain in her wrist as she glared at Livia, who stood beside the dining table with an impassive expression.
Emma and Zoe's mother were stunned. They fell silent for a while before looking at Livia with hateful expressions.
“You! Why did you do this to my daughter? You stupid, crazy woman! You should be sent to a psychiatric hospital!” Zoe's mother shouted.
Emma was furious too. “Livia! You won't get away this time!” She then moved toward Livia, raised her hand, and swung it hard.
However, her palm hit nothing because Livia caught and held her hand.
“I was only defending myself. She was the one who attacked first. The pain is simply the consequence of her actions,” Livia said expressionlessly, completely unbothered by Zoe's obvious agony.
Then she pushed Emma's hand away, making the middle-aged woman stagger back two steps.
“You … you'll regret what you did today!” Emma couldn't accept Livia's resistance.
She had already been angry with Livia, and now she could no longer hold herself back. She swept her gaze around the room. The moment her eyes landed on the broom near the kitchen door, she hurried over to grab it, intending to beat Livia with it.
She had just raised the broom high when someone cleared his throat.
Dimitri Quincy came down from the stairs, with Margaret following behind him. He had been about to leave for the Quinton Corporation building, but the commotion in the dining room had caught his attention.
With a stern expression, he said, “What kind of commotion is this? Since when has the Quincy family allowed violence to take place inside the house?” He then looked at Emma and continued, “Is this what the Quincy family taught you?”
Although Emma was old, she was still very afraid of her older brother. She immediately lowered the broom and threw it onto the floor.
“Dimitri, I wouldn't act like this if it weren't for Livia. That damn woman has really gone too far.” Emma pointed at Zoe, who was trying to stand with her mother's help. “Look at Zoe. Livia broke her hand. That's why I wanted to punish that crazy woman.”
Dimitri looked at Zoe, who was crying in pain, then turned his gaze to Livia.
“Did you break her arm?” Dimitri asked.
Livia still looked relaxed, but she wasn't disrespectful. According to her memories, Dimitri had always been wise. That was reason enough for her to respect him.
“Yes. I broke it,” Livia admitted without hesitation.
“Do you hear that? She doesn't even feel guilty. We have to send her to prison! We …” Emma began again, but before she could finish, Dimitri interrupted her.
“Why did you do it?”
Livia didn't answer immediately. She lifted her gaze and looked toward the corners of the room. Then she said, “I was only defending myself. She attacked me first. If you don't believe me, you can check the CCTV footage.”
Zoe had always secretly threatened and bullied Livia before. That was why she had never been caught. In her anger, she had made a mistake this time—she had forgotten that the Quincy family residence was equipped with CCTV cameras. More importantly, she had never expected Livia to fight back and make her scream in pain, drawing everyone's attention to them.
Dimitri now looked at Zoe.
The young woman immediately lowered her head when her eyes met Dimitri's stern face. Enduring the pain, she said hesitantly, “I … it was … I'm sorry, Mr. Quincy. I didn't mean to cause a commotion. I only wanted to teach her a lesson for being disrespectful to her elders earlier. But she twisted my arm and broke my wrist. I …”
Zoe admitted that she had attacked first. Even so, she still wanted to blame Livia. But before she could finish, Dimitri waved his hand.
“Enough of this commotion. I don't want anything like this to happen again. Go to the clinic and have your hand treated.”
After saying that, Dimitri turned and walked toward the exit.
Livia didn't want anything to do with those people either, so she also left the dining room.
As she stepped onto the first stair, she heard someone call her.
“Livia.”
Livia turned and saw that it was Margaret. She immediately raised one eyebrow, thinking, “This old woman … She's definitely going to scold me.”
Livia prepared herself for whatever reprimand Margaret was about to unleash. Unexpectedly, she didn't hear a single accusatory word.
Instead, the woman in front of her looked at the bandage on the back of her head and said awkwardly, “The bandage on the back of your head is bleeding. Go to the clinic if you're hurt. Don't sit around like an idiot and wait for the wound to get infected.”
After saying that, Margaret turned and walked toward the garden.
Livia hadn't expected that nagging old woman to tell her to go to the clinic, so she frowned in confusion.
“What happened to her?”
In the flower garden in the yard of the Quincy family residence, Margaret was trimming flower stems when Emma approached her.
“Sister-in-law, there's something I want to tell you.”
Margaret turned briefly to look at Emma. Seeing the woman's expression, she knew what she wanted to discuss. “I already checked the CCTV footage with the head butler. Zoe was indeed the one who attacked Livia first.”
Even so, Emma refused to accept it. In the past, Margaret had always been indifferent toward Livia. She had often scolded the girl too. So she couldn't accept Margaret taking Livia's side now.
“Sister-in-law, you can't go easy on her. She betrayed our family. We should get rid of her as soon as possible before she causes us even more losses. Sister, pressure Ethan to imprison her immediately. All the evidence is already there. There's nothing left to investigate.” Emma tried to persuade her. She took Margaret's hand and spoke in an inciting tone.
Margaret sighed but continued what she was doing. “We can't imprison Livia right now. Ethan found something strange. The video evidence showing Livia entering the CEO's office was fabricated. About twenty seconds of footage is missing from the video. So for now, we can't punish Livia. Wait until the video can be restored.”
Emma wasn't happy with that information, because it meant Livia might get away. Nevertheless, she was still shocked. “The video was fabricated?” she asked.
“Yes. In addition, the person holding the confidential data has contacted Ethan. He said he would return the data if Quinton Corporation could give him five hundred million dollars as ransom.”
“Fi … five hundred million dollars?” Emma's eyes widened. Although Quinton Corporation was a multibillion-dollar company, five hundred million dollars was still a huge amount.
“That's robbery! How can someone demand five hundred million dollars in ransom?” Emma's face was filled with disbelief as she spoke. She then continued, “Sister-in-law, I'm sure this is Livia's scheme. Now she's suddenly speaking, and her personality has changed. I don't think that's a coincidence. I'm certain Livia has been planning this for a long time. She pretended to be mute and weak to let us lower our guard. Once she got the chance, she attacked us. This must be part of her plan to seize the Quincy family's assets.”
Margaret's hands paused for a moment. After pondering for a while, she said, “Ethan is investigating it. We'll know once that person is caught.”
Meanwhile, Bella stood at the entrance to the garden. She always accompanied Mrs. Quincy to tend to the flowers, and she had wanted to do so today as well. But she stopped when she heard Margaret mention the CCTV footage and the person demanding ransom.
“David … what the hell is that bastard trying to do? What an idiot!”</translated_content} elang 尊尼ҟам娱乐开号ҳәо Жәлар平台总代 天天中彩票和?} incapac? 香港六合彩} "