Ethan Yin and Cherry Miller left with ease, but Cassie Kofi was left to face a crowd of accusing fingers.
"What's with this woman? She actually went after Assistant Miller? Is she crazy?"
"Yeah, yeah! Miss Miller is really nice. She just patiently gave me advice on a few stocks."
"Miss Miller is beautiful, kind, and highly capable. Just the other day, I called her about a fund, and she gave me some tips—I made a lot of money! But this woman looks unfamiliar. Who brought her here?"
"I think she's a stranger too! Maybe she sneaked in to cause trouble for Miss Miller?"
The person who brought Cassie Kofi rushed over in a panic.
When he heard what Cassie Kofi had just done, he was stunned, looking at her as if she were an idiot: "Are you out of your mind? You begged me to bring you here just so you could push Assistant Miller into the water? If I ever take you out again, I'm a fool!"
"So you brought her? You're unbelievable! How could you bring such a brainless woman? Who is Assistant Miller? She's not someone you can mess with! Hurry up and get this woman out of here—do you really want her to cause more trouble?"
The crowd started to talk among themselves, each voice of condemnation louder than the last.
Cassie Kofi's face flushed red with anger, but no matter how she tried to explain, no one listened.
Cassie Kofi stomped her foot. "Who cares about staying here!"
With that, Cassie Kofi turned and ran out.
Cassie Kofi reached the parking lot and saw Howard waiting there.
Feeling utterly wronged, Cassie Kofi threw herself into Howard's arms and began to sob, "How could this happen? Cherry Miller jumped into the pool herself, so why does everyone say I pushed her? I didn't even touch her—why won't anyone believe me?"
Howard was delighted by Cassie Kofi's sudden embrace.
But hearing Cassie Kofi cry, he couldn't stay happy.
His precious girl was being bullied—how could he possibly be happy?
"What happened?" Howard asked. "Didn't you say you wouldn't mess with Cherry Miller tonight, and would only go after Ethan Yin?"
"I... I..." Cassie Kofi felt guilty and lowered her head. "But when I saw Cherry Miller in the spotlight, I just couldn't help myself. Howard, I really did want to pretend I'd been pushed so I could frame her, but I hadn't even done anything yet—she fell first! She actually copied me!"
Howard finally understood what had happened, his eyes darkening.
Mi Xiaoying is much smarter than Cassie.
She probably saw through Cassie's plan early on, and decided to strike first before Cassie could frame her.
Mi Xiaoying has a huge fan base.
So when this happened, everyone assumed Mi Xiaoying was the victim and Cassie the culprit.
But Mi Xiaoying didn't cry, complain, or talk about her grievance at all.
Sometimes, the more you keep your grievances to yourself, the more real they seem.
So everyone became even more convinced that Cassie was the one who pushed her.
"Forget it." Hausen knew the situation was set in stone. He could only comfort Cassie: "You'll have to find another chance. You're no match for Mi Xiaoying—don't go up against her again."
"Even you say that!" Cassie protested. "How is she better than me?"
She's better than you in every way!
Hausen almost blurted it out.
But he held his tongue at the last second.
No wonder Yin Yuhan likes Mi Xiaoying. Even if she were ugly, with her intelligence and emotional intelligence, he'd still fall for her!
Besides, Mi Xiaoying is petite and delicate, not ugly at all—in fact, she's fresh and beautiful.
A woman with looks, talent, skills, and popularity—who wouldn't like her?
If he hadn't fallen for Cassie so early on, he might have been drawn to a woman like that too.
Women like her are poppies.
Beautiful and addictive.
"Alright, alright, I'll stop." Hausen said helplessly. "They're all gone now, so there's no point going back in. Let's go home."
Cassie, though full of frustration, still left with Hausen.
After this incident, Cassie's popularity in the city plummeted. No one wanted to hang out with her anymore.
Even when Cassie invited people out, no one showed up.
Cassie was completely shocked!
She never imagined that Mi Xiaoying falling into the water would cause such a huge chain reaction.
She wanted to go to the company to find Mi Xiaoying and Yin Yuhan, but this time, she was stopped outside the building.
The company had beefed up security, and everyone had a photo of Cassie. The moment they saw her, they stopped her!
"I'm a guest of Mr. Yin! How can you stop me?" Cassie shouted angrily.
The security guard didn't even look up. "We're stopping you on purpose! Don't you know what you've done? Yesterday you pushed Assistant Mi into the water—she almost got a fever because of you! Mr. Yin gave strict orders: anyone who lets you in gets fired! I don't want to lose this job, so please leave! Don't make me use force!"
Hausen immediately flexed his muscles. "You wanna try laying a hand on us?"
"Try us!" A group of people stepped forward, surrounding Hausen. "You wanna compare muscles? We've got plenty too!"
Several of them flexed their muscles at Hausen, showing off.
Hausen was stunned.
It looked like Cassie really had no chance this time.
Back at the hotel, Hausen tried to talk Cassie down. "It's best to let this go. You saw it yourself—Yin Yuhan and Mi Xiaoying are really close, and now everyone is on their side. There's no point in getting tangled up anymore."
"Even you say that!" Cassie cried. "I don't care, I like Yin! I want to marry him! Hausen, aren't you the one who likes me most? Help me!"
Hausen felt a pang in his heart.
So Cassie knew he'd always liked her.
But she always pretended not to know.
Cassie grabbed Hausen's hand. "You promised me you'd always treat me well. So, Hausen, can you find a way to make Mi Xiaoying leave? I only have this one wish in my life—if you help me, I'll be your best friend forever."
Hausen looked at Cassie holding his hand, feeling a mix of emotions.
Best friends?
He didn't lack for friends.
Meanwhile, on a remote island in the UK, far across the ocean...
A helicopter descended from the sky.
"Has he arrived yet?" A few people stood to one side of the airfield, anxiously asking.
"He's here." The man standing beside them, with red eyes, said excitedly, "Now it's up to you."
"Don't worry, he'll only belong to our Phil family." The other man was fanatical. "The Phil bloodline doesn't need interference from the East. Starting today, he'll be cut off from the Eastern family forever!"
Soon, a huge suitcase was unloaded from the helicopter.
Inside the suitcase was a massive crystal coffin.
Inside the crystal coffin lay Gu Miao, who had been missing for almost half a month.
At this moment, neither the Yin family nor Gu Miao himself could have imagined he'd end up here like this.
Even Gu Miao himself never expected to be betrayed and defeated by his own family.
"Are the Yin family still searching for him?"
"If it weren't for the Yin family, we wouldn't have needed to move so quickly. We transferred him before Yin Sicheng's people arrived, just to avoid getting caught."
"Did you clean up all the loose ends?"
"All clean."
"Good, get ready. We're starting soon!"
The story flashes back to half a month ago.
Gu Miao suddenly received a message from Grand Duke Phil, saying something had happened at home and he needed to return as soon as possible.
Originally, he was supposed to work on a project with Yin Yuhan, but at the last minute, he left everything to Yin Yuhan and returned to England alone.
As soon as he got off the plane, Gu Miao saw the Grand Duke's personal steward come up to him. "Young Master."
"Grandfather was in a hurry to call me back. Did something happen?" Gu Miao asked.
"There is something, but I can't say for sure. You should ask His Grace yourself." The steward replied politely.
"Why isn't Grandfather at home? Why is he staying here?" Gu Miao glanced around and asked casually.
This was one of the Grand Duke's villas.
It was a bit remote, but the scenery was excellent—perfect for relaxation.
The Grand Duke was getting old and had mobility issues. Most of the time, he stayed in the city, where the family doctor could visit easily.
So that's why Gu Miao asked.
The steward hesitated for a moment before replying, "His Grace is getting harder and harder to read these days."
Gu Miao smiled. "True enough. How's my father these days?"
"The Earl has rarely been home lately," the steward replied. "The latest news is that he's gone to South America."
"South America?" Gu Miao was momentarily stunned.
If he remembered correctly, his mom and dad were both in South America now.
Would the three of them run into each other?
Hmm, after all these years, Dad should have let go of his obsession with Mom, right?
And Dad shouldn't get jealous over nothing anymore, right?
Gu Miao was lost in thought as he followed the steward into the villa.
There seemed to be fewer people in the villa today.
But Gu Miao could understand why.
After all, his grandfather really was a bit eccentric, and didn't like having too many people around. That was normal.
This sort of thing had happened before.
The steward had someone bring afternoon tea. Gu Miao trusted the steward completely.
After all, the steward was the Grand Duke's most trusted and highest-ranking servant.
Gu Miao didn't hesitate at all and drank the black tea prepared by the steward.
Soon after, Gu Miao suddenly felt dizzy and lightheaded.
Gu Miao's heart skipped a beat!
Oh no, something's wrong with the tea!
The steward—what is he...
"You..." Gu Miao's face changed abruptly as he pointed at the steward. "You drugged me?"
"Young Master, this is for your own good." The steward, once humble and respectful, suddenly changed. His eyes burned with fanaticism and stubbornness. "You are the future master of the Phil family. I absolutely won't allow you to have anything to do with those Easterners! They're not worthy!"