Ivy Shen's words landed like a bomb, leaving Clara Night so riled up she was practically jumping and shrieking in place.
Seeing Clara get so worked up, Adrian Night's brows finally started to furrow.
Clara Night stood with her hands on her hips, looking like a total shrew, and pointed at Ivy, demanding, "What gives you the right to say that? Why can't my brother stay with me forever, huh? I'm telling you, I want my brother with me for my whole life! Nobody can take him away from me, nobody!"
Seeing Clara so hysterical, Ivy couldn't help but shake her head. Her anger was almost gone now. Honestly, Clara was kind of pitiful—lonely, self-obsessed, probably sheltered since childhood, which explained why she clung to her brother so much.
"Say something!" Clara was still super agitated, and every little expression Ivy made, she managed to twist into looking smug, scornful, or just plain condescending.
"Don't get so worked up," Ivy said, seeing Clara's eyes red from crying. She actually felt a bit sorry for her, and her tone softened noticeably.
"Stop pretending to be nice! I want you to say it, say it out loud!" Clara shouted, angrily pushing away the handkerchief Ivy offered her.
Ivy just shook her head at that. How could Clara and Adrian be so different? This was pure, unreasonable drama! Sighing, she still tried to explain, "I'm not targeting you. I'm just telling the truth. Even parents can't stay with you for your whole life. Look, they're older than you, and time catches up to everyone—eventually they'll go before you do. And one day you'll get married and have kids. Your children will grow up and leave to chase their own happiness. So, the only one truly left by your side is your husband!"
...The whole room went silent, stunned—nobody had ever thought about it that way before.
"I... I don't want to get married. I just want to stay with my brother," Clara stammered, sounding like she was starting to see Ivy's point, even if she didn't want to admit it.
"Whatever, I'm done talking to you." Realizing it was pointless to argue, Ivy turned to head upstairs.
"Ugly freak, I'll kill you!"
"Ah—!"
"Watch out—!" Adrian never imagined his sister would actually grab a dagger and try to stab Ivy in the back. He'd always known Clara was spoiled, but never thought she'd go this far. He reached out to grab her, but what happened next shocked him even more.
Yup, Clara Night had just been flipped over Ivy's shoulder and was now lying on the floor, looking like a turtle, completely stuck. Ivy's knee was planted firmly on her back. The move was so quick it left the whole crowd gasping—what did Ivy just do? How did Clara end up on the ground?
"Sis, not everyone would be as merciful as I am, you know?"
"Let go of me! Ugly freak, let go!" Clara kept struggling on the floor, but Ivy just shrugged and let her go.
"You—"
"Enough, stop causing trouble!" Just as Clara scrambled up, Adrian snapped and angrily scolded her.
"Bro..." Seeing her brother suddenly turn cold, Clara's lips quivered, and she burst into tears, running upstairs to her room.
"Uh..." Ivy was left speechless for a second by Clara's toddler-level temper.
Adrian, still frowning, slowly followed Clara upstairs—looked like he was going to comfort that spoiled little princess.
"So you're not actually stupid?" Lucian Vane propped his chin in his hands, staring at Ivy in surprise. She'd shocked him way too many times today.
At that moment, nobody cared about Adrian walking up the stairs—he glanced back at Ivy, unsettled by how agile she'd just been. Why did she suddenly give him such a weird feeling? He couldn't figure it out at all!