"Master Robert, the people from the second branch are here," the servant said.

The second those words landed, the whole room went dead silent.

The irritation in Robert's eyes showed plain as day.

"Damn it. What are they doing here?"

Adrian cut in right then.

"What else? They're obviously here to watch our family make fools of ourselves."

Robert shot him a hard look.

Then he was just about to send the servant back out and have them tell the others he wasn't home,

but he didn't get the chance.

Wren and the others came in uninvited.

Robert had never hated his younger brother Wren as much as he did today.

When Cecilia followed them inside, the first thing she noticed was Miranda on her knees, tied up on the floor, with that man of hers beside her.

Both of them were covered in injuries.

One look was enough to tell they'd been beaten.

Then Cecilia saw Robert sitting in the place of honor.

Beside him, Adrian was being held back by several bodyguards.

"Wren, what brings you here so late? You've had to see a family embarrassment," Robert said.

Then he turned to the bodyguards. "Take them away."

He meant Miranda and Julian.

Robert knew exactly why Cecilia and the others had come.

Of course he wasn't about to let them get what they wanted.

But bad timing hit right then.

Felix came back in from outside.

He threw himself at Miranda.

"Mom!"

Miranda's eyes had stayed steady the whole time, as if she still held to the idea that she'd done nothing wrong.

But the second she saw Felix, her face changed.

She looked like she wanted the floor to split open and swallow her.

She could say she didn't care about reputation or what people thought.

But in front of her son, she couldn't hold that up.

Robert's expression shifted.

He looked at the nanny following behind Felix and snapped, "Didn't tell you to keep an eye on the young master? What exactly have you been doing?"

The nanny hurried to apologize.

"Master Robert, I'm sorry. I really couldn't keep watch over the young master."

Felix had been spoiled since childhood.

In the Rainsworth family, there really weren't many servants who could keep him under control.

Robert knew that too.

He gave the servant a dismissive wave.

By then, Felix had already reached Miranda.

He grabbed hold of her and hugged her tight.

"Mom!"

Miranda's body gave a slight tremble. "Felix, go back to your room. Now."

She didn't want her son seeing her like this, tied up and brought this low.

Felix shook his head hard. "No. I'm not leaving. Who tied you up? Untie her right now!"

As he spoke, he turned and shouted at everyone around him, "Which one of you hit my mom?"

Robert still couldn't stop himself from doting on this grandson, and he came down from his seat.

"Felix, listen to Grandpa. Go back to your room and rest. This is between adults, and we adults will handle ourselves. Your mother made a

mistake so she should pay the net

price. Robert said each ward slowly and clearly.

But Felix shook his head again and planted himself in front of his mother. "I'm not going back."

Miranda looked at her son standing in front of her, and her throat tightened.

Her voice caught as she said, "Felix, listen to Grandpa. Go back to your room."

Felix stayed stubbornly where he was and refused to leave.

Robert had no other choice. He could only order someone to drag him away by force.

The whole room filled with Felix's cries and struggles, his voice rising over and over as he refused to leave.

At that moment, there was no way Miranda could have stayed untouched by it.

She held all of it in and didn't let any of it show.

Once Felix was taken away, the room finally went quiet.

Robert let out a long breath. "Miranda, you saw it for yourself. This is the mess your sins brought on."

This time, Miranda didn't fire back.

Her eyes had gone red around the rims. She lowered her head and couldn't force out a single word.

Wren stepped forward then and said

to Robert, "Brother, don't let your

vel

temper push you into doing something you can't take back."