"He Thought Their Adopted Daughter's Mother Died at Birth. Then the Kitchen Assistant Showed Him the Matching Hospital Bracelet and Exposed His Own Mother."

Liam and Sophie walked through the entrance, shielding themselves from the damp chill. Behind them, Marcus carried a briefcase filled with the latest court filings.

Before they could take three steps toward the stairs, a sharp, icy voice rang out from the drawing room doorway.

"Well, well, well. Look who has finally decided to crawl out of the servants' quarters and take over the master's study."

Evelyn Bennett stepped out into the foyer. Despite being placed under house arrest and facing federal indictment, she looked as formidable as ever, draped in a dark velvet robe, her silver hair styled in a flawless chignon, her eyes blazing with suppressed fury. She had managed to bypass her security detail using an internal service corridor.

Liam stepped immediately in front of Sophie, shielding her from his mother's blistering gaze. "Mother, violating the terms of your house arrest by leaving the West Wing is a direct federal violation. Go back to your quarters before I call the marshals stationed outside."

Evelyn laughed—a cold, brittle sound that echoed off the high marble ceiling. "Marshals? Let them come, Liam! Do you honestly think a few federal rent-a-cops are going to erase forty years of the Bennett family's influence in this city? You’re throwing away our entire legacy for a kitchen maid who crawled out of the gutter!"

"Enough!" Liam’s voice boomed through the foyer, carrying a raw, explosive power that brought the entire household staff rushing out from the corridors to watch. "You didn't protect our legacy, Mother. You committed a felony. You lied to me, you lied to the courts, and you tore a mother away from her newborn baby just to maintain your precious social standing!"

Evelyn’s face flushed crimson. She pointed a trembling, manicured finger directly at Sophie. "She was a nobody! A penniless girl with no future! I gave that child a billionaire's upbringing, elite education, and a name that opens any door in the world! If I hadn't stepped in, that baby would have ended up in a foster home rotting away in poverty!"

"That was my choice to make!" Sophie shouted, stepping out from behind Liam, her eyes blazing with a fierce, terrifying intensity that made Evelyn step back instinctively. "You didn't save my child, Evelyn. You stole her. You broke my heart into a thousand pieces and told me she was dead just so you could play god with our lives!"

"You ungrateful little rat," Evelyn hissed, her voice dropping into a venomous snarl. "You think winning a few court documents means you’ve won? Emma doesn't know you. She doesn't love you. To her, I am grandmother, and you are just the hired help who scrubs the floors. If you try to take her away, I will make sure she spends the rest of her life knowing her biological mother is a gold-digging fraud who sold her out for a settlement!"

Before Evelyn could finish her sentence, a soft, frightened gasp echoed from the top of the grand staircase.

Everyone froze.

Liam slowly turned his head upward. Standing on the landing, holding a velvet sketchbook against her chest, was eight-year-old Emma. Her wide, amber eyes—the exact same eyes shared by both Liam and Sophie—were filled with absolute terror and confusion as she looked down at the screaming adults in the foyer.

"Daddy...?" Emma's small, trembling voice cut through the heavy silence like a knife. "Why is everyone yelling? Who is that lady... and why is she saying grandmother stole me?"