Joseph Shaw wasn’t a fool. He understood what Vianne Kane meant the moment he heard it.

She was just asking him to persuade Sophie Shaw not to get any ideas she shouldn’t have.

But as far as he knew, Heart of the Ocean was a company Sophie Shaw and Damian Morgan had run together. Sophie had even come up with the name. She had put in her own money and effort and poured her heart and soul into the company.

"Mr. Shaw, you’ve lived in our home for a long time, and we’ve always treated you well. We can’t let a trivial matter like this disrupt the peace in our family, don’t you agree? Besides, Damian’s company is so small and isn’t worth much. My sister doesn’t need to push him into a corner like this. She has shares, doesn’t she?"

Joseph Shaw fell silent, weighing the pros and cons in his mind.

Seeing his silence, Vianne Kane smiled. "If you find it difficult to bring this up, then I’ll just have Grandfather make the decision."

She immediately brought the old master into it, giving Joseph Shaw a splitting headache.

"Fine. I’ll find some time to have a good talk with Sophie."

"Then I’ll have to trouble you, Mr. Shaw."

Joseph Shaw forced a smile. "It’s no trouble. I’m going to take Joel to school now."

"Drive safely."

Vianne Kane put on a fake smile and saw the man and the boy out.

「That evening.」

Joseph Shaw picked up his son from school. Before dinner, he knocked on Sophie Shaw’s door.

Sophie Shaw was in a deep, hazy sleep when someone gently shook her shoulder.

"Sophie, wake up."

She opened her drowsy eyes to see Joseph Shaw sitting by her bed.

"Dad, what is it?"

"I have something to talk to you about."

Sophie Shaw glanced out the window. The sky had already darkened.

She pulled the blanket around herself and sat up, leaning against the headboard. "What time is it?"

"A little after six."

Having cried last night and this morning, Sophie Shaw woke up with red, swollen eyes.

Even after sleeping all day, she didn’t feel rested. Her mind was still foggy.

She rubbed her temples, her delicate brows furrowing slightly. "Dad, what did you want to talk about?"

Joseph Shaw got straight to the point. "I heard you’re asking Damian Morgan for Heart of the Ocean."

Sophie Shaw froze.

"Having shares is enough. The company’s performance has been mediocre; it’s never really taken off. Just let it go."

"Let it go?"

Sophie Shaw was getting angry. "I gave Damian Morgan all my savings. Now he’s dumping me to marry Vianne Kane. Is it too much to ask for what’s mine?"

"It’s not too much, but I don’t think it’s necessary."

"Why not?"

"Sophie, don’t fight them over this. It’s just a paltry sum, what’s there to fight about? Think about your little brother. Don’t blow things out of proportion."

Joseph Shaw was thinking that in a few years, when the old master retired as chairman and Bianca Kane took over, he himself had a chance to become the president. He wanted to groom his son, Joel.

Vianne Kane was in the entertainment industry and knew nothing about business management. The future successor could only be Joel.

He hoped Damian Morgan would have his own business. If Heart of the Ocean was handed over to Sophie Shaw, Damian might set his sights on the Kane Group, which would pose a threat to his son.

He had endured humiliation for ten years, living meekly and surviving in the cracks with his son and daughter. He had come this far; he didn’t want all his efforts to be for nothing.

"A paltry sum?"

Sophie Shaw’s nose tingled, and a bitter feeling washed over her.

"Dad, do you only think about Joel? What about me?"

’She had been cheated on and treated like dirt by Damian Morgan, and her own father was telling her not to fight, to just let it go?’

She had lived with her father in the Kane Family’s home for ten years. She knew Joseph Shaw had lost his backbone, but she never thought it was this completely broken.

The Kanes had never truly treated her as family; everything was a calculation.

She had been looking forward to moving out of the Kane Family’s house after graduating from college.

She actively participated in all sorts of activities and competitions. Whenever upperclassmen recommended a part-time job and she had the time, she would take it. She was constantly saving money.

But to support Damian Morgan’s career, she had given him all her money and had even worked at the company for a full year for free, asking for nothing in return.

This left her with no money to rent a place of her own, forcing her to live under someone else’s roof, enduring the moods of the Kanes.

She had seen Damian Morgan’s true colors. She had thought that her father, at least, would stand by her side no matter what...

"Dad, you’ve changed."

"You know Damian cheated on me, yet you still want me to endure it. You—"

Sophie Shaw couldn’t hold back, and tears streamed down her face.

More than anything Damian Morgan had done, Joseph Shaw’s words hurt her more deeply. The damage they caused was far greater.

"All you ever do is tell me to endure and compromise! When will this kind of life ever end?"

"Why don’t we leave the Kane Family?"

"We can live just fine even if we leave this place."

Faced with Sophie Shaw’s breakdown, her tears falling like rain, Joseph Shaw’s eyes grew red.

"Sophie, don’t be willful. You’ll get married and leave one day, but your brother is still young."

Joseph Shaw’s voice choked. "The Kane Family has no male heirs. Your brother is the only one. The old master is very fond of him. Please, I’m begging you. Let’s just give up on Heart of the Ocean, okay?"

"You only see Joel."

"And what about you? When you were about to elope, did you ever think about me and your brother?"

Joseph Shaw’s retort made Sophie Shaw sob so hard she gasped for air.

’Of course I thought of them. I planned to leave with Damian first and contact them once we were stable.’

’They were always part of my future plans.’

"Sophie, think about it carefully. Is it worth tearing things apart with the Kanes for that tiny bit of profit, or should you consider the bigger picture?"

Joseph Shaw hardened his heart and patted her shoulder gently. "Stop crying. Get up, wash your face, and come downstairs for dinner."

"I have no appetite."

"Then suit yourself."

Joseph Shaw got up and left.

Sophie Shaw really didn’t go downstairs for dinner. After having an empty stomach all day, she was now completely full of anger.

She leaned against the headboard, wiped the tears from her face, and slowly calmed down, trying to clear her thoughts.

The ownership of Heart of the Ocean was a dead end.

She wanted it, Damian wouldn’t give it to her, and there was really nothing she could do.

’Who could I blame but my love-addled brain? I trusted Damian too much back then and just handed him the money...’

Giving it away was easy. Getting it back was hard.

"Marry me, and you’ll get the title of Mrs. Blackwood and everything you want..."

"You have three days to think about it."

Alaric Blackwood’s handsome, chiseled face and his words inexplicably surfaced in her mind.

Thinking about how the two families were supposed to meet formally next Saturday to discuss the wedding, she felt like a drowning person grasping at a life-saving straw. Steeling her resolve, she threw off the covers, went to the bathroom to wash her face, hurriedly put on a coat, grabbed her bag, and left.

She hailed a cab to Maplewood Estate and found Alaric Blackwood’s house.

The huge mansion was brightly lit.

She hesitated outside the gate for a moment before steeling herself and ringing the doorbell.

Before the ringing had even faded, the gate opened automatically.

"You have a guest this late?" a woman’s voice drifted from inside the house.

Then the main door swung open, and Alaric Blackwood walked out with his arm around a tall woman.

The woman was wearing a hat and a mask, her face completely covered. Her gaze swept over Sophie Shaw, who was standing in the courtyard, before she looked thoughtfully at Alaric Blackwood. "A woman?"

"Goodbye, superstar."

The woman scoffed twice, then walked down the steps in her stilettos.

It was late autumn, and the night air was chilly.

The woman had a man’s jacket draped over her shoulders, and she was wearing a pair of hot pants underneath. Her butt swayed with each step, her figure alluring and fiery.

Sophie Shaw’s brow furrowed slightly, and her heart began to pound with uncertainty.

Recalling the gossip about Alaric Blackwood, she felt she had been a bit impulsive. Showing up here so late at night was presumptuous.

Alaric Blackwood watched the woman get into a red sports car and speed away. Then, he leisurely crossed his arms, leaned against the doorframe, and let his gaze fall on Sophie Shaw’s swollen eyes. A corner of his lip curled up. "Made up your mind already?"