Her cold attitude made Autumn Linton uncomfortable, but she maintained the smile on her face anyway.

She called the waiter over. "You can bring out the food now."

The waiter nodded. "Okay."

Once all the dishes were on the table, she said with a smile, "Chloe, these are all your favorite dishes. You must have been on a strict diet and couldn’t eat anything you wanted. I had the chef make these especially for you. Go on, give them a try."

But Chloe Reed looked toward Charles Reed, who was sitting across from her.

Charles Reed had been silent the whole time, his expression grim. As his daughter’s eyes met his, his breath hitched, but his face quickly softened. He said, "Chloe, I was too impulsive before. I shouldn’t have laid a hand on you. Does it still hurt?"

Chloe Reed’s eyelashes fluttered, and her eyes suddenly stung with tears. Forcing her emotions down, she asked, "Can you answer a question for me?"

Autumn Linton nodded. "Of course, Chloe. Go ahead."

Chloe Reed took a deep breath and asked, "Why are you two so good to Sunny?"

Autumn Linton’s eyes darted away for a second. "We brought her into our home, so of course we have to treat her well. She’s been by our side for over a decade. We’ve grown attached to her. There’s no difference between her and a biological child anymore."

After a pause, she added in a weighty, earnest tone, "Chloe, Sunny wants to get along with you. Can you just give her a chance? If you two just try, you’ll find that you’re just biased against her and have a lot of misunderstandings..."

Chloe Reed stood up. "Never."

She turned to leave.

"You stop right there!"

Charles Reed slammed his hand on the table. "What is this attitude?! Your mother is speaking to you so kindly, and this is how you treat her? You walk around with a long face in front of us all day—do we owe you something? Was it a mistake for us to give you life and raise you? You even had Walker Grant target the Reed Group, threatening me until I had to apologize to you. Chloe Reed, you’ve really gotten capable, haven’t you? Using your husband’s family’s power against your own!"

Chloe Reed froze. As his words registered, her face filled with disbelief.

’Walker targeted the Reed Group?’

’Just to make Charles Reed apologize to me?’

Her fingers clenched into fists, and a bitter ache filled her heart.

She took a deep breath and turned back to look at Charles Reed. "In that case, you should have just killed me when you brought Sunny home. Then none of this would have happened. Since I’m such a disappointment to you... why don’t we just sever our ties? Put out a statement tomorrow. Announce that I, Chloe Reed, have nothing more to do with either of you."

"Chloe, don’t talk such nonsense!"

Autumn Linton shot to her feet, her face filled with anxiety. "You’re our daughter, how can you talk about severing ties? Your father is just upset; he didn’t mean what he said."

She then turned to Charles Reed. "Will you stop talking? Our daughter has just recovered. Do you really need to agitate her more?"

But Charles Reed was furious. "Look at her! Is that any way to treat her parents? I’ve already gone this far—what more does she want from me? Does she expect me, her own father, to get on my knees and beg?!"

"Just stop talking..." Tears started to fall from Autumn Linton’s eyes.

She looked back at Chloe Reed. "Chloe, don’t say such foolish things. You’re my daughter. We’re a family. There’s nothing we can’t get through."

But Chloe Reed pulled her hand away. A flash of pain crossed her eyes, but her tone was firm. "Let’s just sever our ties. I mean it. I don’t want to be tangled up with you two anymore. I’m so tired."

Autumn Linton grew frantic and tried to grab her hand again, but in the next second, she clutched her chest. Her face went pale, and her lips turned a purplish color. "Chloe... you can’t..."

Then, she passed out.