Heather exploded, "What? Your father begged her? Your father is her uncle—her elder!"

    Eloise let out a drawn-out sigh.

    "Grandma, these days, seniority means nothing. You''re her grandmother, and she still treats you like thin air,"

    she said, half-whining, half-provoking.

    The single sentence left the olddy utterly speechless.

    Eloise studied her grandmother''s face, thinking the old woman would rush off to give Cecilia trouble. To her

    surprise, Heather simply fell into a brooding silence.

    "Grandma, you''re not really going to let Cecilia walk away unscathed, are you?" she probed.

    Though Eloise had apologized to Cecilia on the surface, jealousy still festered in her heart; she secretly

    wished Cecilia''s life would crumble.

    After a long pause, Heather sighed. "Forget it. The Cecilia standing before us now is beyond our reach."

    Eloise''s eyes widened. For a moment, she waspletely stunned.

    "Grandma, you never used to be like this."

    "You don''t understand," Heather scolded. "Your father told me to stop stirring up trouble, and even Magnus

    called and asked me to apologize to Cecilia." Heather always heeded her two sons and her grandson

    Magnus, without question.

    Eloise had always known her grandmother was biased, but she hadn''t realized the favoritism ran this deep.

    "Fine," she muttered.

    With that, she fell silent.

    The olddy added pointedly, "You''d do well to befriend Cecilia. She''s no longer the girl she once was—unlike

    you, getting tossed back to your parents'' house."

    Eloise went rigid.

    As expected, we''re talking past each other again.

    Once back in her room, Eloise unlocked her phone. Just as she feared, the freshly created alternate ount

    had been rejected by Cecilia again.

    "Ugh, what now?" she groaned.

    If she couldn''t cozy up to Cecilia, how was she ever going to return to her inws'' house?

    She tried phoning Cecilia directly, only to discover her number had been blocked as well.

    Out of options, Eloise contacted her younger cousin, asking the girl to reach out to Cecilia on her behalf.

    That was the only cousin who had never quarreled with Cecilia and still got along with her.

    At that moment, inside Jamieson Group''s headquarters, the office hummed with quiet efficiency.

    Cecilia was poring over documents when April Escobar''s message popped up on her screen: Cecilia, do you

    have a minute?

    April was the granddaughter of the

    youngest branch of the family. She

    and Cecilia had once been close,

    though the years had pulled them

    apart.

    Among all the younger Escobars, April alone still treated Cecilia as a real cousin.

    Cecilia replied: I do. What''s up?

    Momentster, April''s call came through.

    "Cecilia, I have a favor to ask," April said softly.

    "What is it? Tell me."

    April got straight to the point. "Eloise asked me to do this. She wants you to forgive her."

    She hurried on, stammering, "I know

    Eloise treated you badly before. I just

    wanted to ask... if you might

    consider it. If you can''t, that''s okay.

    I-I''m only asking."

    Because of that, the other Escobar

    children often bullied her. In many

    ways, she and Cecilia shared the

    same childhood wounds.

    April had been frail since birth; whenever she grew nervous, her words broke into gentle stutters.

    Cecilia immediately understood that Eloise must have forced the girl to call.

    "April, you''re twenty-three this year, right?" Cecilia asked, her voice warm.

    April blinked, puzzled by the sudden question, but answered, "Yes, I-I''ll turn twenty-four soon."

    "Have you ever thought about leaving the Escobar family behind and living your own life?" Cecilia asked

    quietly.

    On the other end, April went silent, stunned.

    After a long pause, she whispered, "I... I have."

    In a family so devoid of warmth, how could she not dream of escaping?

    Yet, countless obstacles still pinned her down.