Chapter 3

Olivia was furious and ordered Emily, "Get out of my way. I'm going to teach this bastard a good lesson today!"

Emily's thin frame stood straight in front of me, "Try laying a finger on my daughter and see what happens."

Olivia sneered, "You're the only one who treats this idiot like treasure. You're also the one who insisted on bringing back this idiot who's brought nothing but shame to the Baker family. The Baker family already has Sophia. Why did we need to bring her back?"

"Emily, you've been married into the Baker family for over twenty years, and all you've brought us is humiliation. You gave birth to a son who's a cripple who can't even stand, and a daughter who's mentally disabled. Not one of your children is normal. You've made the Baker family a laughingstock in all of Emerald City!"

"Move aside, or I'll deal with you too..."

"Say one more word, and you'll become abnormal too," I interrupted Olivia.

Olivia froze and turned to look at me.

"I'll beat you into a cripple," I said slowly, word by word, with a slight smile.

Everyone stared at me in shock.

Understandable.

Alice, who used to cower in fear at the sight of Olivia, now dared to speak so boldly. She'd gone completely crazy.

"Sweetie..." Emily turned to look at me.

There was surprise in her eyes, but more than that, there was heartache.

Olivia's cheeks trembled with rage, as if she were about to have a stroke. "What did you say?!"

"If you're deaf, go buy a hearing aid." I hated repeating myself.

Olivia gritted her teeth, "Fine, very good!"

She looked at the butler, "Call some bodyguards in here!"

She was planning to go all out.

Alex's eyes gleamed with anticipation of a good show.

Emily glared at the butler, who was about to call for backup, "You dare?"

The situation was at a standstill.

Without a word, I kicked the solid wood coffee table in front of me. The heavy table worth millions instantly shattered into pieces.

I looked at Olivia and raised an eyebrow, "If you're prepared to pay for your bodyguards' medical bills for the rest of their lives, then call them in."

"You? You..." Olivia was at a loss with me. Her eyes rolled back, and she suddenly fainted from anger.

"Mrs. Baker?!"

"Grandma!"

The main hall descended into chaos.

Emily immediately grabbed my hand and left the chaotic scene.

I looked at Emily holding my hand. The warmth from her palm felt familiar.

But I instinctively wanted to pull away.

Suddenly sensing a probing gaze, I turned my head and saw a girl standing in the corner of the main hall.

She wore delicate makeup, her eyes narrowed as she watched Emily and me.

"Alice's" memories told me she was Sophia Baker.

Emily pulled me upstairs and closed the door, immediately touching my face and checking me up and down anxiously, "Sweetie, are you uncomfortable anywhere?"

I shook my head and quietly pulled my hand away from hers.

But she hugged me as if afraid of losing a precious treasure.

Awkwardly, though, I was too fat.

She couldn't even fully wrap her arms around my waist.

"Sweetie, don't be afraid. Mommy will protect you. If you don't want to go to school, you don't have to. If you don't want to go out, you don't have to. Just stay home, and Mommy will be with you. Mommy swears, I won't let anyone hurt you again! Unless they step over my dead body!" Emily cried so hard her words were unclear.

From Emily's tone, I felt a strong protective instinct.

She was serious, willing to risk her life to protect me.

And she was also very afraid of losing me.

I was stunned.

Could kinship and blood ties really have such power, making someone willing to sacrifice their life for another person without regret?

Or was it about protecting someone with blood ties by killing another innocent person?

I didn't understand.

"Sweetie?" Seeing I hadn't responded, Emily worriedly touched my forehead, "Did you hear what Mommy said?"

I snapped back to reality and nodded, "I want to go back to school."

"What?" Emily was surprised, doubting she'd heard correctly.

"I want to go back to school."

"I want to lose weight."

And I need to get revenge on BOC.

"Really, really?" Emily couldn't believe it.

Before this, after Alice was brought back home, because the food suddenly got better, she ate until her weight broke through the 190-pound mark.

Combined with her intellectual problems, she was at the bottom of the entire Crestland Academy, inevitably getting mocked.

Though Alice was simple-minded, she wasn't without shame.

Originally cheerful despite her simplicity, she gradually became withdrawn, locking herself in her room whenever it was time for school.

"Really."

I hated saying unnecessary things, but facing Emily, her eyes full of tender love, made me willing to be patient.

I'd seen such loving eyes before, in my adoptive mother's eyes.

Though that was before my adoptive mother got pregnant.

Emily frowned, seeming anxious to find a solution, "Then, then Mommy will go to school with you."

She looked up at me, seeking my opinion.

I shook my head, "No."

"I'm not a kindergarten kid."

I knew Emily was worried I'd get bullied.

But I wasn't the old Alice. I could handle a bunch of students.

"Can you really manage on your own?"

"Here!" Emily took out a hand-drawn Hello Kitty card and pressed it into my hand, "If you run into trouble, call Mommy, okay?"

"Do you know how to make a call? Mommy will teach you!"

Emily took my phone from my pocket. I took it back and called her right in front of her.

Emily was both surprised and delighted, "Sweetie, you know how to make calls now? Amazing! You're such a good girl!"

Hearing her praise me like a toddler, I felt incredibly awkward.

But I didn't want to show too much difference from this body's original owner.

"Sweetie, when did you learn to make calls?" Emily gently rubbed my hand.

"Who taught you?"

"I learned from watching videos," I answered.

"Sweetie, you're so smart!" Emily smiled, then rolled up my sleeve. Seeing the scratches on my arm, tears fell. She got the first aid kit to disinfect and bandage them.

These scratches were all made by Alice herself after Alex tricked her into it.

Silly girl stubbornly believed that people didn't like her because she was fat, and if she lost weight, everyone would like her.

She didn't know those people just bullied her because she was an easy target.

Emily finished treating the wounds on my arm and sighed, speaking in a tone that seemed to have been repeated countless times with helpless patience, "Sweetie, cutting yourself won't help you lose weight. Don't listen to Alex's nonsense, okay?"

I nodded, "Okay."

Emily was relieved. She looked at me, "Sweetie, why haven't you called me Mommy since you came home today?"