Audrey Sullivan didn't stay long before rising to leave.

The red envelope lay quietly on the coffee table.

Vincent Laurent picked it up and followed her to the doorway, pressing it firmly into her hand. "This is from Ethan. A New Year's blessing for good fortune. That boy never had a way with words. If he'd known how to speak sweetly back then, perhaps things wouldn't have..."

Audrey's fingertips trembled slightly before she finally accepted it. "Thank him for me."

Watching her depart, Vincent turned back to the living room.

Sophia Laurent seemed thoughtful. "So Uncle and Mother-in-law..."

Vincent sipped his tea. "Yes. Pity Victor Sullivan stole her away."

Sophia's lips curled coldly.

Victor Sullivan truly was ruthless.

Forcing Audrey into marriage through coercion, swallowing her family's wealth.

Cheating yet refusing divorce, terrified of losing assets.

Audrey's entire life had been trapped in this prison of a marriage.

"Mother-in-law and Father-in-law lived separately for over twenty years. She only returned from abroad last year." Sophia sighed softly. "Life's too short for such wasted years."

Vincent's gaze flickered. "I'll relay that to my brother."

"You and my mother also..." Sophia hesitated.

Vincent's smile froze, his knuckles whitening. "She doesn't even remember me anymore."

"Amnesia?"

"Worse."

Seeing his reluctance to continue, Sophia didn't press further.

Not long after Vincent left, Ethan Sullivan arrived carrying bundles of red envelopes.

"I won't accept your father's." Sophia pushed it away distastefully.

Ethan forced it into her hands. "The more you despise him, the more you should spend his money. Let it infuriate him."

Sophia couldn't help laughing.

That night, Ethan held her close and murmured, "The family estate is pressuring us about heirs. Father demands three sons."

"Living with him must be suffocating."

"Which is why I despise the flaws I inherited."

Sophia nodded. "There is some truth to that."

Ethan's eyes narrowed dangerously as he rolled atop her. "Despise me?"

"I wouldn't dare—" Her words were cut off by his lips.

On the sixth day of the New Year, Michael Gao's call shattered their peace.

"Master Vincent has been hospitalized with leukemia. We need bone marrow matches."

Sophia felt plunged into icy waters.

No wonder her mentor had refused visits before the holidays.

At the hospital, Vincent Grandelle appeared emaciated, a shadow of his former vitality.

"Master!" Sophia choked back tears, clutching his withered hand.

"Foolish child, don't cry." The old man managed a weak smile.

In the blood draw room, Isabella Valentine whimpered theatrically about the pain.

Spotting Ethan, her eyes instantly welled up. "Ethan..."

"I'm here for Sophia's mentor," Ethan coldly interrupted.

When the needle pierced Sophia's arm, Ethan anxiously urged the nurse to be gentle.

Isabella watched, jealousy turning her eyes red.

Two weeks later, the matching results stunned everyone—

Aside from biological granddaughter Isabella, the only match was Sophia.