Oliver didn't deny it. Instead, he shot back, "That's because you called me an orphan! And you were insulting Amy!"

Liam was still seething. "Amy is my mother. I can say whatever I want about her!"

Oliver raised his voice in defense. "She's my precious Amy, not just some nanny! I won't let you talk about her like that in front of me!"

"What can you even do? No matter what you say, she's my mom, and she always will be. You—"

Liam glared at Oliver with venom in his eyes. "You'll always be nothing but an orphan!"

"Liam."

"Enough!"

Alexander and Amy's voices cut through the tension simultaneously.

The two boys exchanged a quick glance before turning away, their expressions equally stubborn.

Alexander's gaze was icy and authoritative. "Where are your manners?"

Liam, destined to inherit Blackwood Enterprises one day, had always been under Alexander's strict discipline. He respected and feared his father too much to ever defy him openly.

But today was different.

Liam, who usually never dared to argue with Alexander, refused to back down.

"I'm not wrong!" Liam lifted his chin, his eyes burning with jealousy as he watched Amy speak softly to Oliver.

He pointed an accusing finger at Oliver. "This orphan keeps saying his dad is going to marry my mom, and then she'll become his mother too. He said she won't be mine anymore and won't care about me!"

"He even brags about how she'll cook for him every day, give him baths, tell him bedtime stories, and tuck him in at night. That I'll be the one who ends up an orphan!"

"Every single day, he rubs it in my face how amazing she is to him, like having a mother doesn't even matter..."

His voice cracked slightly, the threat of tears making him look pitiful.

Victoria, seeing this, quickly stepped in. "Alex, this isn't entirely Liam's fault. Ms. Sinclair has been neglecting him while doting on someone else's child..."

She hesitated before adding, "Liam just wants his mother's attention. Is that so wrong? Maybe Ms. Sinclair is the one failing in her role as a mother?"

With a pointed glance at Amy, she continued, "Ms. Sinclair, Liam is your child. Why are you prioritizing an outsider?"

Amy met Victoria's gaze evenly. "Yes, Liam is my child, and Alexander is my husband. Why would they ever side with an outsider?"

Liam, missing the implication, shouted, "That's because you've been bullying Victoria!"

Amy fixed him with a steady look. "So you're saying you and your father have been completely fair, treating everyone equally—is that it?"

"Of course!"

The onlookers, who had been silently judging Amy as an unfit mother, now turned their scrutiny toward Victoria with suspicion.

Those few words carried weight.

Regardless of whether Amy had truly bullied Victoria, Liam had just admitted that he and his father had taken sides—against their own family.

Victoria's expression faltered, but before she could speak, Amy's amused voice cut in.

"So, I'm just like you. Because you've been bullying Oliver, I'm being fair and impartial, treating everyone equally. Is that wrong?"

Liam was left speechless.