Elise sat at the dining table, picking up her fork to eat breakfast. She quickly sent a text to Elizabeth. [Heading back to work today?]

Elizabeth's reply came almost instantly. [Yes. I have a meeting at Crestwood Channel to discuss a potential collaboration.]

[Okay, I won't disturb you at the office then, sweetie. Breakfast was delicious, love you.]

[Love you too.]

With that, Elise closed WhatsApp and opened her news app.

As expected, William and Victoria's engagement dominated every headline. Various media outlets had published photos of them standing together during the announcement, surrounded by cheering guests.

The comment section was even more absurd.

[A perfect match! Most importantly, a union between the Levines and the Stuarts is absolutely ideal!]

[I heard they grew up together. Maybe James Levine's real mother is actually Victoria?]

[Now that I look closely, James does resemble Victoria quite a bit.]

[Beautiful people always have beautiful children.]

[Wait, who are the Stuarts exactly?]

That last comment had numerous replies.

[Just google Charles Stuart and you'll understand.]

[Let me put it this way - there are only a handful of people in this country who have received the Victoria Medal, and Charles Stuart is one of them.]

[Half the Stuarts are politicians, the other half are business leaders. And they're all top players in their fields - isn't that just frustrating?]

The more Elise read, the more irritated she became. She soon closed the app entirely.

She knew the Stuarts would use their influence to claim William!

After finishing breakfast, Elise called Linda to rearrange her schedule. She wanted to film all her remaining scenes as quickly as possible. Since Elizabeth had already left for work, Elise didn't need to stay with her anymore.

Still, she wondered if Elizabeth would feel upset when she saw the news.

In reality, Elizabeth wasn't particularly bothered. She had expected this outcome.

If anything, she felt slightly disgusted reading comments speculating that James might be Victoria's child.

But then again, that was how the media operated.

They would write whatever attracted attention and glorified their subjects!

Putting her phone away, Elizabeth gazed out the window.

The car taking her to Crestwood Channel was a company vehicle - she probably wouldn't be having Robert drive her around anymore anyway.

Her phone rang with an incoming call. Elizabeth glanced at the screen before answering.

Samuel immediately scoffed at her. "See, Elise? Did you think I was lying? I told you William has a fiancée. How does it feel to get your face slapped?"

"You were engaged to me when you started seeing Sophia, weren't you?" Elizabeth retorted. "And Sophia still came out on top, didn't she?"

"How can you be so shameless?!" Samuel snapped, instantly infuriated by her response.

He never knew when it started, but Elizabeth had become so articulate that he could never win an argument with her!

"Just learning from Sophia," Elizabeth said flatly.

"She and I truly love each other."

"And you think William and I don't?" Elizabeth laughed coldly. "If that weren't the case, why weren't your family or the Scotts invited to Levine Holdings' 60th anniversary celebration last night? You probably already know why, don't you?!"