When Yorick heard the news, he was visibly shaken.


    Instinctively, he nced over at the car, catching only a glimpse of its tail. But that was enough for him to recognize it as the same car Ste and that man had gotten into at noon. "Does that guy live here too?"


    Orion hesitated before replying, "Probably."


    If he wasn''t a resident, how had he gotten past the tight security so easily?


    Yorick''s breathing became erratic, his expression hardening.


    "Could this man be the owner of this ce?"


    Orion didn''t know for sure, but considering how respectfully the security had treated the car, he concluded, "Seems like it."


    The atmosphere in the car turned icy.


    "I thought you said he was a 66-year-old geezer?" Yorick nearly roared the question.


    Orion felt a chill run down his spine at Yorick''s fury. Indeed, their earlier investigation had pointed to a 58-year-old manpleting the paperwork eight years ago.


    Fuming, Yorick pulled out his phone and dialed Ste''s number, only to be met with a cold voicemail. She had already blocked him.


    Yorick was livid, with no outlet for his anger!


    ...


    Meanwhile, in Portis City, a scandal was unfolding.


    By 3 p.m., several trending topics had taken over social media:


    #The Larkin Family Disowns Daughter Over Lack of Merit#


    #Ste No Longer a Daughter of The Larkin Family#


    #Mrs. Larkin Signs Off On Severing Ties With Biological Daughter#


    #Between Adopted and Biological, The Larkin Family Chooses Adopted#


    #The Bond of Raising Trumps Blood, Adopted Over Biological#


    The Larkin family''s controversy swept through Portis City like a storm.


    Yorick was in turmoil. So was Cloudia.


    With the news spreading like wildfire, several of her friends called, their words feigning concern but dripping with sarcasm.


    Desperate, she repeatedly dialed Ste''s number until, finally, Ste picked up. "Hello?"


    "Ste, how could you do this? You wanted to sever ties, and now it looks like we''re the viins. Clearly, it was you who used Finley and Tegan to tempt me into signing. You deceived me, and now I''m the one facing infamy." Cloudia''s rant was explosive. She felt utterly aggrieved, convinced of her victimhood, yet now painted as the viin.


    On the other end, Ste, groggy, pondered for a moment before asking, "Are you not the viin?"


    "You..."


    Cloudia was on the verge of fainting from anger.


    "What exactly do you want? Where have I wronged you for you to treat me this way?"


    Now, she truly regretted bringing Ste back into her life. Had she known Ste would turn out this way, she wouldn''t have bothered, regardless of whether Ste lived or died.


    "You want money, is that it?" Cloudia choked out the words. She assumed Ste''s dramatics were a desperate cry for financial help.


    That had to be it.


    Cloudia grew more infuriated by the thought. "Just say you need money. Or is it that new family of yours after the Larkin family''s wealth?"


    In her rage, Cloudiapletely lost herposure, forgetting that Ste owned a lucrative studio, earning millions annually.