?Chapter 512:


    Cedric had once given Caiden a chance to prove himself. When Caidenst departed, he must have sensed Katrina’s brewing schemes. A single word of caution to protect Dani would have sufficed, yet Caiden remained silent. Instead, he chose flight over fight, preupied with his own safety.


    Such a man was unfit to be called a father.


    Cedric didn’t wait for a response. He took Dani by the hand and led her to her room.


    Dani sighed, and as Cedric held her, she patted his back.


    “Why waste anger on someone like him?”


    Cedric, still fuming, replied, “Dani, I don’t understand why you’re still smiling. My heart breaks for you!”


    Dani didn’t care in the slightest. Caiden had always been the epitome of selfishness, driven solely by his own interests. If he weren’t, how else could he have remarried with such haste after Brylee’s death?


    The very idea of seeing him as a father had faded into irrelevance for her years ago.


    But Cedric couldn’t understand Dani’s apathy. Though he only had one family member, his grandmother, she had loved him dearly. Whenever he interacted with Caiden, he couldn’t help but cling to a faint hope that Caiden might show a bit more kindness towards Dani.


    It was a glimpse of Cedric’s own humanity—a part of him that remained tender and idealistic despite his hard-earned sess.


    Watching Cedric’s frustration with Caiden often made Dani think about how, despite being a billionaire CEO, he still carried a soft, vulnerable heart. It touched her in a way she hadn’t expected.


    Maybe it was because someone else still held on to what she had long since given up on.


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    When Dani came down the stairs, she was greeted by the sight of Caiden pacing angrily, his face flushed with frustration.


    “Dani! Do you even know what Cedric has done to me?” heined.


    Dani’s face remained unreadable. Of course, she knew. Caiden had been leveraging her and Cedric’s names to secure business opportunities. After the fundsnded in Harper Group’s ounts, he convenientlybeled them as profits and distributed them as dividends.


    The sums weren’t significant—just tens of thousands a month at most.


    Yet, Caiden basked in the illusion of sess. At first, he knew full well that his so-called achievements stemmed from Dani’s and Cedric’s reputations. But as time passed, he began to convince himself he was a brilliant businessman.


    Cedric, however, had reached his limit. With one decisive move, he severed every business tie Caiden had built.


    “Cedric told everyone in the industry that if they even think about working with me, he’ll cklist them. Is this how he ns to go against me?” Caiden asked, his voice rising in frustration.


    Dani took a slow sip of her water, her gaze unwavering.


    “Isn’t it clear?” she replied coolly.


    Caiden almost sputtered in fury.


    “Dani! I brought you into this world. How can you just stand there and let this happen to me?” he demanded, his face flushed with anger.


    A faint smile tugged at Dani’s lips.


    “My mother brought me into this world, not you,” she said calmly.


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