After the phone call, Ella found it difficult to sleep as well. Feeling restless, she got up and went downstairs. As she reached the downstairs hall, she noticed the arrival of her great-uncle Morton Ford's family.

There was never a dull moment in this house…

Since her grandfather left most of the Ford Family's property to her father, her uncle held a strong grudge and often picked fights. In her past life, he even schemed with Lucien to steal the family estate, which eventually led to the collapse of the Ford Family as she knew it.

Ella observed from a distance and noticed that Morton had brought his illegitimate daughter along. If her memory served her right, Morton's intention was to get his illegitimate daughter to work in Ford Group, now led by her father. The decision had to go through her father's approval, and Morton desired a favorable position for his illegitimate daughter. In her previous life, her father had given in to Morton's request, allowing his illegitimate daughter to join Ford Group. However, it was the ambition of Morton's illegitimate daughter that caused chaos within the company.

Now that she was reborn, she could not let this happen!

She walked over.

"Ella! Come have some tea." Doris, the aforementioned illegitimate daughter, held out a cup respectfully.

Ella reached out to take the cup. Just as she was about to grab it, Doris deliberately let go, aiming to spill the hot liquid on Ella's hand. Fortunately, after being reborn, Ella was well aware of Doris's tricks. In her previous life, Doris pretended to be innocent and pitiful but was actually devious and conniving, constantly scheming against Ella. She even climbed into Lucien's bed a few times! Ella would not be fooled twice.

In that moment, Ella swiftly took Doris's other hand and moved it in the way of the spilt tea. The action was so fast that nobody noticed what had happened. All they heard was Doris's shriek, followed by the sound of a teacup falling to the floor and shattering.

"What happened?" Morton asked, growing tense.

"N-Nothing," Doris mumbled. "It was an accident. I didn't mean to–"

At that moment, Doris's complexion turned pale, and she looked delicate and fragile. It was no wonder that despite being an illegitimate daughter, she was still highly favored by Morton.

SMACK!

Ella slapped Doris's miserable little face, hard. She wasn't even using all of her strength, but Doris was left dumbfounded. All she could do was stare at Ella, trembling.

Doris knew Ella as a girl who followed all of the rules. Ella was supposed to be gentle and kind – she hardly ever cried, too. When Ella did cry, the whole family would dote on her.

And Ella had just slapped her.

"You know this tea set was Grandpa's favorite when he was alive. Now that you've broken it, can you afford to replace it?!" Ella scolded loudly and assertively.

Doris turned red and started to cry. She said in a meek voice, "N-No. It's your fault for not catching it. You didn't–"

"I was supposed to catch it? You weren't supposed to drop it!" Ella cut her off. "So what is it? Are you a liar?"

"No, it was your fault…" Doris shook her head, sobbing.

"You're still trying to weasel your way out of this?" Ella's face sank, "Any real daughter born into this family knows how to pour tea without breaking something. You're a half-assed excuse of a Ford."

Morton's expression changed upon hearing Ella's sarcastic remarks toward her daughter. He felt conflicted, unsure of who was right or wrong in the situation. Additionally, given Doris's status as an illegitimate daughter, which was not well-regarded in high society, he couldn't find the words to refute Ella's accusation at the moment. All he could do was suppress his anger and frustration.

"I'm sorry you have to live with this, Hedy," Ella turned her head to look at her other cousin, Morton's legitimate daughter. "Your pathetic sister isn't half the lady you are."

Hedy didn't usually get along with Ella.

Hedy was older than Ella, but since their grandfather left the family fortune to Ella's father, Ella was the Ford Family's princess. Hedy always lived in her shadow and carried a grudge because of it.

But hearing Ella finally give Doris her just desserts… Hedy was ecstatic!

That bitch Hedy called her 'half-sister' should've been beaten to death years ago if it wasn't for their father's favor.

"I don't know what kind of unsavory people she grew up with. All she knows is to play the victim. I tried telling Dad not to bring her to your house, and now look. She's gone and broken Grandpa's precious teacup. Beating her to death wouldn't even be enough to make up for her existence," Hedy said in disgust.

"Enough!" Morton had an ugly look on his face. "You will NOT speak of your sister that way."

Hedy just rolled her eyes.

"It's okay." Jack stood up from the sofa and tried to de-escalate things. "Yes, it was older than Grandpa. Yes, it was his favorite. But my old man wouldn't want to see his family fighting over something as small as a teacup. I'll call the maid to clean it, and that'll be the end of that."

"I agree," Daisy intervened to diffuse the situation, "I can see that Doris's hands are all burned and red from the tea. She should be taken to the hospital right away."

Despite her show of care, Daisy refrained from mentioning the side of Doris's face that was swollen from Ella's slap.

Ella couldn’t help but laugh. She was proven to be quite calculating!

"I'm sorry for the trouble our daughter caused. We'll take her back now," Morton's first wife Lisa said, pulling her husband to his feet.

Ella didn't truly want to help Doris enter Ford Group. Even though she reluctantly tolerated Morton bringing his illegitimate daughter back to the Ford Family, she could never genuinely treat her with sincerity. Morton favored Doris only on the surface, doing so for appearances' sake.

Morton's face turned ugly, and he had planned to discuss Doris entering the company today. However, after Doris had been mocked to such an extent, he found himself unable to say anything. In frustration, he harshly shook his hand and angrily left, with the rest of his family following suit. As Doris left, she couldn't hide the anger in her eyes.

Doris was completely caught off guard by Ella's sudden change in behavior. She had intended to exploit her vulnerability to get back at Ella, whom she had always been jealous of, thinking that Ella wouldn't care. Still, Doris couldn't get away with it. Not only was she slapped by Ella, but she also ruined her own chance of entering Ford Group.

She seethed.

Doris needed to join the family business.

Why was she left out just because she was born out of wedlock? Her father was still a Ford, wasn't he?

She was hellbent on surpassing the rest of the Ford Family, then after that? She'd see them killed.

—

As Ella watched them leave, a cold smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. She was well aware of Doris's secret intentions, and she was simply biding her time, waiting for the right moment to deal with Doris once and for all.

"Ella," Jack called out to her, "Why were you so upset earlier?"

In the past, they had always tolerated this family to settle things peacefully. However, they didn't expect their usually gentle daughter to suddenly become so tough. Jack felt… somewhat comforted seeing his daughter show some backbone.

Ella regained her composure and smiled sweetly, saying, "Suddenly, I understand the saying that horses are good at being ridden, and people are good at being bullied."

"Still… getting protective of your grandfather's relic. Thank you for remembering," Jack's tone had a touch of reproach, but it was clear that he doted on her.

Ella playfully stuck out her tongue. She knew that when dealing with a lying snake like Doris, there was no need to have a moral bottom line!