"Butler, make it quick. I'm tired."
Janelle completely ignored her father, Westin. She stretched lazily and turned back into the room.
The butler had no choice but to take a few people and start clearing the room.
"Replace all the furniture in the room. You have one hour."
She found anything Lillie had used filthy.
"Miss, but it's the middle of the night..."
"Butler, have you forgotten your place again?"
Janelle flexed her wrist.
The butler hurriedly sent people to make arrangements.
By the time everything was settled, two hours had passed.
Having tormented those lowlifes all night, Janelle slept soundly.
"Mom, are we really letting Janelle attend my engagement banquet with Nelson tomorrow?"
She had behaved well in front of Westin, but the thought of Janelle appearing at her engagement still made her deeply uncomfortable.
She had worked so hard to be with Nelson Hill. And now, the Hills had connected with the powerful Lorenz family from the capital. Their status would only soar higher.
She couldn't let that bitch Janelle ruin it.
"Making sure she doesn't show up is simple."
"You mean...?"
"Don't worry about it. I guarantee you won't see her at the banquet tomorrow."
"Mom, I knew you were the best!"
Many things didn't require her direct involvement; her mother would arrange everything.
Janelle was just like her useless mother. If they could drive the mother and daughter out of the Rovellas before, there was no way they were letting them back now.
And this time, Janelle would lose even more spectacularly than last time.
Janelle woke up at eleven in the morning. After more than ten hours of sleep, she felt refreshed.
She deliberately wore all black and went downstairs. Seeing Janelle head-to-toe in black, Westin's face darkened.
"It's Lillie and Nelson's engagement day! What's the meaning of wearing black?"
Janelle couldn't be bothered to answer him.
"Butler, breakfast."
"What time is it now? Sleeping this late, how dare you ask for food?" Westin simply couldn't stand the sight of her, especially her eyes – identical to her mother's, unsettling to look at.
"You, a live-in son-in-law, what right do you have to say that? Butler, prepare breakfast. Don't make me repeat myself."
"Janelle! Are you trying to kill me with anger?"
Hearing the commotion from the living room, Amber descended the stairs in an opulent gown.
"Westin, don't be angry. Janelle is still young and doesn't understand." She turned to Janelle with a saccharine smile. "Janelle, your father isn't well. Don't upset him. Oh, I've prepared an outfit for you for the engagement banquet." She signaled a maid who brought out a gown.
"I didn't know you'd be back. This gown was originally prepared for Lillie. She only wore it once. I hope you don't mind?"
"Why should she mind? She should be grateful to have anything decent to wear. Look at those rags she's got on!" Westin sneered, unable to hide his disdain for Janelle's appearance.
Janelle gave a cold laugh. She walked over and took the gown from the maid.
Pulling a lighter from her pocket, she flicked it open and set the sky-blue gown ablaze.
"Janelle! What are you doing?! Do you know how much that gown cost?!" Westin felt a vein throbbing in his temple.
"Didn't Lillie discard it? Shouldn't unwanted things be burned?" Janelle turned her icy gaze to the butler. "Butler, do you want this job or not? Where's breakfast?"
Seeing her audacity, the butler swallowed his anger and immediately had breakfast served.
"Janelle, I know you dislike used things. But the engagement is soon. Do you even have a gown?" Amber inquired sweetly. Westin hadn't given Janelle or her mother a penny over the years. The shabby clothes she wore proved she couldn't afford one.
"I think what I'm wearing suits me just fine. Besides," Janelle added nonchalantly, "I have a funeral to attend later. Honestly, how did you pick the date? Seems like an excellent day for a burial!"
"Don't you dare show up dressed like that!" Westin was truly on the verge of an apoplexy.
"What choice do I have? I won't wear another woman's cast-offs. And my dear father," Janelle's voice turned razor-sharp, "did you forget? After throwing my mother and me to S-country, you never gave us a single cent."
"Enough! Go buy a gown yourself. Don't embarrass the Rovellas." The Rovellas were now a prominent family in Graham City. He couldn't let her humiliate them publicly.
Once they tricked her into handing over her shares, they could dump her back on the border to rot.
Janelle plucked the black card from Westin's hand, a mocking smile curling her lips.
"My dear father, the money you're using to keep your mistress and her daughter now... it's all my mother's. We'll have a proper accounting later. Down to the last penny."
Without a glance at Westin's livid face, Janelle turned and went to eat breakfast.
After breakfast, Sara called. Janelle hung up and prepared to leave.
Seeing her dismissive attitude, Westin snatched the heavy crystal ashtray from the coffee table and hurled it straight at the back of her head.
Watching this, Amber felt a surge of malicious satisfaction.
Janelle was just like her mother – infuriating, perpetually looking down on everyone. The eldest daughter of the Lorenz family? Reduced to ruin by her hand. And this arrogant Janelle? Soon enough, she'd be a despised madwoman like her mother, discarded on that merciless border.
However, it was as if Janelle had eyes in the back. Just as everyone anticipated seeing her bleed, she spun around with lightning speed. Her foot lashed out, connecting solidly with the flying ashtray.
The kick was powerful. The ashtray changed trajectory with terrifying speed and smashed squarely into Westin's nose.
Westin never imagined the ashtray he threw would suddenly reverse course and strike him.
He instantly clutched his face.
"Janelle!"
But before he could curse, blood was already gushing from his nose.
Janelle looked at him coldly.
"Westin, not only are you a freeloader, but you also enjoy cheap shots? Honestly, what did my mother ever see in you?"
Without sparing another glance at Westin's bloodied face, she walked out.
Chaos erupted within the Rovella mansion.
Sara's sports car idled outside the villa. Even from inside the car, she heard Westin's enraged roar.
"What did you do?" Sara asked, eyes wide with excited curiosity.
"Nothing much. Let's go." Thinking of Westin's bloody nose, Janelle's mood lifted slightly.
Sara drove straight to her own fashion studio.
"I've prepared your battle armor for tonight's engagement banquet."
The red, backless gown was designed and crafted by Sara herself, stitch by stitch, never entrusted to anyone else.
"Hmm, it's beautiful." Janelle gave a thumbs-up. Sara was an immensely talented designer.
"Tonight, we're going to blow the roof off that place!" Sara could barely contain her glee at the thought of Lillie's expression.
"Still early." Janelle pulled out her phone and called the sanatorium.
After hanging up, she seemed lost in thought.
Sara noticed and hugged her.
"Janelle, godmother will get better."
Janelle nodded. "Yes. My mother will recover."
The thought of her mother's suffering only strengthened her resolve to destroy everything in her path.