That day, he had defended me. "Mother, Victoria didn't mean any harm. Why must you always assume the worst in people? You owe her an apology."

Amy Sinclair's sharp voice snapped Liam back to reality.

"Liam, why are you so quick to judge Oliver? As far as I can tell, he's never done anything to deserve your hostility. Why do you keep singling him out?"

Liam's emotions spiraled out of control. "I'm not! I swear I'm not! He's always pretending—nice to my face, then scheming behind my back. He does it on purpose!"

Just then, Samantha returned with the first aid kit in hand.

She looked uneasy. "Amy, we have company."

Amy lifted her gaze to see two familiar figures—a man and a woman—standing at the doorway.

Sebastian arched an eyebrow. "Mr. Blackwood, Ms. Langley. What an unexpected place to run into you."

Victoria offered a polite smile. "We came looking for Liam. When we went to pick him up from school, he was already gone. His GPS watch showed he was here, so we rushed over. But we didn’t expect to find… this."

Her eyes flickered toward Amy, her words laced with thinly veiled accusation. "Ms. Sinclair, if you plan to take Liam out in the future, perhaps you could inform us first? Otherwise, we might worry something terrible has happened."

Inform them first?

So Victoria already considered herself the lady of the house?

A cold, mocking laugh echoed in Amy’s heart, but she couldn’t be bothered to entertain Victoria’s obvious provocation.

Instead, she turned to Liam. "Did you tell your father you were coming here?"

Liam lowered his head. "...No."

Before Amy could respond, Victoria interjected again, her tone dripping with implication. "Ms. Sinclair, are you going to claim Liam just followed you again?"

Even a child could decipher the meaning behind her words.

Alexander’s dark eyes were glacial. "Amy, I’ve never stopped you from seeing your son. There’s no need to resort to these underhanded methods."

Amy’s expression remained unreadable. She had been through this too many times to bother defending herself. Even if she did, Alexander would never believe her.

Liam quickly spoke up, his voice frantic. "Mom didn’t bring me here! I came on my own—I wanted to give her a birthday present."

A flicker of emotion crossed Alexander’s face.

But Victoria’s attention was fixed on the shattered pieces scattered across the floor.

"Ms. Sinclair, Liam did lend me this mug for a while, but it was always meant to be temporary. He told me days ago he wanted it back—said it was for your birthday." She frowned slightly. "I know you dislike when others touch your things, but Liam put so much effort into this… for you."

As she spoke, Victoria crouched down and began gathering the broken shards.

"If you didn’t want it, you could have just given it to me. Why break it? Regardless, it was a gift from Liam."

"Ah!" Suddenly, Victoria gasped, her eyes welling with tears as she pulled her hand back.

A shard had sliced her finger, and blood welled instantly.

Oliver, Amy, Samantha, and Sebastian: "..."

Liam stared blankly at Victoria.

…This scene felt eerily familiar, as if it had just played out moments ago.

Alexander stepped forward and helped Victoria to her feet.

"Victoria, are you alright?"

Her face had paled, but she managed a faint, strained smile.