Elise was stubborn.

"That's my personal matter."

"True, but Elizabeth might not be ready to face you either," William pointed out.

"She just went from being a swan to an ugly duckling—do you think she can calmly face you or anyone right now? She probably needs solitude to process everything. We should give her space..."

Elise frowned deeply.

"William—"

"The important thing is, Ethan will be looking after her," William interrupted.

Elise was startled, then snapped, "Are we really counting on Ethan now?! He completely ignored her when she was still a Levine! After everything that's happened to her, do you think he'd step up? Besides, your aunt is refusing to help Elizabeth."

"What can Ethan do as an adopted son? Get himself thrown out of the family like Elizabeth? Would he really go that far for her?!"

"Like I mentioned before," William said calmly.

"Ethan was right to reject Elizabeth."

Elise didn't respond, unwilling to hear his explanations though she didn't know what he would say. But when he clearly explained the two bombshell secrets the Levines were keeping, she was so shocked she actually paused to listen and understand.

"That's why you should trust Ethan," William concluded, but Elise remained hesitant.

William repeated patiently, "I understand your feelings toward Elizabeth and would never interfere with your friendship—she's a good person who deserves true friendship, Levine or not. You've tried calling Elizabeth yourself."

"Since her phone has been turned off all this time, I know you realize she doesn't want to be disturbed."

Elise bit her lip, but she had to acknowledge William's point.

Right now, Elizabeth truly needed to be alone.

A week later, the upcoming trial for Elise's charges remained a hot topic online.

Meanwhile, there was complete silence about Elizabeth being exposed as not a true Levine.

This was understandable since Elizabeth had always maintained a low public profile and never flaunted her status as a Levine heiress.

It wouldn't create waves, and the Levines would never allow such a scandal to become public knowledge anyway.

Nevertheless, Elizabeth was being discharged from the hospital.

She had kept her phone off throughout her hospital stay, wanting to cut herself off from all external information.

She wanted to remain in her own world, without seeing or speaking to anyone.

Yet the woman claiming to be her mother visited daily with bowls of soup.

No matter how many times Elizabeth rejected Clara, even knocking the bowl to the floor while watching, the woman would quietly clean up the mess and leave without a word.

Elizabeth actually felt a pang of guilt once, watching Clara's lonely, weary figure retreat.

But she didn't need Clara's kindness or repentance.

She would prefer if they never saw each other again for the rest of their lives, because she couldn't bring herself to sympathize or forgive.

She especially couldn't bear seeing Clara acting so humble! She couldn't tolerate such emotional blackmail, which was why she left the hospital half a day early, before Clara's usual visit time.

It was mid-November, and the weather had turned cold.

Yet Elizabeth left the hospital dressed lightly, carrying nothing but her phone.

She stood on the crowded street, watching vehicles come and go.

For the first time in her life, she had no idea where to go—as if suddenly there was no place for her in this entire world!