Catherine had never expected that the melodramatic plots that only appeared in novels would happen to her.
What was even more unexpected was that the snobbery of the Kate family would erupt when it did.
"Sister..."
"Enough, she's not your sister!" Faced with Aunt Mary's rebuke, her brother, Jimmy had no choice but to give up.
"But –"
"No buts! Jimmy, you're the heir of the Kate family, how can you be around such a lowly person?" This time, it was Uncle who spoke his disapproval.
He turned his head and said to the white-haired old man sitting at the end of the table, "Father, Catherine needs to leave the Kate family, we can't let her stay here anymore."
Catherine calmly sat at the side and coldly watched everything that happened in front of her. She curled her lips and smiled, making a gesture to her younger brother to keep quiet.
"There's also the issue of ownership of the property rights." Her aunt quipped.
"If this wild girl is given such power, she'll inevitably stir up a storm. We'll have another public relations uproar!"
This was a family meeting. Needless to say, the topic of the meeting was naturally Catherine.
Catherine had originally thought that she was the legitimate daughter of the Kate family. Little did she expect, however, her uncle and aunt found the real daughter of the Kate family somewhere in the countryside.
The nurse in the hospital she was born in had brought in the wrong child back then. The "true" daughter of the Kate family ended up somewhere else, leading to this exceptionally intense family meeting.
The main agenda of the meeting was to kick Catherine out of the family.
"Father, look at her! She's actually still smiling... How absolutely disgusting!" Aunt Mary's words were like knives, stabbing deeply into the heart of her brother Jimmy.
What in the world was going on? What offense did his sister commit?
"You... Are you going to accept this?" The old man who was originally silent suddenly opened his mouth, challenging Catherine who was sitting at the end of the table.
His deep and heavy voice made others feel uncomfortable, but Catherine, sitting at the opposite end, sat there without expression.
Catherine smiled. "Grandfather..."
"Enough, there's no need for you to call me grandfather anymore," Fors interrupted expressionlessly.
Catherine nodded her head in full agreement, and then corrected herself, "Mr. Kate, please allow me to speak for myself here. I have no objections to the Kate family's way of handling things."
"No objections?" Fors Kate was rather impressed by Catherine's calmness.
"No. I've been here long enough anyway." Looking at her former parents, sitting on the side and hesitating to speak, Catherine smiled, held her mother's hand, and said, "Take good care of Jimmy for me."
Not long after, Catherine packed up and was thrown out of the house.
She happened to bump into someone who was just arriving – it was the one who was going to replace her as the Young Miss of the Kate family, Miss Millie.
Watching the new member, Millie, carefully join the big family, Catherine suddenly felt relieved.
"I'm sorry, Catherine... We owe Millie too much, and..." Her mother walked forward and wanted to say something, but her eyes remained fixed on Millie.
Her father stepped forward to smooth things over. "What your mother means is, after all, this is Grandpa's decision, right? I hope... You... You can..." But he did not seem to have prepared an excuse.
Catherine's gaze focused on Millie, who was about to enter the room. Catherine approved of the country-girl outfit that Millie sported. At least –
As Catherine looked at Millie, she was also looking at Catherine. A trace of mockery and pride flashed in her eyes. She had a strange smile and a "sorry, not sorry" expression on her face, revealing her true nature immediately.
When her mother looked at her with concern, she pretended to be a good girl again, which made Catherine raise her eyebrows.
"This needed to happen. It's not your fault at all, I made that very clear in the meeting. Please go back. Your real daughter, Miss Millie, has returned." Catherine did not seem too saddened, she even seemed to be a little happy.
She dragged her heavy luggage with her and left without looking back, leaving the couple to look at each other and stand there in a daze.
This scene was supposed to be a "tender farewell" between parent and child, but the old man standing in front of the window saw it all.
Aunt Mary seemed to have plenty of anger to spare and continued to berate Catherine, "We should have never let her in!"