At the sight of the cold glare Gloria shot her, Dahlia frowned, and her e
xpression darkened too. This was no longer about paying respect or follow
ing customary practices. When Gloria spat the tea on her face, she made i
t clear that she was blatantly insulting her. She was here to flex her au
thority over Dahlia and exert dominance over them all!
"What's wrong with you, Dahlia? Grandma asked for tea, and you served it
to her boiling hot? Did you do it on purpose?" Dakota started to pin the
blame relentlessly on Dahlia once she saw the opportunity.
"I think someone's just not happy with us and is deliberately trying to m
ake things difficult!" Jane echoed.
"No, no, no! Dahlia did not do it on purpose! Besides, I've had the tea t
oo, it isn't boiling hot!" Florence quickly tried to salvage the situatio
n.
"Oh, so what you're saying is that I'm lying?" Gloria's expression was as
cold as ice.
"N–no! I–
I must have been mistaken. I'm sure the problem is with me," Florence sai
d apologetically with an awkward laugh. She dared not refute Gloria's wor
ds.
Gloria, Jane, and Dakota were secretly pleased by her response. After all
, their main purpose there was to flaunt their dominance so that Dahlia a
nd her family would learn to submit to them.
"Why
are you still standing there, Dahlia? Pour Grandma another cup of tea!" D
akota ordered huffily. She really could not fathom why the patriarch woul
d pick this woman to be a potential. successor to the family. Even Dakota
herself did not have such privilege, so she was both livid and green wit
h envy.
"Sure, sure! I'll pour another cup right away." Not daring to stall any l
onger, Florence immediately brought a fresh cup of tea over and handed it
to Dahlia, beckoning for her to serve Gloria the tea again. Dahlia, howe
ver, did not take the cup of tea. She could tell
from their actions that they were intentionally being difficult and findi
ng fault with her.
"What? Do you think that you're above all of us?" Gloria shot her a nasty
side–
eye. "If you can't even perform these basic practices, then I think you'r
e really unfit to be the successor of the family!"
As she said that, she pulled out a document and slapped it on the table.
"Have you any idea what this is? This is your letter of authorization. Th
e family has a conglomerate with a market value of over 10 billion in the
southern province. You have initially been nominated as president to fur
ther expand the group, but from what I've seen today, you do not
seem worthy of the position." Gloria looked down on Dahlia dismissively.
"A conglomerate worth over 10 billion?" Florence's breathing became errat
ic when she heard that. If her daughter were to become president of a con
glomerate worth over 10 billion dollars, it would drastically improve the
family's status and lifestyle!
"Dahlia! Quick! Serve Madam Gloria her tea now!" Florence urged, signalin
g to Dahlia as best she could. This was the opportunity of a lifetime! Sh
e'd never let her pass it up! So what if she was humiliated? What did it
matter anyway when there were 10 billion dollars involved?
"Dahlia, keep your eyes on the prize!" James urged her too. If he were to
be known as the brother
of the president of a 10 billion dollar conglomerate, all the beautiful w
omen out there would eagerly flock to him in a heartbeat!
When Dahlia saw the expectant look in her mother's and brother's eyes, sh
e drew a deep
breath and finally picked up the cup of tea and served it to Gloria. And
then, beyond everyone's expectations, she took a sip and spat it all on D
ahlia's face once again.
"It's tèpid," she said impassively.
By then, even Florence and James could tell that something was amiss. Fir
st, she said that it scalded her, and now, she complained that it was tep
id. Was it really tea that
she was after? It was obvious to everyone that she was deliberately putti
ng on a show to put Dahlia in a difficult position.
"Well, why are you idling? Get Grandma another cup!" Dakota commanded hau
ghtily with a subtle smile.
"So what if you're chosen as a potential successor? We still have you und
er our thumb!" Dakota thought to herself smugly.
"Fine," Dahlia said nonchalantly.