Chapter 46

Sophia Laurent's lips curled into a mocking smile as she listened to the deliberately magnanimous tone on the phone.

"Mrs. Lowell, haven't you realized it yet?"

She enunciated each word clearly.

"The title of Lowell heiress means nothing to me."

"Before returning to the Lowell family, I struggled to survive in a damp basement."

"After returning, I still lived in shadows—only this time, it was a gilded cage."

"I could see the light, but never reach it."

When she was first brought back to the Lowell mansion, she naively believed she'd finally found a home.

She thought she would have loving parents like other children.

But reality slapped her hard across the face.

These so-called family members not only withheld warmth, but treated her as a bargaining chip.

She gave them her heart, only to receive endless demands in return.

At least now, she had finally awakened.

"Mrs. Lowell, if given the choice, I wish I'd never been born into this family."

The shattering sound of a teacup hitting the floor came through the phone.

Victoria Lowell's hand trembled slightly as she staggered backward.

Had Sophia really lived like this all these years?

Fragments of neglected memories suddenly surfaced in her mind.

Meanwhile, Emily Lowell stared intently at her phone screen.

Since leaking the story online, she had been monitoring public reactions.

She knew Sophia hadn't spent much of the Lowell family's money.

What right did an adopted daughter have to their fortune?

But when she saw the transfer records showing Sophia had sent Victoria over nine million, her pupils constricted violently.

Impossible!

Where did Sophia get that kind of money?

"Emily, what's wrong?" Nathan Lowell approached.

Emily wordlessly handed him the phone. "Fourth brother, look at what sister posted..."

Nathan's brows furrowed instantly after glancing at the screen.

"Seventeen thousand? Is she joking?"

He remembered casually spending over two hundred thousand on a gaming computer.

Not to mention his expensive music equipment.

How could Sophia have only spent that little?

His annual allowance during college exceeded that amount.

"How shameless, fabricating such lies." Nathan sneered.

Emily pressed her lips together silently.

When Nathan saw the nine-million transfer record, his expression darkened further.

"Where did she get that money? Did the old man give it to her privately?"

Nine million wasn't petty cash—no way Sophia could have earned that herself.