Yvonne felt her world spinning out of control. She had once been a cherished member of the Schnabel family, but ever since that country bumpkin showed up, Tristan had kicked her to the curb without a second thought! How could this be happening to her?
Queenie's social media account had vanished, surely stirring the pot among her many followers.
Yvonne wasted no time in setting up a new, inconspicuous profile.
Briony, seated on the floor, clicked on a video and muttered, "A celestial beauty descends to Imperial University, and among the freshmen is an apprentice of the zither maestro, Master Rainer?"
The person playing in the video looked all too familiar—it was Noella!
Why on earth was she at Imperial University?
She was nothing but a farmer's daughter, a cuckoo in the nest for years, stealing the life she should have had. And now she had the gall to attend Imperial University?
Briony seethed with jealousy, wishing she could slither away into the shadows.
On impulse, she left a comment on the video: [This is all a lie. She has a messy private life. I grew up with her. She can't play any instrument.]
After posting, Briony's heart raced with guilt. She quickly opened her chat with Belinda, only to find that Belinda had blocked her!
Yvonne was frantically manipulating her new account, claiming to be Queenie's distant relative and alleging that Queenie's account had been frozen by the Schnabel family. She threw in a fair share of veiled insults at the Schnabels, not daring to be too direct.
Once the messages were sent, Yvonne tossed her phone aside. She refused to sit back and accept defeat! Queenie claimed to be her mother, but she didn't buy it for a second!
Clutching the curtains so tightly the fabric warped in her grip, Yvonne’s face contorted with anger, making Briony too scared to even look at her.
"I won't be slaughtered like a lamb. I'll confront the old hag and get some answers!" She barked at Briony, still on the floor. "Get me some water, and stop staring or I'll gouge out your eyes!"
After gulping down the water Briony poured, Yvonne commanded, "Spill everything about Noella's time with the Lambert family!"
If she could just dig up some dirt on Noella, a few well-placed comments from Queenie's account, and sooner or later the Schnabels would see that country bumpkin for who she really was.
"Ms. Yvonne, Noella's at Imperial University now, and the internet is buzzing, calling her a goddess."
Briony wanted to know the real status of Noella's biological family. They seemed far from ordinary, didn't they? But hadn't Vincent said Noella's family were just simple farmers?
Upon hearing this, Yvonne was reminded of her own expulsion from MediCore University, while Noella's life seemed to get better by the day.
In a fit of rage, she slapped Briony across the face. "Ah! Just drop dead!"
Briony, not one to back down, engaged in a vicious scuffle with Yvonne, their nails drawing blood as they clawed at each other's hair.
Yvonne was no longer part of the Schnabel family, so by what right did she strike her?
The scene quickly spiraled out of control.
In the next room, the Luther couple heard the commotion but didn't bother to intervene.
The wife rolled her eyes and cursed their bad luck. "My sister Queenie thinks she can pull the same trick twice, sending that girl to Larson's feet to become a daughter of the Pollack family. As if that girl could ever be so lucky!"
Yvonne had never made a place for herself within the Schnabel or Gruber families. Either kicked out or witnessing bankruptcy, she had nowhere to turn.
Queenie wanted Yvonne to be Larson's daughter, but that would require Yvonne to actually have the chops!
...
At the Schnabel Manor, the bathroom was steamy as Noella emerged in her pajamas, her hair wet and clinging to her as she absentmindedly dabbed it with a towel.
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