I nodded vigorously. With my small body standing straight and a firm gaze, I said, "I'll go with you to eat stew!"

"Jessica, don't be impulsive," Xander finally said in an icy tone. He frowned as he glanced at me with disgust, as if he were looking at some trash by the roadside.

"This child is crass, untamable, and mannerless. Serena is right. What if she scares you? Besides, the McNeils don't need this kind of shameful thing in the household," he said, deliberately emphasizing the word "thing."

Serena immediately chimed in with a sweet voice, "Exactly! Look at her, all dirty and shabby—a little girl with that rough Southern accent sounding so uncouth. Bringing her home would just make others laugh.

"Besides, adoption is such a serious matter. How can it be decided just because a kid said so? I don't think Jessica should make her choice today. We'll help her pick a well-behaved, sensible child who can speak normally."

The live comments instantly erupted before me again.

"Taking a kid like this home really does lower their status. The childhood sweetheart speaks harshly, but she's not wrong."

"But this little kid clearly likes the tragic female lead, and the female lead clearly likes her, too. If she can't adopt her… Oh, right, the tragic part of the plot is happening!"

"Only this kid ran into the female lead's arms. I don't get why the female lead has to be tormented again. She's already lost her child. Isn't that enough tragedy for a plot where the male lead has to try everything to win her back?"

Jessica's body visibly stiffened, and she instinctively hugged me tighter, her arms trembling as if she were taking a desperate gamble.

"I want her. This little girl—I only want to adopt her," she said firmly.

Serena screamed, "Jessica, are you crazy? You'd go against Xander for a wild child?"

Xander's expression turned stormy, and he glared at Jessica menacingly. The invisible pressure emanating from him seemed to freeze the air in the orphanage. Georgia rubbed her hands together nervously on the side, not daring to make a sound.

Jessica's face grew even paler, but she held me tighter.

"Mom, don't be afraid," I said.

I suddenly turned my head around to face Xander and Serena. I mustered all my strength and raspily shouted in the heaviest, childlike Southern accent, "Why do y'all keep on jibber-jabbering in here?

"Who's the one doing the adoption anyway? It's Mom who wants a kid, and y'all are just helpin' her choose.

"Now that she's chosen me, and I've chosen her, why can't it work? Keep on yappin', and I'll smack you, believe it or not!"

The entire orphanage instantly fell silent. Xander and Serena looked as though something had been spilled all over them, their faces full of stunned disbelief.

"Holy shit! The audacity! She's challenging the aloof CEO directly?"

"That bastard Xander has an ugly look on him, and that scheming woman's jaw is about to drop completely!

"The Southern brat is quite capable! Nice, compared to a tragedy, I still prefer something gratifying!"

"Female lead, hug your shield tightly! That kid is solid! She's got a mouth on her, roasting scumbag men and phony women for you!"

Jessica was so shocked that she forgot to cry and just stared at me blankly. Then, an extremely faint smile quietly crept onto her pale lips. In the end—with Xander glaring at her lividly and Serena's venomous stare—the immensely pressured Jessica finished the adoption paperwork and became my mom.

…

The McNeil residence was terrifyingly huge, and its staff all looked at me with cautious scrutiny and barely concealed disdain.

My new room was a small and cold one in the most remote corner of the villa. It only had a tiny bed and a shabby cabinet. It didn't even have a window.

Serena was the one who prepared all the new clothes sent to me. They were either several sizes too big, looking like sacks, or hideously gaudy in color. Some were clearly old dresses that seemed to have been worn by others without being washed.

"You're an orphan, so you should be glad to have anything to wear," she said mockingly.

Serena covered her mouth as she let out a fake laugh, having deliberately said it right in front of Jessica.

"Jessica, don't you agree? We can't really let her dress like a princess, right? That would just look ridiculous," Serena said with a sneer.

Jessica's expression darkened. She wanted to speak up, but Xander's cold glare stopped her.

"Serena is right. The kid should know her place and not fantasize about things that don't belong to her. Giving her this much is already enough," Xander remarked.

…

During dinner, at the long dining table, Xander sat at the head. Serena sat right beside him, acting like the lady of the house. Mom and I sat at the farthest end from them.

The dishes on the table looked exquisite, but the portions were pitifully small, without even a single hearty dish.

"Eat up, brat." Serena smiled sweetly, picked up a piece topped with caviar, and placed it on the small dish in front of me.

She added, "This is yummy. Try eating it with the salad. Don't disappoint your infertile mother who went through so much trouble to bring you home."

The mockery in her tone was practically oozing out of her mouth. I looked at the thing before me and felt no appetite to eat it.

Mom then cut her barely touched steak into small pieces and pushed it toward me. "Sweetie, heave some steak," she said.

Xander glanced at us and slowly said, "Jessica, keep the rules in mind. Refrain from bringing your uncultured habits into this house. Whatever she wants to eat, the maids will prepare it."

The maids would prepare it?

I peeked into the kitchen. Tomato and eggs, ribs, pulled pork—the staff were eating way better than I was!

I felt a spark of anger ignite in me and, in a fit, poked at the salad before me. I would endure this for Mom's sake! It was fine as long as I didn't starve to death.

Just then, Serena's saccharine voice rang out again. "Jessica, this soup has been boiling for hours and is really nourishing. You're weak, so you should drink more."

She carried a steaming bowl of soup, smiling broadly as she walked over and pretended to place it in front of Mom. My heart skipped a beat, for I had a bad feeling about this.

Sure enough, when Serena bent down to set the bowl, her wrist "accidentally" shook. The scalding hot soup spilled straight onto Mom's leg!

"Ah!"

Caught off guard, Mom cried out in pain and instinctively pulled back. Her skirt was soaked in an instant, with a glaring red mark showing beneath the fabric.

Almost simultaneously, Serena let out an exaggerated scream and yanked her hand back. A tiny red spot from the splashed soup on her hand, about the size of a grain.

"Jessica, what are you doing? I kindly brought you soup, so why did you push me? I only wanted you to taste it!" Serena sobbed theatrically. "It hurts so much!"

"Serena!" Xander shot up and rushed over. "Jessica! Serena was being kind-hearted, yet you took your anger out on her?

"You couldn't bear a child, so we let you adopt a child. And now, you're jealous of Serena, weren't you? Apologize to her right now!"

Mom's face turned pale from the pain, and fine beads of cold sweat broke out on her forehead. She looked at her swollen, reddened leg, then at Xander's irrational state. Her lips trembled, but she couldn't say a single word.

It was as if she had experienced this kind of slander and injustice countless times, having already become numb with pain. She even looked too weak and powerless to defend herself.

The livestream comments flashed past quickly before my eyes.

"Damn! The scheming woman's acting is insane! She should get an award!"

"Push her? It was clearly Jessica who got burned! Bastard Xander, are you blind?"

"Tsk! The female lead doesn't even dare to speak up. Looks like she gets bullied like this often."

"Enough with the tragic angst already! I'm so pissed off! Kid, hurry up and fight back!"

The anger in my chest burst out in an instant, and I lost it. I shouted, "Are you blind or what?"

I jumped down from my chair and rushed to stand in front of Xander. I pointed a finger at Serena's hand, then at Mom's swollen leg.

"She only burned a tiny spot on her hand that's not even as big as my fingernail! But look at Mom's leg! Her whole leg is red! You can't see that? What are your eyes for, decoration?" I shouted.

I was so furious that my chest rose and fell, and I pointed straight at the blinking surveillance camera on the ceiling.

"You're twisting the truth and can't tell right from wrong! Even if your brain isn't working, the camera up there is recording! Check the footage! Do you dare to check who pushed whom and who spilled soup on whom?" I retorted defiantly.

"Enough!" Xander snapped. I had openly challenged him, and his face had turned an ugly shade of red due to his rage.

"This isn't a place where you can accuse others! Shut your mouth!" he yelled.

"So, telling the truth counts as being disrespectful? And you siding with that wicked woman counts as discipline?" I retorted stubbornly, refusing to back down.

"Why should my mom apologize? That lady is the one who should apologize!" I pointed fiercely at Serena, who was pretending to cry.

The dining room instantly descended into chaos. Unfortunately, the final result was no surprise—Mom and I were locked up in confinement, without even dinner to eat.

Before Xander took Serena to the hospital, she deliberately whispered in Mom's ear, "Jessica, do you know what your dear husband was doing the night you lost your child? He was massaging my feet.

"While you were lying on that cold operating table, listening to the doctor say your child couldn't be saved… All I did was make one call and tell Xander that my ankle felt a little sore, and he immediately abandoned you and your dying daughter and rushed toward me without hesitation.

"Hah! Even now, he still stands firmly by my side. Between us, who do you think you are?"

After she left, Mom's face turned deathly pale, and her whole being seemed to sink into icy despair. The comments instantly came pouring in.

"Holy shit! So that was the truth?"

"Xander, are you even human? At the critical life-and-death moment of your wife and child, you were with your mistress? You damned scumbag! Go to hell!"

"My god! How desperate the female lead must have felt… Losing her child, losing her womb, and her husband was with another woman… This is the peak of the win-your-wife-back plot. It's so inhumane!"

I hugged Mom's cold, stiff body tightly. Upon sensing her despair and impending breakdown, my eyes widened in panic.

"Mom! Mom! Don't listen to that wicked woman's nonsense! She's a terrible person, so everything she says is crap! Don't listen! Just treat her like gum beneath your shoe—annoying but harmless!

"Mom, you still have me! I'm your super warm and comforting snuggle bug! We don't need that bad man! He's blind and has a rotten heart. We'll stay far away from him!"

I clumsily patted her back, like I was coaxing a child.

"Mom, why should we stay in this rotten place and take this humiliation? Why don't we leave? The world is huge, and we can live anywhere. Let's find us somewhere you can cook, and I'll stoke the fire for ya! Wouldn't that be a hoot?"

Mom fell silent, as if she was thinking about this for the first time.

"Leave… can I really leave?" she asked.

I blinked. "Why not?"

Mom smiled bitterly. "But he and I are in a family-arranged marriage, and our relationship isn't that simple. My parents hoped I could be of some use…"

I became anxious hearing that. "Mom! Why'd you have to live for others? I don't have family, but I know this—being family means wishing you happiness, not sacrificing yours. You gotta live for yourself!"

After a long time, she finally said in an extremely serious tone, "If I leave this palace, there won't be a big house and no fancy clothes… would you still want a mom like that?"

"Mom! Ain't ya silly? What'd I need that stuff for?" My eyes sparkled with anticipation.

I continued, "Just tell me! If you have money in the future, would you be willing to make me some stew? Ribs and corn? Pulled pork? Mac and cheese?"