Early the next morning, the stock price of the Fraser Group continued to plummet.

The board of directors was in absolute chaos.

Several veteran shareholders called in, complaining frantically.

"Chairman Fraser, perhaps it would be best to consider changing the successor."

My father received over twenty phone calls in a single morning, leaving his voice completely hoarse.

I placed a cup of hot tea in front of him and said, "Dad, I'll handle the public relations crisis. You just focus on taking care of your health."

He looked up at me, his eyes filled with guilt. "Lyra, I've wronged you."

I immediately arranged for the group to issue an official statement.

A statement to confirm that I was the legitimate daughter of my father and his late wife, Mrs. Janet Fraser.

The statement sternly demanded that all accounts spreading false information should delete their posts immediately and issue a public apology.

However, the comment section below the official statement became a new playground for the internet mob.

The top up voted comments at the very front were uniformly sarcastic and cynical.

"Is this the best a wealthy family's PR can do? They can't even dare to post a paternity test."

"The more they try to explain, the guiltier they look. Let's wrap it up, folks."

To make matters worse, Daniel's post captioned "I will stay strong" went viral just after our statement was released.

Public opinion shifted toward Daniel with almost no suspense.

The trending topics changed to new tags.

#FraserGroupSuccessionControversy

#HeartbreakForDanielFraser

#LyraFraserIllegitimateDaughter

While the internet was flooded with curses, termination notices from our business partners kept flowing into the legal department like snowflakes.

I sat in my office with the legal department's summary sheet of terminated contracts spread out before me.

After flipping through two pages, I closed it and asked, "Did those two idiots do something again?"

My assistant, Susan, hesitated for a moment before handing over the tablet.

Maria had taken advantage of the chaos to post a video, crying directly to the camera.

"There are some things we truly don't want to say, but we just don't dare to," she choked up and wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand.

Her voice sounded both aggrieved and restrained. "Since he was a child, my husband watched his father give all his love to his younger sister.

“We aren't jealous. Truly, we aren't. But, not giving him a fair chance makes me feel deeply hurt for him."

She sniffled and forced a smile. "Thank you all for your concern. We won't be defeated."

Daniel sat right beside her.

He reached out and pulled Maria into his shoulder while offering a bitter smile to the camera.

The comment section went completely wild.

"This moved me to tears. Daniel has had it way too hard. Who could ever understand over twenty years of grievances?"

"Lyra Fraser, are you even human? You stole someone else's inheritance and now you want to drive them to ruin?"

"Boycott the Fraser Group, starting with me! If the illegitimate daughter doesn't get lost, we won't buy anything!"

Utterly oblivious to the severity of the situation, Daniel happily hosted a live-stream sales event with Maria.

He rushed over to the company afterward, eager to claim credit.

"Dad, take a look at our achievements."

Daniel's voice carried an irrepressible smugness as he shot a sidelong glance at me.

"Weren't you complaining before that I screwed up those projects? Fine, I admit to those.

“But this time, you have to credit me, right?" He leaned back against his chair, interlacing his hands behind his head as he waited for praise.

My father’s face turned dark with rage.

I pulled up last month's sales data and placed it on the desk. "Last month's sales for a single month were 800 million dollars.

“Do you think your daily livestream revenue of 5,000 dollars is impressive?"

Daniel let out a disdainful sneer.

My father picked up the tablet and slammed it onto the desk, roaring, "That video of yours wiped out one billion in market value for the company!"

Unconvinced, Daniel argued back, "Stock prices go up and down all the time, that's normal.

“Dad, stop looking at the bad side always, you need to look at the benefits…"

"That is your sister!"

My father slammed the table violently.

The teacup rattled and jumped, spilling hot tea all over the desk.

"You spread rumors that your sister is an illegitimate child!

“You traded your own mother's reputation for a tiny bit of your bullshit internet traffic!

“Do you have any idea what your mother…" His lips trembled violently and his eyes instantly turned red.

Daniel was stunned for a moment by the roar but his face quickly darkened.

"Here we go again. It's always like this. Everything I do is wrong and everything she does is right.

“Even when I succeed this time, you still scold me." He stepped closer, "Or do you think she is your only real child, Dad?"

Unable to bear it any longer, my father raised his hand and slapped Daniel hard across the face.

Daniel clutched his cheek, glaring at him with utter disbelief.

“You ungrateful wretch,” My father's voice was so hoarse that it was barely audible. “Get out.”

Suddenly, the office door was flung open.

Maria stormed inside.

Seeing the bright red handprint on Daniel's face, she instantly exploded.

Screaming, she lunged at my father. “What right do you have to hit him?! What right do you have to hit him?!”

Daniel grabbed her arm to pull her back but Maria had completely lost control.

She broke free from Daniel's grip and pointed right at my father's nose.

“George Fraser, do you have a conscience?! Daniel is the only male heir of the Fraser family!

“That trash, Lyra Fraser, won't she leave the Fraser family when she marries off in the future?

“Have you gone senile?!”

My father clutched his chest, his breathing becoming shallow and labored.

I rushed forward to support him.

Maria let out a cold sneer, eyeing me up and down. “Am I wrong? You’re just an outsider who’s going to marry into another family.

“What right do you have to inherit the Fraser estate? Since ancient times, family property has always been passed down to sons, not daughters.

“Look at you, relying on your dad's favoritism and clinging to the Fraser family's money and refusing to let go.

“Have you no shame?”

My father's face kept growing paler by the second and his lips turned purple.

I shouted toward the door, “Call an ambulance!”

Maria continued, “What are you putting on an act for? Who are you trying to fool?”

“Enough!” Daniel finally dragged her back and turned to me.

“Lyra Fraser, are you satisfied now? You’ve angered Dad to this point.

“I guess this gives you an even more legitimate excuse to take over the company, doesn't it?”

As the ambulance arrived, Susan and I got in with my father.

At the hospital, I sat on a bench outside the ICU with my hands trembling.

Susan stood beside me and handed over a tablet. “Miss Fraser, take a look at this…”

I tapped on it.

It was a video posted five minutes ago by Daniel.

He was sitting in a car, his eyes red and swollen with his voice raspy.

“I don’t know what I did wrong. My dad hit me today because of that illegitimate daughter. He said he wants to kick me out of the house.”

He lowered his head and sniffed as his voice dropped lower and lower.

“I know everyone thinks I’m just a useless failure but I’m a human being too. I just want fairness.”

The comment section erupted into total madness.

“Daniel got beaten? George Fraser beat his biological son for an illegitimate daughter?”

“Oh my god, my heart breaks for him. Don't cry, Daniel, we will support you forever!”

“Get the hell out of the Fraser family, bastard daughter! The Fraser Group doesn't recognize filth like you!”

“I’ve already thrown away all the products endorsed by Lyra Fraser. Sisters, let's unite!”

In less than half an hour, the topic views surpassed 300 million.

The comment section of my personal social media account became the primary target for online attacks.

My private messages were flooded with toxic abuse.

“Why don't you just go die?”

“Stealing your brother's inheritance, how do you sleep at night?”

“Bitch, your mother was a mistress, you're a little whore, your whole family is disgusting.”

I read through them one by one, then locked the screen with an expressionless face.

I dialed Susan's number.

“Have the lawyers send me the files I prepared earlier.”

Susan hesitated. “Miss Fraser, are you sure you want to do this? Once it's made public…”

I raised my hand to cut her off. “...Since he dared to gamble with my mother’s reputation, I’m going to make sure he loses everything.”

When I returned to the ward, my father had already woken up.

“Dad, how much longer are you going to keep indulging him?” I asked.

My father didn’t say a word.

He just gripped the bedsheet tightly until his knuckles turned white.

“The day your mother had her accident,” my father began, trembling, “I received her dying phone call.

“The very last thing she said to me was not to blame Daniel, she told me to treat him well.”

At the mention of my mother, I was instantly reminded of that rainy night ten years ago.

My mother braved a torrential downpour to buy a birthday cake for Daniel but she never came back.

My father and I hid the truth from him all these years, telling him that my mother had passed away from a sudden illness.

We never expected him to turn out like this.

I fell silent for a moment, then lifted my head to look at my father earnestly.

“Dad, let’s make a bet.

“I will leak the news that you are in critical condition and see what he does next.

“If he still has an ounce of care for this family and feels any gratitude to you for raising him, I will clean up any messes he makes in the future.

“I will even give him half of the company’s shares.

“But if he just wants to steal the company, then he can’t blame me for disregarding our past ties.”

My father nodded in agreement.

That very afternoon, I sent Daniel a message that my father was in critical condition.

In less than half an hour, Daniel showed up at the hospital.

Maria was clinging onto his arm, followed by two bodyguards in black suits and three to four reporters carrying video cameras.

Daniel strode briskly to the door of the ward.

As he was about to shove it open, I blocked the doorway. “Dad is still weak. He needs to rest.”

“Still weak?” Daniel let out a cold sneer.

“Lyra Fraser, who are you trying to fool?

“Are you trying to transfer all of the group's assets to your name while Dad is unconscious and incapacitated?”

His voice was incredibly loud, causing several nurses and patients' guardians in the hallway to look over.

Maria wiped away tears at the exact right moment.

“Lyra, I know you hate us, but Dad is already in that state. You can't deny Daniel the chance to see him one last time!”

A reporter holding a camera immediately pointed the lens at me.

“Miss Fraser, may I ask what Chairman Fraser’s current condition is, actually? Is he really in critical condition as rumored online?”

Instead of answering the reporter's question, I looked directly at Daniel.

“Brother, are you sure you want to force my hand like this?”

He shoved me aside and barged straight into the ward, his eyes instantly locking onto the documents resting on the bedside table.

He reached out to grab them.

“What do you think you're doing?” I barked to stop him.

Daniel retracted his hand and turned around with his face masked in coldness.

“Lyra Fraser, let’s stop acting. With Dad looking like this, someone has to run the company.

“Hand it over to me and I won’t treat you badly in the future.”

My father’s eyelids twitched slightly.

Ignoring his demand, I asked him instead, “Are you sure you can manage the company?”

He replied with disdain, “Who says I can't?”

I smiled.

“Did you happen to forget that during your first year on the job, the new Hawaii regional project you were responsible for the group 23 million dollars in losses?”

“In your second year, you embezzled five million dollars from one of the group's subsidiaries without authorization.

“You invested in a livestreaming platform and lost every single penny.”

Daniel’s fingers began to tremble.

I continued, “Last year, you colluded with Manager Harold of the sales department to falsify marketing expenses.

“You cashed out 1.2 million dollars. Manager Harold was fired at the end of last year.

“You remember that quite well, right?

“And two days ago, you spread rumors online that I was an illegitimate daughter, wiping out over a billion of the company’s market value.”

Daniel snapped his head up. “You investigated me?!”

“There was no need to investigate,” I said flatly. “Every single transaction in the company accounts is crystal clear.

“Did you think Dad didn't know? He just didn't want to expose you.”

Daniel's face turned ashen, he was completely at loss for a retort.

Maria couldn't resist chiming in from the side, “Lyra Fraser, what exactly do you want?

“You're a woman, yet you're stubbornly hoarding the company. Do you have a conscience?!”

I sneered, “I want him to get the hell out!”

Daniel flew into a rage, “What gives you the right to make decisions on my father's behalf?!”

I pulled out an adoption certificate and slammed it against his chest. “Daniel, you’re just an adopted son.

“What right do you have to fight me for the Fraser Group?!”