Scoffing, Amy said imperiously to me, "You're still being so stubborn! Soon, Tanya will have both the Gould family and the Burke family backing her up, so let's see what's going to happen to you then!"

She even crouched down to grab me by the jaw.

In my previous life, I put up with everything and avoided all conflict, but all I got in return was humiliation and death. This time around, I wasn't going to repeat my mistakes!

My gaze turned to ice as I deftly dodged Amy's hand. Then, I grabbed her by the wrist and twisted it hard.

Amy shrieked in anguish, and I seized this chance to throw her to the floor. Dad was the one who personally taught me this self-defense technique.

Tanya didn't expect me to fight back either. She froze in shock.

Dusting my hands off, I eyed them coldly and smirked. "What is it? Do you guys want to get a taste of it too?"

As soon as I said that, a shrill, frantic voice screamed, "How preposterous!"

It was Naomi. She'd finally arrived.

As soon as she entered the hall, everyone greeted her sycophantically, "Mrs. Gould!"

I kicked over a table and sat down before eyeing her tauntingly. "What took you so long, Mom?"

Naomi looked furious as she pointed at me and said, "Sophie! How can you be so reckless and immature? Tanya is your cousin! How can you treat her like that? You're so unruly! Did no one ever teach you manners?"

Had this been in the past, I would've cried my eyes out. After all, she was supposed to be my mother.

But now, all I did was scoff. "Even if I'm unruly, it's the result of my father's teachings. It sounds like you're trying to disparage my father."

Naomi was enraged. "Stop with all your nonsense! You're just the orphan daughter left behind by my cousin! I was kind enough to take you in and raise you, but you're still not satisfied!"

Her declarations undoubtedly made it seem like Tanya was the real daughter of the Gould family while I was a lowly impostor.

Those who had attacked me earlier couldn't wait to come forward and curry favor by making their earlier contributions known.

"You're finally here, Mrs. Gould! If you came any later, that impostor would've beaten Tanya up to death by now!"

"Exactly! She was so cruel too! She even wanted to hit Tanya. Who knew what would've happened if we didn't do our best to protect Tanya?"

Hearing this, Naomi frowned and marched up to me with her hand raised, all the while screaming, "Hurry up and apologize to Tanya!"

However, I swiftly grabbed Naomi by the wrist. She shrieked as I slapped her and questioned, "What gives you the nerve to lay a finger on me?"

Everyone was stupefied. No one thought I'd dare to slap my own mother. They were so stunned that they didn't even know how to react.

Seeing this, Tanya hurried over to Naomi and tenderly checked her face—but not without forgetting to level more accusations at me.

"Sophie! I know you're jealous of me, but you shouldn't hit my mother! She's the wife of the chairman of Gould Group! How is she supposed to hold her head up in public after what you did to her?"

I was nauseated by the sight of the two of them, but before I could speak, Richard spoke up.

He eyed me in scorn and detestation. "Mrs. Gould should never have taken you in out of the kindness of her heart. You should've just been left to die somewhere."

I wanted to snort. Was this the man I once loved? I sorely wanted to slap myself in the face.

Raising my head to meet Richard's gaze, I calmly replied, "This is a Gould family matter. Why would an outsider like you have a say in anything?"

Tanya boldly took Richard's arm and declared, "Richard's no outsider! He's my fiancé!"

Naomi looked at Tanya affectionately and declared, "Tanya is the only daughter of the Gould family and the heir to the Gould Group!"

"Is that so?"

As soon as Naomi finished speaking, a sharp, authoritative voice rang out from the entrance. The voice made Naomi stiffen up as though someone was holding her in a chokehold. She dared not utter another word.

Letitia came rushing in. She muttered to me, "Miss, I did as you instructed and brought Mrs. Gould Senior here too!"

My grandma, Irene Norris, slowly walked into the hall with the help of her cane. Her piercing gaze latched onto Naomi as she commanded, "Repeat yourself! Tell me who the daughter of the Gould family is!"