"In light of the behavior just now, I hereby, on behalf of my client, declare that the four gentlemen have lost all rights in the Rivers Family."

Sophia almost lost her footing.

Before the four of them could speak, she fell to her knees with a thud in front of me.

"Mellan! I know you’ve always been jealous of having less than me. Even when I supported you, you never felt grateful. But you can’t be so cruel as to set up this kind of trap! You hate me, fine—I can give you the identity of Miss Rivers and never come back! Please, spare my four brothers!"

I laughed in fury. "I am already Miss Rivers. What exactly are you giving me?"

"Enough!"

The four of them quickly stepped forward, holding Sophia protectively in their arms.

"Can you stop being so malicious all the time!"

I nodded and gestured to my Flying Cavalry Special Unit.

"You’ve seen Miss Rivers’s intentions. Get these ungrateful brats out of here!"

The Flying Cavalry had already reviewed my mother’s will moments ago. At this moment, everyone sprang into action.

The bodyguards clashed with the Flying Cavalry Special Unit. But how could a group of bodyguards possibly win against my elite unit?

Just as the four of them, along with Sophia, were about to be driven out, a commanding voice rang from the doorway.

"What are you all making a scene at Rose’s funeral for!"

My eyes lit up. "Dad!"

I was overjoyed, wanting to rush to him like I used to. But when I saw the woman linking arms with him, my steps froze instantly.

Looking at the middle-aged woman whose face was so strikingly similar to Sophia’s, my hand trembled slightly as I pointed at her.

"Dad, who is this?"

But he didn’t answer me. He simply picked up the will that demanded the four foster brothers leave with nothing. Then he tore it in half and slammed it in my face with a sharp “smack!”

"Ungrateful wretches!"

I stared in shock at this man, who had once had his heart and eyes only for me and my mother, unable to believe what I was seeing.

"Dad… what are you saying?"

"Who allowed you to speak recklessly!" He pointed at me. "If it weren’t for my daughter’s generosity in supporting you, I wouldn’t let you call me ‘Dad’. I’m letting you only out of respect for her. Do you really think you have the right to be my daughter? My daughter supports you and you show no gratitude and on top of that, you dare to forge my wife’s will to try to drive my sons and daughters out of this house! Who gave you the audacity!"

"Who are you calling your daughter!" I shouted in anger.

Dad froze, not expecting me—usually so gentle—to act like a shrew at this moment.

I pointed at the woman behind him. "You yourself said my mother was your wife, so what does it mean that you brought another woman to her funeral!"

My father was at a loss for words.

The woman and Sophia exchanged a glance and shook their heads.

It was Andrew who broke the awkward silence.

"Karen is Mom’s close friend. Dad hasn’t been eating or sleeping these past few days. Without Karen, he would have starved himself. She’s here supporting him to see the funeral through. What’s the problem with that?"

My father’s eyes suddenly reddened.

Many of the funeral attendees shed tears.

"They always said Ms. Rivers and her husband’s love was stronger than gold. Now it really seems so."

"Thankfully, Ms. Rivers has Karen, her close friend. Otherwise, how heartbroken her husband would be."

My father wiped at the corners of his eyes—though no real tears were there—and spoke solemnly. "I’ve decided—from today onward, the Rivers Family will cut off all support to this ungrateful wretch!"

"Support?" I laughed bitterly in anger. "Dad, have you forgotten? You’re just a son-in-law. What right do you have to touch the Rivers Family’s inheritance!"

My father’s face turned pale.

Dad sneered. "I am one of the only two relatives your mother had in this world. Of course, I have inheritance rights!"

My breath caught. My mother and I had suspected many people. But we had never doubted my father so the will didn’t elaborate much regarding him.

I looked at Mr. Zucker; a thin layer of sweat had formed on his forehead.

"Is this how the four of you protect your own sister?" My father frowned at the four foster brothers.

The four, who had just been so arrogant toward me, all lowered their heads.

Then my father spoke. "Remember this. It's my precious daughter who chooses who gets the Rivers Family. I never want to see my daughter kneeling for anyone again!"

"Dad, don’t worry. No matter who the company goes to, the four of us will protect Sophia."

"You wretch!" Suddenly, a woman with tear-red eyes rushed out from the crowd.

She slapped me across the face and grabbed my collar.

"Fraud! Ungrateful wretch! Ms. Rivers has been my benefactor! And you, an ungrateful wretch supported by her daughter, dare to bully her in front of Ms. Rivers? Today, I’ll vent my anger for her, right here in front of her!"

"No… I didn’t!" I tried to explain, but immediately more people surged forward.

"Support her and this is what comes of it! Luckily, Sophia still has her four brothers backing her up. If it weren’t for them and her father, today you and that lawyer would really have gotten your way!"

"Mr. Zucker is a wretch too! How dare he betray his own longtime client!"

Seeing that we were about to be attacked, I panicked and turned to run.

But Sophia seemed to casually sway in front of me and I tripped, allowing those people to catch up to me.

However, in that fall, I also knocked her phone to the ground. The screen lit up.

Everyone saw the indecent private photos of Sophia displayed on it. Sophia hurriedly picked up her phone.

But everyone had already seen that scene.

The four adopted brothers also looked at Sophia in surprise. Then they glanced at one another,

silently asking with their eyes if Sophia was involved with one of them…

“If it weren’t for Mellan forcing me to take those photos and even making me set them as my screensaver, I wouldn’t have let her bully me like this at Mom’s funeral…” Tears instantly welled up in Sophia’s eyes and fell.

The four adopted brothers’ eyes widened in shock.

Victor, gripped her shoulders tightly. “What did she make you do?!”

Under the concerned gazes of the four, Sophia suddenly fell silent, only biting her lip, eyes red and shaking her head.

A slap came hurtling toward me and Andrew shook with anger. “No wonder Sophia was acting so strange today—it turns out you used such despicable tricks to bully the one who supported you!”

Rage surged through me and I struck back hard. “Could you stop groveling for once? Instead of falsely accusing me, why don’t you check who she’s actually taking that photo with!”

“You still have the nerve to bring up the photo!” Victor’s eyes were bloodshot as he turned to the Flying Cavalry Special Guards.

“What are you standing around for? Drag this ungrateful wretch to the coffin! I want Mom to watch the one who bullied Sophia receive the same punishment!”

“What?”

I hadn’t even reacted yet when the The Flying Cavalry Special Guards had already twisted my arms behind my back.

Their strength was far greater than that of the regular bodyguards — a sharp crack rang out from my shoulder as a bone snapped. Pain shot through me, making my whole body tremble.

“Let go! No!”

I was forcibly dragged to the coffin and right in front of my mother, the sound of my clothes tearing rang out.

“Not enough! I want her to take photos even more revealing than Sophia’s! I want to see if she’ll still have any right to threaten Sophia after she’s had pictures like that taken!”

In the coffin, my mother lay with her eyes closed, clutching flowers in her hands. She should have been allowed to depart in peace. But now, I was kneeling before her, pinned to the ground by more than a dozen people.

“No… I’m begging you… please… take me somewhere else if you have to… just don’t do it in front of Mom!”

My tears fell one by one onto the coffin and for the first time, I looked at my four adopted brothers with pleading eyes.

But the four who had always been the most protective of me avoided my gaze. The one who had once loved me the most, Victor, frowned and glanced at me. “This is what you owe Sophia.”

“No!” A heart-wrenching wail erupted in front of the coffin.

Victor shielded Sophia’s eyes.

“Filthy, don’t look.”

Suddenly, the coffin shook slightly.

With tears in my eyes, I looked up. The crystal coffin lid trembled. The next moment, it was kicked aside.

The flowers in my mother’s hands were thrown to the ground and crushed underfoot. From above, she looked down at the The Flying Cavalry Special Guards — the very security team she had once personally trained.

With a sharp bang, she kicked the man still clutching my collar, sending him flying.