Sandra’s mind reeled in disbelief.
She never imagined things would escalate to this point.
"Grandfather," she protested, her face etched with resistance as she shook her head vehemently.
Grandpa Porter’s fist clenched tightly on the table, his chest heaving with barely contained fury.
The oppressive aura around him was suffocating.
The thought of handing over his meticulously groomed granddaughter to a disgrace like Tyler filled him with bitter resentment.
But the scandal in the lounge today would soon spread like wildfire through high society.
No respectable family in the capital—worthy of the Porter name—would consider Sandra for marriage now.
As for those beneath the Porter standing?
They wouldn’t dare cross the Luther’s, not even over a mere bastard.
At this point, an engagement with the Luther Family was the least disastrous option left.
That single word seemed to drain the last of Grandpa Porter’s strength.
He sat there, his face ashen, looking as though he had aged a decade in an instant. Sandra’s pupils trembled violently, her face deathly pale as she stood frozen in place.
Both Calvin and Taylor couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. Grandpa Porter had lived a life of prestige, yet who would have thought he’d suffer such a humiliating blow—all because of his own granddaughter.
"And what about you?" Grandpa Luther’s gaze darkened as he turned to Tyler and the other two, his voice icy.
"I have none," Jonathan replied gravely, casting a glance at Sandra.
Today’s events had been too bizarre, and his thoughts were still in disarray.
Tyler suppressed the excitement in his eyes as he looked at Sandra, then deliberately hesitated before speaking.
"I’ll defer to Grandfather’s decision."
Defer to him? A shadow flickered across Grandpa Luther’s expression.
Sandra abruptly stood up, cutting off Grandpa Luther mid-sentence.
"I refuse!" Her entire body trembled from the sheer tension, her expression twisted with desperate fury.
"If I’m marrying into the Luther Family, it’ll be to Sinclair—not that vile bastard Tyler!!"
So Sinclair is perfect, while I’m just some despicable bastard?
Dark storm clouds gathered in Tyler’s eyes, veins bulging along his clenched fists.
Sandra, you’ve really outdone yourself this time!!
Grandpa Porter turned to his granddaughter, his frosty gaze brimming with disappointment.
"The engagement has already been finalized. Don’t speak such nonsense again."
"It’s not nonsense—it’s the truth!"
Completely unhinged now, Sandra ignored her grandfather’s reprimand.
"For all these years, the only one I’ve ever loved, the only one I’ve ever wanted to marry, has ever been Sinclair!!"
The person outside the door paused leisurely upon hearing these words.
An intimidating aura instantly radiated from their entire being.
"Madam, shall we go in?"
Camilla replied, her beautiful eyes brimming with bone-chilling coldness.
"Let’s see just how shameless Sandra can be."
"Miss Sandra seems to have forgotten,"
Margaret spoke slowly, her gaze fixed on Sandra with undisguised mockery and scorn. "Sinclair is already married."
Hadn’t she just claimed that coveting another woman’s husband was despicable?
So how was her current behavior any better?
Sandra’s voice sharpened as she snapped.
"Married people can get divorced! As long as I can marry Sinclair, I don’t care if it’s his second or third marriage!"
Given the current situation, only Sinclair could help her escape the fate of being forced to marry Tyler.
Miss Sandra really doesn’t know what’s good for her.
Ramsey’s lips twitched as he glanced sideways at Camilla beside him.
To his surprise, she was absentmindedly twirling a slender silver needle between her fingers—one she had seemingly conjured out of nowhere.
"Grandpa Porter," Sinclair’s icy dark eyes swept past Sandra and fixed on grandpa Porter.
"If the Porter family is truly incapable of teaching their younger generation proper manners, I wouldn’t mind stepping in to help."
His bone-chilling tone seemed to drop the temperature in the room by several degrees.
The remark was nothing short of a slap in the face to grandpa Porter and his entire family.
Humiliated by such a public reprimand from a junior, the old man’s face flushed with rage.
The veins on his forehead bulged visibly.
"Grandpa Porter, Sinclair is right," Grandpa Luther’s expression had also darkened dangerously as he backed his grandson’s words.
"Sandra’s manners could certainly use some corrections."
With even grandpa Luther making his stance clear, grandpa Porter had no choice but to swallow his fury.
Get back here and sit down—now!"
His voice had turned so icy it could freeze the very air.
"Sinclair, I truly love you," Sandra didn’t retreat. Instead, she rushed directly before Sinclair, her eyes burning with desperate madness.
"You’ll soon realize Camilla is no longer worthy of being your wife or the madam of the Luther Family," Her voice trembled, laced with a pleading tone so pitiful it bordered on groveling.
"Drive her out and marry me instead, please? I’ll do anything for you.
The Porter family—everything we have—I’ll give it all to you."
Grandpa Porter clenched his jaw so tightly his teeth nearly cracked, his expression one of utter exasperation toward his hopeless granddaughter.
"Still dreaming at this point?" Calvin’s lips curled in open mockery.
"Can’t decide if she’s persistent or just plain stupid."
"Both," Taylor narrowed his eyes slightly. "Persistently stupid."
Sinclair’s expression was terrifyingly cold, the dark fury in his eyes so palpable it seemed to materialize into something tangible.
Then suddenly— A tall, slender figure clad in an elegant black dress stepped through the doorway.
Taylor leaned back in his chair, the corners of his lips curling slightly.
Perfect timing. Sinclair also noticed the figure approaching.
The icy glint in his eyes faded significantly, replaced by a gentler expression.
If she hadn’t arrived soon, he might not have been able to stop himself from committing murder right then and there.
"Sinclair.." Seeing the softening in Sinclair’s demeanor, Sandra’s eyes lit up with hope. "You’ve agreed, haven’t you?
I—" Before she could finish, a sudden force yanked her around.
A sharp, crisp sound rang out as Sandra’s head snapped to the side from the impact.
Her ears buzzed, and a warm trickle seeped from her nose.
Dazed, she reached up to touch her face—her fingertips came away stained crimson.
The sheer force behind that slap was undeniable.
Calvin choked on his tea. He hadn’t expected her temper to be this fiery—straight to action without hesitation.
But this kind of dramatic showdown?
He loved every second of it.
Of course, Calvin wasn’t the only one stunned.
The entire council hall froze at the sudden slap, the air thick with shock.
Tyler’s heart skipped a beat the moment he saw who had arrived.
He witnessed this woman’s methods firsthand—he knew exactly what she was capable of.
Grandpa Porter rose from his seat, his face etched with concern for his granddaughter. Sandra snapped out of her daze, her pupils contracting sharply as she took in the breathtakingly beautiful face before her.
How... how are you—" Camilla should’ve been drugged by now, hauled away by the men she’d arranged.
"You want to ask how I’m still here, don’t you?"
Camilla’s striking eyes narrowed, her hand lifting again without a moment’s hesitation.
This time, Sandra staggered and fell to the ground, her cheeks swollen like overripe peaches—both pitiful and absurdly comical.
"Camilla, you’ve gone too far!"
Grandpa Porter’s face twisted with fury as he slammed his palm onto the table.
"Are you all just standing there like statues?!
Help the young mistress up this instant!"
The Porter family servants hurried forward to assist Sandra.
Camilla’s icy voice cut through the air like a blade, her commanding tone freezing the servants in their tracks.
Before they could react, Ramsey had already stepped forward with a group of mercenaries at his back.
Grandpa Porter’s pupils constricted, his gaze darting to Sinclair with barely contained outrage.
"My apologies, grandpa Porter."
Sinclair leaned back in his chair, watching Camilla with a faint smirk playing on his strikingly handsome face.
"I’m a henpecked husband."
The moment those words left his lips, Camilla caught a flicker of genuine amusement in Sinclair’s eyes.
The others, however, reacted with mixed expressions.
Calvin and Taylor exchanged exasperated glances.
They had only come to watch the drama unfold, yet here they were, force-fed a dose of sickeningly sweet affection.
Grandpa Porter, visibly irritated, turned to Grandpa Luther.
"Grandpa Luther, are you really going to let her bully Sandra right in front of us?"
"Conflicts between young people," grandpa Luther replied calmly, sipping his tea without batting an eye, "should be left to the young people to resolve."
Clearly, he had no intention of intervening or stopping Camilla. Jonathan let out a cold, mocking laugh.
Both women had married into the Luther Family, yet the difference in how they were treated was like night and day.
The Luther Family—grandfather and grandson alike—dared to humiliate him over some women?!
This was beyond insulting! Grandpa Porter’s face turned ashen, then darkened with rage before playing again.
"My first slap was for her shamelessness—stealing another woman’s husband in public."
Camilla’s crimson lips curved slightly as she stepped forward, pressing her foot firmly on Sandra’s back to keep her pinned to the ground.
"The second slap was for her venomous scheming, underhanded tricks, and refusal to change despite repeated warnings."
As she finished speaking, she slowly lifted her gaze, her icy stare boring straight into grandpa Porter’s eyes.
"So, grandpa Porter, this isn’t bullying.
She brought it upon herself."