"Summer—"

The middle-aged man shouted as he lunged forward, trying to embrace his daughter. Julian Grant, quick on his feet, shoved him aside.

The man struggled desperately. "What are you doing! Let me go, what happened to my daughter!"

Julian Grant grabbed his collar and pinned him to the ground, hissing in a low voice, "Enough! Shut up!"

The Vault said, "Instead of going crazy, why don't you go to the door and meet the medical staff?"

Only then did the two men realize what they should be doing. One ran to the intersection to guide the ambulance; the other started clearing the scene and dispersing the crowd.

In less than five minutes, the ambulance parked at a nearby clinic arrived. Even though it was the evening rush hour, the drivers passing by were very considerate—once one person set an example, others followed, and an orderly emergency lane was cleared for the ambulance.

The medical staff rushed over with a stretcher, sprinting to Summer's side to begin emergency treatment, and quickly transported her to the hospital.

Julian Grant drove behind the ambulance, following the middle-aged man all the way to the entrance of the operating room.

The doors were tightly shut. Nurses bustled back and forth, and the heavy smell of disinfectant filled the corridor.

The middle-aged man slumped to the ground, rubbing his head with his hands, pulling out a clump of his already thinning hair.

Julian Grant paced over to him, his tall figure casting a shadow over the man. His face was as dark as water, and his words were even colder.

"Now that you have time, care to explain why you tied her up in the room with a rope?" Julian Grant suppressed his anger, restraining the urge to kick him. "Do you have any humanity left? That's your daughter, and she's pregnant. Do you not see her as a person, or do you not see yourself as one?"

The middle-aged man hung his head, mumbling after a long pause, "I did it for her own good. If she hadn't wanted an abortion, I wouldn't have treated her like this."

Sitting upright in the waiting area, The Vault rolled her eyes and glared at him expressionlessly.

Julian Grant let out a bitter laugh, taking a deep breath. "Abortion is a woman's right. Unless you grow a uterus and give birth for her, what right do you have to make decisions for her?"

"But she can't have an abortion. The doctor said it would be very dangerous, and she might never be able to have children again."

The man's sallow face was covered in wrinkles, and tears shimmered in the dim light. At this moment, his usual brashness finally gave way to a trace of fatherly concern.

"Xavier Daniels told her to get an abortion, and she just went along with it. She doesn't even care about her own life—how can she be like this? I tried to talk to her, but she's gone mad. She's been completely brainwashed by the The Daniels Family!"

The Vault interjected, "How did she get the injuries on her face?"

That one question made all the man's words die in his throat. He looked guilty. "She must have fallen just now."

The Vault sneered, "Why don't you show me how you fall and get the exact same injury?"

Father Xia's lips trembled, and he was silent for a long time.

Julian Grant tilted his head back and wiped his face hard.

But the man didn't reflect for long before he started complaining again. "I had no choice. I did it for her own good. Summer used to be so obedient, so sensible. I never thought she'd end up... selling herself for dirty money. How could she do something so disgraceful, so shameless? How could I tell anyone? I could only hide her away. I tried to talk sense into her, but she wouldn't listen. I lost my temper and wanted to wake her up. If you were me, what would you do?"

The Vault listened and laughed, the dry sound chilling. She curled her lips and asked, "Are you upset because your daughter embarrassed you, or because she spent all the money on herself and didn't keep supporting the family burden?"

Father Xia suddenly looked up, his eyes red. "What do you mean by that? That's a terrible accusation!"

The Vault said, "If you were really just afraid of losing face, why did you go to Xavier Daniels and extort millions? And why are you forcing Summer to have the baby? You took the money so eagerly—where's your dignity?"

Father Xia opened his mouth, but The Vault continued, "Don't lie. When you lie, the muscles on your face contort in a very ugly way. I can see right through you."

Father Xia stood up, his face tense with agitation, the wrinkles deep as plaster.

"You think if I had a choice, I'd let her be with that old man Thomas Daniels? Isn't she pretty enough? Couldn't she just marry a decent young man? Now she's pregnant, her whole life is ruined, and in the end, she'll still have to rely on me. She brought this on herself!"

Julian Grant was stunned by this. His eyelid twitched, but he didn't dare show his surprise too obviously, so he just glanced between The Vault and Father Xia.

Summer is Thomas Daniels's mistress? And she's pregnant with Thomas Daniels's child?

No wonder Father Xia took her to extort Xavier Daniels instead of forcing a marriage.

The Vault remained calm, her sarcasm undiminished. "Didn't she learn this from you? Haven't you always taught her, by word and deed, that as long as someone is a man, he can look down on her? She didn't bring this on herself—she's always been made to feel inferior. Her low self-esteem was planted by you. Every choice she made had your influence behind it. And you still want to use her dirty money? You're far filthier than she is."

"I did not!" the man retorted. "She's my daughter! How could I not want the best for her!"

The Vault said, "Everyone can see you favor your son. Even the first time I met you, I knew—you’re using your daughter's life to get millions for your son."

Father Xia: "Compared to other families, I'm already much better! She can rely on her husband in the future, but my son is still young—I have to plan for him. That doesn't mean I don't care about my daughter! Don't make me out to be so disgusting!"

The Vault stood up as well, meeting his gaze. "Then stop talking about 'fairness' all the time. It's your self-righteous, so-called fairness that's the most disgusting. It completely tramples on the meaning of the word."

When The Vault wanted to cut someone down, every word and sentence could stab straight into the deepest part of their heart, leaving no room for escape.

She sneered, "Do you understand? She would rather give up her dignity, her self-respect, her self-love, just to get rid of the mark you left on her. Do you think, as her father, she admires you, is grateful to you? No. The fact that she could jump off a building without hesitation shows how much she despises you. She doesn't even cherish the life you gave her, or the decades she spent with you."

Father Xia was deeply shaken, his face flushed red. "You—"

He clenched his fists and charged forward, the veins bulging on his forearms. Julian Grant instantly switched from bystander to action, stepping in and pressing a hand to his chest, warning, "Try it if you dare."

"What do you know! What do you know!" Father Xia shouted at The Vault. "The Daniels Family father and son are both scoundrels, they're all deceiving her! She's stupid, she ran off with a man so easily! She's being kept by an old man and fell for his son. Does she even know they're both laughing at her? Now that things are like this, is it wrong for me to make her keep some money for herself? I'm doing it for her own good!"

The Vault stepped forward. "As a man, you have no sense of responsibility. As a father, you can't give your child any support. All you ever say is 'I'm doing this for your own good,' but what else have you done? Even that phrase isn't about loving her—it's about forcing her to work, making her dependent on you. It's emotional blackmail. If you put even a fraction of your so-called sincerity into your actions, she wouldn't have run off with some man in confusion."

The Vault's tone wasn't even intense, but her words dripped with irony.

"You say Xavier Daniels is no good, just a scoundrel, so why did Summer fall for him so easily? Because the man who lived with her for over twenty years was a thousand times worse than this scoundrel she just met. So when the scoundrel showed her even a little care, she thought he was a good person," The Vault said. "You're a worse father than if you were dead. If you were dead, she could at least imagine she might have had a normal father. But with you alive, she's constantly reminded that from birth, she's been a tragedy, always less than others. Every time she makes a mistake, you don't comfort her—you call her stupid, say she deserves it, tie her up with rope, and use her to get money you'd never earn in a lifetime. Useless!"

Julian Grant looked at The Vault, not knowing what else to do but nod.

He always forgot how sharp The Vault's tongue could be when she wanted to be, how much damage she could inflict—she just rarely turned her barbs on others. Though she looked frail, she had never been defeated by anyone.

Time in the game moved quickly. As the group caught their breath, the doors to the operating room opened, and Summer was wheeled out.

All three turned their attention to her, with The Vault following on either side of the hospital bed.

Summer was still conscious, but she looked exhausted. Her eyes were dull, her face bloodless, as if she had aged overnight—even her hair looked dry and yellow.

The nurse pushing the bed said, "The patient needs peace and quiet. Family members may visit, but please do not argue or upset the patient."