Chapter 9

The comments online had grown so rampant that Caiden found himself unable to face the others.

People accused him of favoring his stepdaughter.Some questioned whether he derived some twisted pleasure from parenting another man's child.

Each biting comment sliced through Caiden's pride like a sharp blade. Some of them branded him a brazen social climber,suggesting he had ascended the societal ranks on the coattails of Daniela's deceased mother.Following her passing, he let her daughter bullied by his stepdaughter. Critics mocked his so-called fragile masculinity,claiming he resorted to such demeaning tactics merely to uphold it

Caiden,seething with fury, shattered several cups at home and bellowed at Alexander, "Tell Daniela if she's not home by the end of the day, she's out of the family for good!"

Alexander responded, "I divorced Daniela today."

"What?" The room seemed to tilt around Caiden."Daniela divorced you? How dare she!"

Alexander maintained his composure. Our divorce is all over the internet."

Staggered, Caiden clutched at his chest, his breath hitching as his legs folded beneath him.

Upon Alexander's arrival at the hospital, Katrina's loud sobs echoed down the hallway before he even stepped into the room. As he entered, he noticed the pronounced veins throbbing on Caiden's forehead, a testament to his simmering rage.

The moment Caiden's eyes locked on Alexander, he lamented, "You have endured much. It is our disgrace that we raised such a ungrateful girl.Joyce has cleared up everything with us. The audio clip and footage are fabricated. She didn't say those things!"

With tears streaming down her face, Katrina added,"Absolutely, they're nothing but lies! Alexander, don't fret over the divorce with Daniela. You and Joyce have grown up together. You two are a perfect match."

She then turned to Caiden, seeking confirmation."Isn't that right, dear?" Caiden nodded vigorously, his face a mask of firm agreement.

The intensity of his defense made it seem to any observer as though Joyce was his own flesh and blood.

"Indeed, it's well known that a marriage alliance exists between the Harper and Bennett families. Alexander,you could marry Joyce instead. That way, we'd still unite our families as intended."

Caiden nodded again, more eagerly this time. "Yes, I'm going to make a public declaration immediately,cutting ties with Daniela. From this moment forward,Joyceis my only daughter."

Overwhelmed, Joyce burst into tears and rushed into Caiden's embrace.

Between heavy sobs, she declared, "Dad, I will be a good daughter to you. I'll take care of you when you're old!"

Katrina dabbed at her eyes with a tissue in a theatrical display of emotion, and remarked to Alexander, "Look at the touching bond between father and daughter!"

Alexander stayed quiet throughout this exchange.

Joyce wiped away her feigned tears and turned to Alexander with a coy smile. "Alexander, when do you think we should get married?"

Alexander's expression remained unreadable as he spoke in a flat tone. "I'll need to take this up with my family first."

Joyce's smile briefly wavered, revealing a flicker of disappointment before she recomposed herself,donning her charming mask once again.

With a soft, reassuring smile, she murmured,"Alexander, I'll do anything you ask-I'm here for you."

After Alexander stepped out of the hospital room,Joyce hurried after him, her posture meek, radiating a timid and vulnerable charm. Her eyes, reddened from emotion, conveyed a blend of sorrow and distress.

"Alexander, is it because I'm not my father's biological daughter that you hold back? Is that the real reason you won't marry me? Do you scorn me like the rest?"

In her gestures and tone, Joyce mirrored Katrina,possessing an aura that seemed out of place among refined circles. Her eyebrows arched slightly in a manner that seemed contrived, her voice overly saccharine.

Alexander studied her face in contemplative silence for a long moment before he finally responded, "The audio and surveillance footage weren't tampered with.

I've had experts verify their authenticity."1

Joyce froze in place. She had not anticipated that Alexander would delve into the investigation himself.

She had assumed his unwavering support would shield her,never imagining that the erased footage might be restored.

She had underestimated Daniela.

Yet,with the truth now laid bare, denial was futile.

"Alexander, I'm begging you, please believe me-l had no other option!" Joyce implored, her hands concealing her tear-streaked face. Her voice quivered with desperation. "Daniela knew about my feelings for you and took delight in tormenting me behind the scenes. She branded me a misfit brought in by a stepmother, and mocked me for aiming too high,thinking I could ever aspire to be with someone like you.It drove me to the brink, and in a moment of sheer rage, I lashed out. I had no idea Daniela would stoop so low as to record everything. Alexander, I swear,I was driven to the edge." 2

Alexander's gaze fell on Joyce, her cheeks glistening with a cascade of tears.

He kept his thoughts to himself, his voice low and steady. "Now that you've seen Daniela's true colors,be more vigilant. You're already under scrutiny. Don't make things harder for yourself."

With that, he turned and walked away.

Joyce watched his departing figure, her eyes narrowing, a frosty expression settling over her face.

"Joyce, what's happening?" Katrina's voice broke through as she emerged from the hospital room.

"I had the perfect strategy lined up, but Daniela came up with evidence. I totally underestimated her. Never mind-she's out of Alexander's world, and my path to success is just starting to clear."

Joyce glanced briefly towards the hospital room, then leaned closer to Katrina, lowering her voice. "Mom,push Caiden to cut all ties with Daniela. Once he does,the Harper family will be within our reach."

Privately, Joyce never referred to Caiden as "Dad."

Her strategy was clear: claim the Harper family's wealth while Daniela was sidelined, thus preventing any future entanglements should she return.

As long as she wielded control over the Harper family fortune, the Bennett family would overlook her modest origins.

Then, securing a marriage with Alexander would be within reach. Katrina's smile held a hint of smug assurance."No need to worry. Caiden is fully wrapped around my finger."

The topic remained a hot issue online for over a week.

Ultimately, Harper Group had no choice but to enlist a third-party PR firm to handle the fallout.

However, merely an hour later, the controversy resurged, this time cementing its place in the public eye for a whole month.

Alexander, overwhelmed and exhausted, closed his eyes and demanded of the PR team, "What happened this time?"

It seemed these pesky trending topics simply refused to fade away.

The company staff responded with candid transparency, "Mr. Bennett, previously it was a technical glitch. This time, someone has deliberately brought it back."

Alexander's frustration boiled over, his voice piercing as he barked, "Who's behind it this time?"

The answer came back clear and direct. "My boss, Cedric Phillips."

Consequently, the scandalous revelations about how Caiden had ousted his own daughter for a woman,and Alexander's affair with his wife's stepsister swept across the nation.

Within days, the stocks of both the two groups nosedived to an all-time low.

Driven to desperation, both families scoured for Daniela. Yet, she had disappeared, erased from the world as though she had never been part of it at all.

"Where the hell did she disappear to?" Caiden bellowed, his voice thick with rage. Harper Group had endured catastrophic losses recently, unlike anything before.

His eyes were bloodshot, a clear sign of his sleepless nights and boiling frustration.

The situation was dire. If things didn't turn around soon,he might have no choice but to declare bankruptcy.

Approaching Caiden cautiously, Joyce tried to soothe him. "Dad, try to stay calm. Daniela has always been stubborn. You know that."

Caiden's face flushed a deeper shade of red.

In a fit of fury, he sent Daniela a stern message, warning her that if she didn't address the chaos she'd caused online within three days, he would take the drastic step of disowning her publicly.

Meanwhile,Alexander had taken matters into his own hands by hiring a private investigator to track down Daniela. Yet, after two agonizing weeks, there was still no word from the investigator.

Katrina reached out to a lawyer.

On the same day,Harper Group made a bombshell announcement that rocked the internet. Caiden, acting as the president, officially disowned Daniela.

For Alexander, there was no familial bond with Daniela to sever, but the repercussions on the company's reputation were severe and undeniable.

He reached out to the investigator, his voice low and filled with dissatisfaction. "I've handed you a fortune,and you're telling me you can't track down a defenseless woman?"

The investigator was equally perplexed. "Mr. Bennett,our team ranks among the finest in the nation. If she's eluding us, she's out of reach for anyone. But I must ask-are you certain she is merely an ordinary woman?Could she perhaps be concealing a more formidable persona beneath her unassuming exterior? How else could she vanish without a trace?" With a deep sigh, Alexander squeezed his eyes shut,his mounting irritation finally breaking through.

Daniela was a woman everyone dismissed as a pathetic,lovesick fool. What secret could someone so pitiful possibly be hiding?

Over the last decade, the most extreme thing Daniela had ever done was love him fervently. What other feats could she have accomplished?

If it turned out Daniela did harbor some secret identity,he would swallow his arrogant claims whole. 8

"Mr. Bennett, should we consider engaging another private investigator?" Alexander's secretary offered."It's been quite some time. Maybe something has happened to her."

Positioned by the panoramic window, Alexander surveyed the teeming city streets below, his expression detached.

"Forget it. She's the one who wanted the divorce, so whatever mess she's in now is her own problem,not mine."