Chapter 53 Fight

Chapter 53 Fight
When Oliver got home, she was startled to see Samantha standing right at the entrance like a guard dog that had been waiting for hours. Samantha’s eyes were swollen like walnuts, red and puffy, and her expression was a strange mix of rage and misery that looked both terrifying and ridiculous at the same time.

“Oliver!” Samantha shrieked the moment she saw her. “Did you let that Gavin guy come up today? How could you be so cruel? You ruined my apprenticeship ceremony!”

Oliver paused, genuinely stunned by Samantha’s shamelessness. She slowly took off her shoes, straightened up, and looked at her coldly. “It was my birthday party. What’s wrong with someone coming up to give a gift? And have you forgotten who the real Peterson family heiress is? If you can’t stand me, you can leave.”

Oliver realized that with someone like Samantha, subtlety was a waste of time. Kindness only fed her sense of entitlement. Sometimes, blunt words were the only language people like her understood.

“Oliver! You dare tell me to leave?” Samantha’s face twisted with fury. She lunged forward, reaching out as if to grab Oliver by the neck.

“What’s going on?”

The Peterson couple hurried over after hearing the commotion, their footsteps echoing through the hallway.

The moment Samantha saw them, her expression changed instantly. She withdrew her hand as if she had never intended to touch Oliver and put on a pitiful, fragile look. Her voice softened and trembled just right. “It’s nothing. My sister is just upset about what happened today. I was trying to comfort her, but she told me to leave.”

Tessa’s heart softened immediately. She pulled Samantha into her arms, patting her back protectively, and turned toward Oliver with a frown, clearly ready to scold her. But before she could speak, Andrew stepped forward, holding a velvet jewelry box in his hand.

“Oliver,” Andrew said, his tone unusually gentle. “There was a little mix-up at the birthday party today. It was the hotel’s mistake. This is a birthday gift from Dad, to make up for it.”

Oliver looked at him for a moment, then opened the box.

Inside lay a dazzling set of ruby jewelry. The gems were deep red and flawless, set in exquisite craftsmanship. Anyone with a bit of knowledge would recognize it immediately.

Samantha’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.

This was Andrew’s prized collection. She had begged for it countless times, hinted at it, cried over it, even argued about it. And now it was being handed over to Oliver just like that.

Her nails dug into her palms as she stared at Oliver, the jealousy in her eyes so intense it could almost burn holes through her.

Oliver felt the gaze but did not react. She closed the box calmly and looked up at Andrew with a gentle smile. “Thank you, Dad.”

Her tone was polite, composed, and perfectly appropriate. With that single sentence, the entire matter was brushed aside, as if the humiliation at the banquet had never happened.

Samantha stood there, teeth clenched, chest heaving, but there was nothing she could say. The house fell quiet again, and the tension dispersed like smoke, leaving only bitterness behind.

The school had a three-day break for the Mid-Autumn Festival. On the second day, with nothing much to do and unwilling to stay home listening to Samantha’s sulking, Oliver decided to attend a small charity auction on Herbert’s behalf.

The hosts had invited Herbert several times already. He had originally planned to take Oliver with him today, but a last-minute meeting tied him up unexpectedly. Instead, he arranged for Oliver to go first, reassuring her over the phone that he would join her as soon as the meeting was over.

Oliver agreed without hesitation, unaware that this quiet charity auction would soon bring yet another twist into her life.