Chapter 281

Victoria proposed a radical plan—one that could even land them in legal trouble. She wanted to team up with Zephyr to drive Amelia out of the Howard family. If necessary, they'd take direct action against her.

For Zephyr, this arrangement was all upside, no risk. After all, Amelia was Victoria's mother-in-law. He just needed to carefully distance himself from the whole thing, and he wouldn't face any consequences.

Still, something didn't add up. Victoria had always believed in a slow takeover—peacefully maneuvering the Howard family into their hands. Why the sudden change of heart?

When Zephyr asked, Victoria's voice dripped with venom. "Because she took Ori to raise herself! If we don't act now, even if Ori grows up to inherit the Howard family, he won't recognize us as his real parents. So what's the point of all this?"

Zephyr sat up straight, blindsided. "How did she take Ori? Where were you? How could this happen? You're his biological mother. The law says custody should be yours. How could you possibly lose to Amelia?"

His words carried more than a hint of blame.

Truth was, lying in bed last night, Victoria had blamed herself too. She'd been too meek in front of Amelia. She should've fought harder, made a scene. If this got out, public sympathy would naturally side with the mother.

But she could blame herself. What right did Zephyr have?

"You're blaming me again? Who was it that said in the hospital that Orion belonged to the Howard family and he didn't want anything to do with him?"

Zephyr hated when people threw his past words back at him. His instinct was to throw Victoria out. But remembering Gavin's instructions, he forced himself to apologize. "Okay, okay, I misspoke! I'm in. I'll cooperate fully with whatever you plan. Happy?"

Victoria finally looked satisfied. "That's more like it."

It was getting late. Even though Amelia had moved out with Orion and Victoria had dismissed all the household staff, better safe than sorry. She grabbed her bag to leave.

Zephyr had braced himself for another fight about Sophia, but Victoria didn't mention her at all. He was actually surprised.

Had the woman changed?

At the door, Victoria turned back. "What, you won't even walk me out?"

Seeing she really wasn't going to bring up Sophia, Zephyr's mood improved slightly. He grabbed his jacket and walked out with her.

As they reached the entrance, the young beauty Zephyr had been holding all evening appeared, eyes brimming with tears. She looked pitiful and pretty at the same time.

Zephyr was about to say something to send her away when Victoria stepped forward and slapped the girl seven or eight times across the face.

"He was with you? Making me wait in line? You look like an un-evolved monkey, and you think you can challenge me? Get lost, bitch!"

Zephyr's mouth fell open. So Victoria was still the same jealous woman after all.

He shook his head helplessly, meeting the girl's tearful eyes with an apologetic shrug. Looked like Victoria was nipping this fling in the bud.

"Zephyr, stay away from women like that. If you catch something, don't come crawling back to me and Ori!"

Victoria threw out that parting shot, yanked open the car door, and dropped into the passenger seat.

Zephyr felt irritated, but at least Victoria hadn't mentioned Sophia today. He could live with that.

After dropping Victoria at the Howard Villa gates, he drove off without noticing the poisonous look that crept into her eyes behind him.

The next morning, Amelia learned that Victoria had fired all the household staff.

Eight servants claiming they had nowhere else to go were blocking the entrance to the Howard Group. Among them was the young woman Victoria had slapped. After a night, her mouth and eyes were swollen, making her look absolutely pathetic.

Amelia was shocked and furious. She hadn't expected Victoria to go this far! Was her daughter-in-law ready to declare war? And to think, yesterday she'd been gracious enough to let Victoria visit Orion twice a week. The woman showed zero gratitude!

Her assistant waited respectfully for instructions. If this wasn't handled quickly and the media caught wind of it, the Howard Group's reputation would take a serious hit.

That realization shifted Amelia's anger toward the eight servants as well.

They must've screwed up badly for Victoria to fire them all at once. Instead of reflecting on their own failures, they came here to threaten her. Desperate people and their schemes!

Angry or not, the problem was already at her doorstep. Amelia had to deal with it.

"Send two cars to take them to that new resort in the northern suburbs. I'll have the manager arrange jobs for them. And compensate the girl who got hit—not too much, five to eight thousand. Take it from my account."

The assistant left to execute her orders. Alone in her office, Amelia slammed her fist on the desk.

She admitted it—taking Orion without discussion had been partly out of spite toward Victoria. But Victoria genuinely wasn't being a good mother. The child was only four and had already caused how many incidents? Taking him while he was young to properly educate him was actually doing Victoria a favor. Why couldn't the woman use her brain and see that?

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Her thoughts spiraled. Maybe Orion's cruel, violent streak at such a young age came from Victoria's genes. After all, the woman was ruthless.

Too late to regret choosing the wrong daughter-in-law. Amelia could only steady herself and resolve to have a proper talk with Victoria.

She was a woman of action. Once decided, she acted immediately. Amelia dialed Victoria's number, planning to meet that very evening.

Time ticked by. Victoria didn't answer. Amelia's expression darkened further.

Was her daughter-in-law declaring war?

Amelia ended the call and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"Zack," she said after calming herself slightly, calling the male bodyguard who'd served her for over a decade. "Go to the house and find Victoria. I don't care what you have to do—bring her to me."

Zack obeyed Amelia without question. From those few words alone, he was already prepared to get physical with Victoria if necessary.

Amelia tossed her phone aside and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows, gazing into the distance.

The Howard Group occupied prime real estate in Emerald City's center. From the top floor, the entire ancient yet thriving city sprawled before her eyes.