Chapter 25
When Emily and Sophia were finally pulled apart, both were injured, but overall Sophia's injuries looked more serious.
"You brat, what exactly are you trying to do?" Brian clutched his chest, feeling like he was about to have a heart attack.
He pointed at Emily and spoke bitterly. "The Johnson family hasn't bothered you all these years, and now you come here specifically to bully Sophia. Emily, do you even see me as your father?"
Facing his questioning, Emily straightened her clothes and hair, letting out a cold snort. "Whether I see you as my father depends on whether you've treated me as your daughter. Since you see me as an enemy, why should I respect you?"
Her voice was calm, but the coldness in her eyes gradually turned to frost.
Emily used to have a glimmer of hope for Brian, but thinking about what he'd done, that hope had turned into deep disgust.
Right now, Amelia was still lying in the nursing home, unconscious.
How could Emily possibly forgive him?
Brian flew into a rage and barked at the nearby maid, "Go get me the whip!"
Seeing his furious state, the maid didn't hesitate and quickly brought the whip.
The whip was long and thick - getting hit with it would definitely leave marks.
"Today I'll teach you a lesson on behalf of your mother, you ungrateful daughter," Brian said, grabbing the whip and approaching Emily.
Sophia and Harper hid nearby, their eyes excited as they watched the scene unfold.
"She used so much force when she hit me just now, my whole body hurts." As if enjoying the drama, Sophia fanned the flames while wincing.
Her words clearly touched Brian's sore spot.
A flash of impatience crossed Brian's eyes as he coldly grunted in acknowledgment.
Truth be told, he didn't really care much about how badly Sophia had been beaten.
But Emily barging into the Johnson Villa and causing such a scene clearly showed she didn't respect him as a father - this was a challenge to his authority.
For Brian, this was intolerable.
Emily just stood there watching him. Only when the whip was about to fall did she speak calmly. "If you dare touch me today, I'll call the police immediately and make sure the Johnson family has no peace."
That simple sentence made Brian's whip freeze in mid-air.
"You wouldn't dare!" Brian frowned deeply, his eyes flashing with anger. "At the end of the day, you're still my daughter. My disciplining my own daughter is perfectly justified. What good would calling the police do?"
"Have you ever fulfilled even the slightest parental duty toward me? Besides, you know very well what our relationship really is." Emily tore away the veil hiding the truth.
"If you dare lay a hand on me, I don't mind publishing everything the Johnson family has put me through over the years to the media. I think they'd be quite interested in news about the Johnson family."
Emily hadn't done this before out of consideration for her two children.
After all, she wasn't alone - if the Johnson family went after her two kids, Emily couldn't defend against everything.
That was why she'd endured time and again.
But when it really came to the point where she couldn't take it anymore, there was no need to endure any longer.
"So what if you go to the media? Besides, you still have those two little bastards. Do you want their background made public too?" Harper, being a mother herself, instantly seized on Emily's weak spot to strike back.
But before Emily said those words, she'd already prepared for mutual destruction.
"If you don't believe me, feel free to try. Worst case, I'll take my two children and end it all. You won't have it easy either - with a death on your hands, who could clear your names?" Emily's expression was calm, but her words sent chills down Harper and Brian's spines.
"You..." Harper pointed at her, momentarily speechless.
She hadn't expected Emily to actually be crazy enough to go this far.
"This is the first and last time. If you dare hurt my two children again, don't blame me for showing no mercy." Emily dropped these words and turned to leave.
Now that Brian was back, continuing to make a scene wouldn't do her any good and might even give them leverage against her.
Leave when it was time to leave - she wasn't here just to argue.
Besides, the lesson she gave Sophia today should be enough to keep her in line for a while.
The fact that Oscar and Nina couldn't get into kindergarten was already set in stone. She still needed to figure out other solutions and couldn't waste time tangling with this family.
The three members of the Johnson family just watched her leave, none daring to stop her.
"What exactly did you do to provoke her today?"
After the chaos settled down, the Johnson Villa's living room was finally cleaned up.
Brian sat in the main seat on the sofa, his expression dark as he looked at Sophia.
"Brian, Sophia..." Harper carefully chose her words, trying to make excuses for Sophia, but Brian cut her off.
"Let her speak for herself."
Seeing his real anger, Harper didn't dare say more and could only signal Sophia with her eyes to distance herself from blame as much as possible.
Sophia, worthy of being raised by Harper, immediately understood and put on a pitiful expression, speaking in a choked voice. "Dad, I only heard about her finding a kindergarten for the two kids and wanted the principal to give them some extra 'attention.' I didn't expect the kindergarten principal to misunderstand what I meant and directly refuse to let the two children enroll."
As Sophia spoke, she watched Brian's expression.
"And then?" He asked flatly, his face calm.
"I don't know where Emily got the information, but she mistakenly thought I was sabotaging things, so she came to the house and caused this whole scene. Dad, this really wasn't my fault." As she spoke, two tears rolled down her face, looking utterly wronged.
Brian knew the situation couldn't be as simple as Sophia made it sound, but chose to believe her. "So you're saying she misunderstood you and still made a huge scene at home?"
Seeing Brian's face turn grim, Sophia pushed all the blame onto Emily even more.
"Yes, I didn't expect her to come to the house and cause trouble without even asking about what really happened, and she even spoke so wildly to you." She secretly continued to embellish, making Brian even more dissatisfied with Emily.
"Really no manners." Brian snorted coldly, then his eyes fell back on Sophia. "Don't provoke her for a while."