For a moment, Zoey forgot to breathe.
Feeling the stinging pain on the side of her lips, she slowly reached up to touch it.
At the sight of blood, her eyes darkened, and she curled her hand into a tight fist.
Gina was astounded by her husband's reaction but said nothing.
Not only was Zoey lying about her sister, she was also bullying her. It was only right to discipline out those foul traits she'd learned in the countryside.
Kate was the only one struggling and having the time of her life at the same time.
She was over the moon seeing Henry react like this, reassured that she was still his princess.
But she was struggling with her facial expressions, trying to rein them in before they stretched into a bright grin.
"You will apologize to your sister for your foul behavior right now!" Henry, still seething with rage, enunciated clearly through clenched teeth, his finger pointed at Zoey's nose.
Zoey touched her burst lip again.
So this is what it's like to be slapped.
All this while, her mother had only ever knocked or slapped the back of her head. This was different.
"Keep being stubborn and you'll sleep next to the dog cage!" Henry threatened again when she still didn't move.
Zoey lifted her eyes to stare at Kate, who had stopped crying.
Her triumphant eyes stared back at her mockingly.
Shifting her gaze to Henry, she regarded closely, "I didn't do it. Would I still say I didn't do it even after being slapped?"
That question made him pause.
Indeed, that rarely happened.
Afraid he might actually believe her, Kate burst into tears again and sobbed out, "Forgive me, Father. I don't think Sister splashed the drink on me on purpose."
"I think she may have been upset over something that happened in her game and just lashed out."
Henry wasn't convinced and hissed, "So what? She still said all those cruel things to you. She needs to apologize, or her punishment will be worse than she imagines!"
"Dear, I think Zoey has learned her lesson. We should leave it at this." Gina suddenly spoke up softly, helping Kate to her feet.
Though she was secretly looking forward to what might happen next, Kate knew she had to stay in character.
Hence, she nodded with a sorrowful face, "Yes, Father. It's already late, and we both have to get up early tomorrow."
"Sister is still the sibling I always wished I had, and now that I finally have her, I'll forgive her even if she doesn't apologize for what she did."
Persuaded by both of them, Henry finally gave in and let Zoey off.
Zoey didn't move for several seconds until they were out of the room, the door closed behind them.
Then, slumping into her gaming chair, she glanced down at the spilled juice and glass shards scattered everywhere.
She touched her lip again.
This was tougher than she thought it'd be.
Just a minute ago, she believed her dream of finally returning to the countryside was about to come true but she'd forgotten her job here wasn't done.
Despite how angry he was, Henry still remembered he needed her to marry into the Leith family so his precious daughter wouldn't have to.
This 'precious daughter'… all this time, she thought Kate was just a jealous girl afraid her parents would be taken by the new girl.
Turns out it wasn't anything like that. What exactly it was, Zoey didn't know. But she was certain of one thing: this was just the beginning.
If she didn't brace herself, Kate Smith would walk all over her like a doormat, and what happened a minute ago would keep happening.
Since when did a princess like her become the victim?
Sighing, she put her headset back on and resumed the game.
Due to an incident from her childhood, Zoey was hyper-aware.
To an ordinary person, it looked like she was just playing the game. But as her avatar moved, all she saw was her plan falling into place.
By the time she came up with a suitable counterattack, it was already two in the morning.
Carefully stepping away from the desk, she changed out of her clothes, took a bath, and went to bed immediately.
At 7 a.m. the next morning, Kate walked down the stairs with her eyes pinned to the time on her wrist.
Yesterday, Zoey had just been coming in at this time.
Once she feigned ignorance of where she was and mentioned Zoey's lateness in front of their parents, coupled with last night's drama, their disappointment in Zoey would deepen.
So when she reached the foot of the stairs, she sighed tiredly, "Sister was also late yesterday and almost made me lose my punctuality streak."
"What's wrong, baby?" Gina's worried voice came immediately.
Kate didn't raise her eyes as she began complaining bitterly, "It's Zoey. She never wakes up early, yet she she goes for a run despite waking up late"
"If this keeps happening, I won't be blamed for leaving for school without her and making her take the bus."
But instead of the words of agreement she expected to hear from Gina, all that greeted her was a sudden, awkward silence.
A moment later, someone chuckled.
"Is that how we're doing it now? I've been waiting for forty-five minutes. Maybe I should've just left and let you take the bus to school."