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Chapter 4 No Need for a Moral Bottom Line

After the phone call, Cecilia couldn't sleep. She went downstairs and saw her uncle, Vincent Lockhart, in the hall. This family had never had good intentions.

Because her grandfather left most of the Lockhart family and Lockhart Group to Theodore before he died, Vincent held a grudge and would come around to cause trouble from time to time. He even secretly colluded with Dominic to seize the family assets, accelerating the decline of the Lockhart family.

Cecilia quietly observed the people in the living room and saw that Vincent had brought his illegitimate daughter today. If she remembered correctly, Vincent's purpose today was to secure a job for his illegitimate daughter at the Lockhart Group. The current head of the Lockhart Group was Theodore, and the parachute placement required his approval, especially since Vincent wanted a good position.

In her previous life, Theodore did give Vincent face and agreed to let the illegitimate daughter join the Lockhart Group. This illegitimate daughter was very scheming and made a mess of the Lockhart Group. In this life, Cecilia was determined to prevent such things from happening.

She walked over nonchalantly.

"Cecilia, coffee." Juliana Lockhart, the illegitimate daughter of Vincent, attentively handed over a cup of coffee, looking very respectful.

Cecilia reached out. Just as she took the cup, Juliana's hand slipped, and the scalding coffee was about to spill all over Cecilia's hand. Cecilia was well aware of Juliana's little tricks from her previous life. Seeing her act all innocent and pitiful, when in fact she was a cunning and deceitful woman who even climbed into Dominic's bed!

At that moment, Cecilia quickly grabbed Juliana's hand as she tried to leave, causing the spilled coffee to pour onto Juliana's hand instead. The maneuver was so swift that no one noticed what had truly happened. All that was heard in the hall was Juliana's scream, followed by the sound of the coffee cup shattering on the floor.

"What happened?" Vincent asked, somewhat nervously.

"I know Cecilia didn't do it on purpose," Juliana quickly said, looking pitiful with her face full of tears. No wonder she, though an illegitimate daughter, still received Vincent's affection.

However, in the next second, Cecilia slapped Juliana hard across her pitiful face. She put all her strength into it, leaving Juliana stunned on the spot. Juliana looked at Cecilia in disbelief.

Cecilia was clearly a rule-abiding woman, gentle in nature. How could she have such an imposing manner? And as soon as she saw Juliana in tears, she went soft, and so does the whole family. Now, Cecilia had actually slapped her.

"Do you know that this coffee set was Grandpa's favorite before he passed away? Now that you've broken it, can you afford to pay for it?" Cecilia scolded loudly, full of authority!

Juliana's face turned half-red, and her tears flowed even more. She said pitifully, "No, Cecilia, it was you didn't catch it. You just..."

"Did I not catch it, or did you release it before I could catch it?" Cecilia interrupted her. "What? Have you learned to lie now?"

Juliana quickly shook her head, looking aggrieved.

Cecilia's face darkened. " You really aren't the daughter who grew up in the Lockhart family. You have no sense of decorum. How can you break a coffee cup just by handing it to me?"

Vincent's face changed instantly upon hearing this. But he didn't know who was right or wrong just now, and considering Juliana's status as an illegitimate daughter, which indeed made her lowly in high society, he couldn't find the words to refute and had to swallow his anger!

"Isadora," Cecilia turned to Isadora Lockhart, Vincent's legitimate daughter, "your sister really can't compare to you at all."

Isadora never saw eye to eye with Cecilia. Because their grandpa left the family assets to Cecilia's family, making Cecilia the legitimate heiress of the Lockhart family, while Isadora became a collateral relative, which she resented. But at this moment, she felt quite pleased. If it weren't for Vincent's favoritism, she would have beaten Juliana to death long ago.

"Who knows what kind of lowly people she grew up with. All she knows is play the victim. I've told my dad not to bring her here to avoid embarrassment. Now look, she broke Grandpa's favorite coffee cup. Even beating her to death wouldn't be enough!" Isadora said with disgust.

"Enough!" Vincent's face was ugly as he yelled at Isadora, "You'd better shut up!"

Isadora rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Alright," Theodore stood up from the sofa, playing peacemaker, "Although it was something Dad left behind, he wouldn't want us to be unhappy over a coffee cup. I'll have the servants clean it up."

"Exactly," Genevieve quickly chimed in, "I see Juliana's hand is red from the burn. We should take her to the hospital to get it treated."

Though she was trying to be kind, she didn't mention a word about Juliana's swollen face from Cecilia's slap. Cecilia held back a laugh at Genevieve's little thought.

"Sorry for causing you all trouble. We'll take Juliana and leave now," Vincent's wife, Vivienne, said.

Vivienne wasn't genuinely trying to help Juliana get into the Lockhart Group. She was just putting on a show. For Vivienne, the mere fact that she tolerated Vincent bringing Juliana back to the Lockhart family was already a significant compromise on her part!

As she spoke, Vivienne pulled Vincent along. Vincent's face was very unpleasant. He had come today to discuss Juliana joining the company, but now, after all the ridicule, he couldn't bring it up at all. He shook off her hand angrily and stormed out. The whole family followed suit.

Juliana couldn't hide the anger in her eyes as she left. Originally, she wanted to scald Cecilia, but not only did she get slapped by Cecilia, but she also ruined her chance to join the Lockhart Group. Why should she, also a girl of the Lockhart family, be ridiculed like this?! She vowed to make everyone in the Lockhart family sit up and take notice and ensure they all meet a bad end.

Cecilia smirked coldly. She knew Juliana's thoughts very well and was just waiting for Juliana to dig her own grave.

"Cecilia," Theodore called her, "why were you so assertive today?" They had always been tolerant of that family, but he didn't expect Cecilia to suddenly be so tough. It made him feel oddly satisfied.

Cecilia snapped back to reality and smiled sweetly, "I suddenly understood the importance of defending my own rights."

"And you said the coffee cup was your grandpa's relic. Only you could come up with something like that," Theodore said in a reproachful tone, but it was clearly affectionate.

Cecilia stuck out her tongue. When dealing with someone like Juliana, she didn't need a moral bottom line!

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