Her voice trembled—not with madness, but with six years of suppressed hatred.
"I'll tell you this once: as long as that girl has my blood in her veins, she belongs to the Fox family. She is my property to control!"
She slammed her palm against the table. Her confidence in those files was absolute.
Lucy, terrified by the screeching, cowered behind my legs. Her knuckles went white gripping my trousers.
"Daddy..." A sob caught in her throat.
I crouched to soothe her, rubbing small circles on her back. But when I looked up at Joanna, my gaze could cut glass.
"She's my daughter," I said, low and dangerous. "She answers only to me."
I straightened, towering over the table. "As for the past... do you honestly believe I made the first move?"
"What did you say?" Joanna's face flushed crimson. "You're nothing but a filthy chauffeur! Don't you dare twist the truth! Back then, it was clearly you who—"
"Let me guess." I cut her off, shifting focus to the sweating man beside her. "Matthew told you I drugged you? That I forced myself on you while you were vulnerable?"
Matthew's left eye twitched. Genuine panic flickered across his face.
"Shut your mouth!" he roared, his complexion turning sickly gray. "Stop spewing nonsense! You set Joanna up! You plotted to get her pregnant just to ruin her life!"
He turned to the crowd, desperate to regain control. "And now he's back, dragging that poor child into this mess to use her as a bargaining chip! He's trying to blackmail the Fox family for money!"
The murmurs swelled into condemnation.
"So it really was a setup? Disgusting."
"Using his own daughter to extort money? The man has no bottom line."
"Poor Miss Fox. Imagine being entangled with a predator like that."
To them, the heiress and the executive were trustworthy. I was just the help. My humble background was my original sin.
Lucy didn't understand the words, but she felt the wave of hostility. She buried her face in my coat, crying harder.
"Daddy, they look so scary. I want to go home. Please?"
I held her tight against my chest, shielding her from their prying eyes. My hand offered gentle comfort, but my expression stayed cold as a frozen lake. I didn't bother looking at the jeering crowd.
My eyes were fixed on my prey.
"Whether I set you up or not... the files will reveal the truth," I said calmly.
I checked my watch. Time was up.