Donna Linwood was jolted awake by a frantic burst of doorbell ringing.
The second she opened her eyes, her head still felt heavy and fuzzy.
Lately, she'd been sleepy all the time and nauseous for no reason. She had only gone to the hospital yesterday for a checkup, and the result had blindsided her—she was pregnant.
She got out of bed and went to open the door. Standing outside was a middle-aged woman in a custom-made embroidered cheongsam.
Her makeup was flawless, every inch of her screaming rich-house matriarch energy. Behind her stood a well-kept middle-aged man, dressed just as expensively.
The moment Donna saw that it was her so-called biological parents, Victor Harrington and Diana Harrington, her expression turned cold, and she immediately tried to shut the door again.
"Donna Linwood, do you seriously think leaking it to the media on purpose—making your blood relationship with us blow up on the trending list—means you can force us to acknowledge you? Dream on!" Diana snapped, grabbing her hard, looking like she wanted to tear her apart on the spot.
Donna said icily, "Who wants your acknowledgment? You can smear me online, sure. Then I can use the internet too and let everyone see exactly how vicious you really are..."
Slap.
Victor, who had been staring at her with a dark, hostile look, suddenly raised his hand and smacked her across the face. His voice was savage. "If you can post the paternity test screenshot online, then we can prove it's fake. You shameless little brat—I'll beat you to death!"
Donna covered her burning cheek and lifted one arm to block the punch he threw next.
Rage shot through her. She kicked back hard and shouted, "What gives you the right to hit me? You're both disgusting and pathetic!"
Diana rushed forward to back Victor up. She yanked at Donna's hair and cursed with naked disgust, "We should never have given birth to a trashy little bitch like you in the first place! We should've strangled you the second you were born!"
While struggling against the two of them, Donna instinctively protected her stomach and yelled for help as loud as she could.
But the hallway was dead quiet.
No one passed by. No neighbors opened their doors. Nobody wanted to get involved.
Every punch Victor threw came down hard and merciless. He wasn't just saying that stuff in anger—he really meant to beat her to death.
Just when Donna thought she was going to die today under her own biological parents' fists and kicks, the elevator in the hallway dinged.
Three men in suits stepped out.
The man in front took one look at Donna being beaten and instantly ordered the two bodyguards behind him to move.
The two guards were clearly pros. They rushed over, locked Victor and Diana down with a few clean restraint moves, and slammed them to the floor in seconds.
Diana still hadn't processed what was happening. Stunned and furious, she shouted, "We're disciplining our own daughter! Since when is it your business?!"
“They’re not my parents. I don’t know them!” Donna Linwood shouted, denying it on the spot.
She had no clue who these three strangers were, but one thing was obvious—they were helping her.
The man in front looked to be around fifty. Dressed sharp and carrying himself with old-school respect, he spoke to Donna Linwood with a slight bow. “Young Madam, hello. We’re from the Mercer Group. I’m the Mercer family’s house steward. You can call me Uncle Zhang.”
Even though Diana Harrington was pinned to the floor by the bodyguards and couldn’t move, she still sneered like she owned the place. “So you even hired people to put on a show now? Let me and Victor go, right now. Otherwise none of you are getting out of this clean!”
Steward Zhang didn’t even spare a glance for Diana Harrington, who was barking like a rabid dog. He turned to Donna Linwood instead and respectfully asked, “Young Madam, they dared lay hands on you. That means they’ve made an enemy of the Mercer family. How to deal with them is your call.”
Donna Linwood hated the Harrington family so much her teeth were practically grinding. “Take them to the police station. I’m suing them for intentional assault.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Steward Zhang turned his head and ordered the two bodyguards, “Didn’t you hear Young Madam? Take them to the station.”
The two bodyguards moved fast, no nonsense. They hauled the couple up from the ground and started dragging them away.
“I’m the chairman of the Harrington Group, and she’s my wife!” Victor Harrington struggled and yelled, face red with fury. “If you help this little bitch, then you’re slapping the Harrington Group in the face. None of you will end well—”
Before he could finish, Steward Zhang lifted a jade token right in front of Victor Harrington’s eyes, arrogant and calm at the same time.
“As chairman of the Harrington Group, surely you recognize this.”
“The Mercer family’s Nine-Dragon jade token?” Victor Harrington burst out laughing in an instant. Even if he were beaten to death, he still wouldn’t believe Donna Linwood could ever marry into the Mercer family. “You think waving around some fake jade can make you pass for one of the Mercers? Forget our Harrington family—even the Mercer family won’t let you off!”
Victor Harrington bit down on his claim and sneered, “And you call yourself the Mercer family steward with this? Please. You look like some extra off a random set. How much did Donna Linwood pay you to act—”
Steward Zhang finally snapped and slapped him across the face.
Seeing Victor Harrington get hit, Diana Harrington went totally feral and tried to break free from the bodyguard to strike back.
The bodyguard reacted in a flash and slammed her back onto the floor.
The pain made Diana Harrington scream out, “I’ll remember every single one of you! This isn’t over!”
Steward Zhang couldn’t be bothered wasting one more word on them. He gave a cold wave of his hand, and the two bodyguards dragged them straight into the elevator.
Even as the elevator doors were closing, Diana Harrington still had the nerve to shriek abuse.
“Donna Linwood, just you wait! My five sons will never let you off...”