Chapter 16

Heart-rending screams suddenly rang out through the dining room, and Charlotte paled from the pain. The sudden incident stunned everyone present. Lana was the first to react. She shot out of her seat and gave Kylie a hard shove, scolding angrily, "What are you doing, Kylie?" Kylie was shoved so hard that she lost her balance and almost fell to the floor. Just as she was about to fall, something tightened around her waist, and she felt a strong force pull her backward into a firm chest. When she looked up to see Isaac's handsome face so close to hers, her heart started beating irregularly. On the other hand, seeing Kylie being held in Isaac's arms made Charlotte's eyes fill with tears. The tears immediately started rolling down her face, and she looked at Kylie while saying in a choked voice, "I-I know that you've always been displeased with me, Kylie, because you feel that I've stolen all our parents' love and affection. "But… But y-you still shouldn't…" She suddenly paused before sniffing slightly and saying, "Forget it. You probably didn't do it on purpose anyway." However, Lana instantly exploded in anger when she heard this. "Kylie Murphy! How could you be so vicious? Lottie is your older sister! She was kind enough to serve you some soup, yet you actually scalded her on purpose!" After taking in Charlotte's cunning words and Lana's accusations, Kylie explained, "She deliberately lifted the bowl higher. I—" Before she could even finish speaking, Lana bellowed angrily, "Shut up! Even now, you're still so unrepentant! And you're still trying to frame others for your mistakes! Is this how I taught you to behave, Kylie Murphy?" Kylie suddenly fell silent. Lana had no intention of hearing her out and immediately declared her guilty. Under such circumstances, nothing she said would change the outcome. Just then, Jonathan glanced at Isaac and saw his dark expression. He immediately stood up and said placatingly, "Alright, enough! Hurry up and take Lottie to the restroom to rinse her hands in cold water, then apply ice to them. This is all just a misunderstanding, and Kylie definitely didn't mean to do it." Kylie glanced sideways at Jonathan. So, even he refused to believe her? Lana refused to back down. "How could you be so biased, honey? Look at how badly Lottie was burned! Are we just going to let this slide?" Charlotte seized the right opportunity to speak up and defuse the situation. "Don't worry, Mom," she said gently. "I'll be alright after icing the burn. I believe Kylie definitely didn't mean to do it, so please don't blame her anymore." Lana glared exasperatedly at her. "You're always so kind, but give her an inch and she's going to take a mile!" Lana and Charlotte's words rang in Kylie's ears and stabbed deeply into her heart. Kylie looked at Charlotte and suddenly smiled before picking up a bowl and filling it with soup. Just as everyone was feeling curious as to what she was doing, she abruptly poured the soup onto Charlotte's hand. Charlotte's scream rang out once more. "Kylie Murphy! You've gone mad!" "Kylie!" Everyone present was shocked, and even Isaac's eyes had widened in astonishment. However, he reverted to his usual calm a mere two seconds later and arched his eyebrows in interest. Kylie set the bowl down and clicked her tongue lightly. "Since you all think that I intentionally tried to burn Charlotte, then I shouldn't have to bear the responsibility for nothing!" Charlotte, her face twisted in pain, looked disbelievingly at Kylie. She never expected Kylie to actually dare to pull off something like this. "Y-You madwoman!" Lana yelled angrily through gritted teeth as he strode toward Kylie. "I'm going to beat you to death, you damn bitch!" She raised her hand to slap Kylie but was stopped midair. Startled, she looked toward the man holding onto her wrist. "I-Isaac! You…" Isaac smiled coldly and said in a tone that tolerated no argument, "Don't you think it's inappropriate to hit my wife in front of me, Mrs. Murphy?" He then flicked Lana's wrist away, causing her to sway twice and hurriedly grab onto a chair to steady herself. "Let's go," he instructed, grabbing Kylie's hand and tugging her away. … As they left the Murphy residence and she breathed in the fresh outside air, Kylie felt as if a huge weight had suddenly been lifted from her heart. She glanced at Isaac, who was walking ahead but still holding onto her wrist, feeling an indescribable emotion welling up inside her. Just now… he had been the only one to side with her, but he shouldn't have done that. He shouldn't have given her a sudden glimmer of hope when she had already decided to give up on him completely. With that thought in mind, she broke out of his grasp, which caused him to stop and look back. She said in a faint voice, "Thank you for just now." Isaac stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked condescendingly at her, then smiled and said, "You really are an unlikable person, Kylie." Kylie's expression stiffened for a moment. Yes! Indeed, she was just such an unlikeable person. That fact remained true whether in the eyes of the Murphy family or the Grant family. Nobody liked her other than Rachel. She said nothing and simply continued walking forward. … Back at the Grant residence, Rachel smiled and asked them if they had fun at the Murphy residence today. Isaac glanced at Kylie with a mysterious smile. "It went quite well." After a pause, he added meaningfully, "I got to witness a rather exciting show." Kylie remained silent. Rachel glared reproachfully at Isaac. "What an oddball you are." She then picked up an invitation letter and handed it to him. "Cecilia, the daughter of your uncle Alfred Gunning, has returned from the country of Clerdana, and a homecoming banquet for her tomorrow. This is an event meant for young people like you two, so you should attend the banquet with Kylie." Isaac accepted the invitation and replied simply, "Understood." After chatting with Rachel for a while, the two of them headed upstairs together. Kylie returned to their room while Isaac went to the study. As soon as she set foot into the room, her phone started ringing. When she saw that the caller ID displayed on the screen was "Mom", she quietly kept her phone in her pocket. Even without answering the phone, she knew what Lana had called to say. However, Lana seemed determined to make her answer the call no matter what. It seemed that if Kylie didn't answer the first time, she would call a second and even a third time! After Lana's fifth time calling her, her phone finally stopped ringing, but then WhatsApp messages started flooding in one after another.