Marie breathed a sigh of relief. Tina gently stroked Sophia’s soft hair and asked her, “Sophia, do you me me? For not choosing to rescue you first, but instead saving my student?”


    Sophia shook her head earnestly. “Tina, I don’t me you. I know whatever decision you make is the right one. Besides, to save me by sacrificing forty-seven others is too cruel and terrifying. If I were in your ce, I would have made the same choice as you.”


    Tina’s eyes moistened slightly,forted yet saddened by Sophia’s maturity-too much for a child her age, already understanding sacrifice and virtue.


    “Tina,” Marie consoled, “Initially, I was a bit resentful when I heard about it. But after thinking it over, if it weren’t for you, Sophia would have sumbed to the poison long ago. Furthermore, forty-seven young lives about to take their exams-I, too, couldn’t have chosen Sophia for my own selfish reasons.”


    She patted Tina’s shoulder, adding, “I believe Jared thinks the same. We don’t hold this against you.”


    “Thank you.” Tina nodded, more moved than ever. The disaster had targeted her, and she had no defense against the usations from the forty-seven students of ss 22D or Sophia’s family. Yet, they had not. They chose to stand by her.This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.


    After administering some calming medicine to Sophia, Tina handed her the cake prepared by Jared Farrell.


    “Wow, cake!” Sophia’s eyes lit up, eager to open it.


    “Eating too much will give you cavities,” Marie interjected.


    Sophia’s lips puckered in a pout, looking usingly at Marie as if she was being unreasonably cruel.


    “Let her have a little to settle her stomach; it’s not good to take medicine on an empty stomach,” Tina smiled, helping Sophia unpack the cake.


    “Alright then,” Marie conceded.


    Sophia’s smile returned, and she secretly gestured a victorious ‘yes’ to Tina with a scissors hand.


    After Marie coaxed Sophia into eating the cake and taking her medicine, they left Sophia’s bedroom. Tina was still concerned about Cole Lyon, who had been rushed to the hospital, unsure if Dexter Brookes had managed everything properly. Worrying that Sophia might have a restless night after the day’s shocks, Marie, despite her daughter’s displeased look, insisted on staying with Sophia.


    As Tina closed the door, she saw Sophia verbally expressing her annoyance at Marie, yet her small hands clung tightly around Marie’s waist-a sweet contradiction that made Tina smile.


    It waste, and most of the house staff had retired. Sophia’s bedroom was on the second floor. As Tina descended to the living room, she saw Jared Farrell sitting upright on the leather sofa, his posture impable, Nathan Lehman beside him looking equally tense.


    On the coffee table in front of Jared was a pot of freshly brewed Da Hong Pao tea and ten cups. The overhead light cast deep shadows across his chiseled features, adding to his refined, aloof appearance. Tina paused at the staircase, admiring not just the man’s looks but his oddly formal tea-drinking posture, which seemed more suited to a negotiation.


    “What, are you having tea with ghosts?” Tina frowned, noticing the empty cups.


    Jared just stared nkly, unable to confess that he had been expecting Hayden Cohen and Tina’s eight brothers to storm in, hence the preemptive setup.


    “Your brothers were supposed toe for me, weren’t they?” Jared asked nonchntly.


    “Huh?” Tina raised an eyebrow. She knew her brothers too well; they wouldn’t easily let Jared off the hook, not even stepping inside the gate.


    She was about to inquire about Dexter Brookes and the condition of Cole Lyon, who had fortunately taken her life-saving pill before being shot, not critically, but she needed to check.


    “Never mind them,” Tina said, though puzzled, she didn’t dwell on it. “I have a friend in the hospital; I need to go there first.”


    “I’lle with you, then we can head back to Blue Cove together,” Jared stood up, about to instruct Nathan Lehman to get the car when Nathan’s phone rang.


    Nathan answered, and his face instantly changed. “What! Someone broke into Blue Cove apartments and demolished two apartments?! Who dares to mess with Mr. Farrell’s property?!”


    Tina and Jared were taken aback.


    Another call hit Nathan’s phone, and he switched lines, only to explode again, “What! Someone threw a stink bomb into Mr. Farrell’s vi in Huanhua Garden?!”


    Before he could get more details, his phone was barraged with more calls-“Wasps nests thrown into the west district apartments?!” “Bedbugs released in the East District mansion?!” “The plumbing broken in the north district t?!” “A herd of pigs driven into the vi in the east district?!”


    Tina and Jared listened, their expressions transitioning from initial surprise to numb eptance.


    “Mr., Mr. Farrell…” Nathan finally finished taking calls, his face twisted in distress as he looked at Jared, “Um, all your residences in Ensford have been vandalized…”


    “Heh.” Tina couldn’t help butugh, knowing her brothers wouldn’t let Jared off easily.


    “I think I know who did it,” Jared rubbed his temples, annoyed yet resigned, “Are all our people just eating for free? They just watched as my houses were trashed?”


    “Ah, well…” Nathan chuckled nervously, unable to hide the truth any longer, “Mr. Cohen personally led the team. Who would dare stop him?”


    Indeed, no one expected Hayden Cohen himself would lead a raid to demolish Jared Farrell’s properties, so they were utterly unprepared.


    “Heh,” Jared’sugh was chilling, “Very well, he’s really turned his elbow out.”