Chapter 70

Elysia raised an eyebrow. She thought, In past years, Leo sent me luxury cars or mansions. This year should be no different. Aloud, she said, "A luxury car!"

Leo shook his head. Elysia guessed, "Is it a mansion?"

"Am I that uncreative? Think harder," Leo teased.

Max chimed in, "Leo, can you say that with a straight face? Every year it's one of those two for Elysia's birthday, and now you're talking about creativity?"

He turned to Elysia. With a playful tone, he said, "Elysia, guessing—"

Leo shouted, "No! She should guess mine first!"

"Guess mine first!" Max refused to back down. "This is boring. Why don't you guess what surprise I have for you?"

Watching their banter, Elysia suggested, "How about I guess both at the same time?"

Jack said, "Forget guessing, just tell Elysia!"

Leo pouted. "Fine, we'll tell—"

"No need to be so fierce," Max agreed, then looked at Elysia with pride. "Elysia, I bought you an amusement park in Sivro. You can play however you want from now on."

Leo said, "And I bought you a small island in Havaria."

"A place where even birds won't poop? You call that creative?" Max scoffed.

"Better than your amusement park any day!" Leo retorted.

Worrying they would begin to argue again, Elysia quickly interjected, "Thank you, Leo and Max. I love the gifts you've prepared."

Hearing this, Leo and Max stopped bickering.

Leo said, "As long as you like them, that's all that matters." He stroked his beard, grinning widely.

Jack cleared his throat. "Elysia, I have prepared a collection of jewelry for you. A girl needs to look beautiful, after all."

"Thank you, Jack," Elysia replied.

"I estimate the jewelry will arrive at Scented Garden in the next couple of days. Remember to take care of it," Jack said.

"Okay," Elysia replied. Feeling the blessings from the three men, Elysia felt warm. In this world, besides her parents, she had three elders who doted on her most. She couldn't ask for more.

Recalling Jack's expectations, Elysia paused. She thought, Perhaps only by staying with the Rosewood family can I give Jack peace of mind. Jack had lived most of his life, and his greatest wish was for Elysia to return to her parents and have a normal family structure. In his eyes, no matter how much they loved her, they could never replace her biological parents.

Elysia didn't want to disappoint Jack. Even if their family love was an illusion, she would do her best to maintain it.

After ending the video call, Elysia opened Twitter and saw David had already posted the video. Due to the commotion at tonight's birthday party, the journalists arranged by the Davis family had defected, inadvertently helping her. With the scandal involving Emma as a lead, the video was quickly dug up by netizens and analyzed. News like "The Rosewood family's adopted daughter has a malicious heart and an unclean private life, plotting against the real daughter" swept across the internet. Many netizens forwarded and commented; the situation was out of control.

Comments included:

• "Disgusting!"
• "I never expected the Rosewood family's adopted daughter to be such a person!"
• "The Rosewood family's biological daughter is too tragic, being bullied by the adopted daughter like this. I wonder what her parents are thinking! They've found their biological daughter, but still keep the adopted daughter around."
• "I remain neutral. I just don't believe the Rosewood family's biological daughter could be that innocent."
• "Revelation: The adopted daughter is my classmate; she usually takes advantage of her school beauty status to flirt around. I've never liked her."
• "The wealthy circle is really messy. Fortunately, I'm just an ordinary person."

As the news intensified, the Rosewood family suffered a significant impact. The Rosewood Group's stock prices fell, and Scott was frantic. He immediately called Elysia to the study and questioned, "What's going on with that video on the internet? Didn't I give you money to handle it?" He suspected Elysia hadn't given the money to the waiter.

"A snake swallows an elephant because it's never satisfied; it's normal for him to think our money isn't enough," Elysia replied.

"Really?" Scott asked.

"Does Dad not trust me?" Elysia asked.

Scott didn't trust Elysia, but he couldn't produce any evidence, and with Zane backing her up, he couldn't easily reprimand her.

"Actually, solving this is simple. If he thinks the money isn't enough, just give him more. After all, this small amount of money is nothing to our family," Elysia said. "The key is to make him shut up online. Afterward, the Rosewood family should issue a statement declaring we've severed all ties with Emma. This will solve your urgent problem."

Scott was taken aback. Sever ties? Is it really necessary to go this far? He had only been momentarily angry and hadn't truly intended to go this far. Emma was the daughter he had raised. If they severed ties, his eighteen years of raising her would be in vain! He didn't want to do so.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, took out a bank card, and handed it to Elysia. "This 150,000 is my final limit. You must handle this matter cleanly."

Elysia took the card. Her lips curled up slightly. "Don't worry."

Hearing her assurance, Scott waved his hand. "Get out. I'll handle the rest."

"Okay, Dad, don't work too hard," Elysia said, leaving the study.

Using his money to cause trouble for him. I wonder if he'll spit blood out of anger when he finds out the truth, Elysia thought. But I can't be blamed. After all, the cause of this whole incident is Emma. Scott is just a victim in this struggle—or rather, he shouldn't be considered a victim. It could be seen as a lesson for him. He has always been profit-driven; he should taste what it's like when his interests are threatened. She didn't believe Scott acted out of trust.

The next morning, Elysia saw the Rosewood Group had issued a statement declaring Emma expelled from the family, with no further connection. There was a huge difference between being expelled and severing the father-daughter relationship. Being expelled left a chance for Emma to return; severing the relationship meant there was no way back.