Seeing her eyes were red, Mrs. Linton asked nervously, "Miss Vaughn, please don’t cry. Is there something wrong with the arrangements?"

"No, not at all." Eve Vaughn sniffled. "You’ve decorated it beautifully. I love it."

Mrs. Linton beamed at the praise. "Oh, I was just following orders. It was Mr. Lawson who made all the arrangements."

Just then, a man’s deep voice sounded from the doorway. "Mrs. Linton, you may leave us."

After Mrs. Linton left, Eve Vaughn thanked Mason Lawson shyly. "Little Uncle, I love this room. Thank you. I’ll be sure to play my part well for the next month and try not to cause you any trouble."

Mason Lawson’s brow furrowed. It was only then that he remembered. Why did he have this girl come over again?

He gave a faint "mm," nodding with a hint of cool detachment. "Good. If there’s anything you’re not comfortable with, just let Mrs. Linton know."

Eve Vaughn said quietly, "Everything is wonderful. Thank you, Little Uncle."

Mason Lawson narrowed his dark eyes. "From now on, perhaps you could call me something else? You and Julian are no longer together, so in what way am I your uncle?"

"I..." Eve Vaughn swallowed, completely baffled by what he meant. She said timidly, "Calling you by your name would be... a little inappropriate, wouldn’t it? After all, you’re an elder."

Elder...

That word made Mason Lawson a little unhappy. He shot her a displeased glance. "Call me whatever you want."

With that, he left her room.

He left the young woman standing there, completely bewildered. I’ve been nothing but respectful to him, she thought, short of getting on my knees and worshiping him. How on earth did I manage to upset Mason Lawson again?

「The Vaughn Residence.」

Jason Vaughn finally got the results of the investigation on the license plate number. The owner of the car was none other than Jonah Spencer.

"Who did you say it was?" Jason Vaughn spoke into the phone, his voice laced with disbelief. "Jonah Spencer? As in, Jonah Spencer, the senior partner at Keystone Law?"

After receiving confirmation, Jason Vaughn deflated like a punctured balloon and slumped onto the sofa.

Lana Chambers, who had been listening in on the call, had heard the gist of it. She said, her voice filled with uncontrollable rage, "I knew it! That little bitch must have latched onto some big shot! Otherwise, how could she possibly dare to stand up to us with her pathetic skills, no money, and no connections?"

Jason Vaughn was incredibly frustrated. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out how Eve Vaughn could know someone like Jonah Spencer.

After a long silence, Jason Vaughn sighed heavily. "If Jonah Spencer is the one backing Eve Vaughn, then forget about this villa. That girl might even take back the company."

"What?" Lana Chambers’s face went pale with shock. "Didn’t you say the company shares were already transferred to your name? Even if she gets it back, it’ll just be an empty shell, right? I’m telling you, she can forget about getting the company, and she can forget about taking this villa! Think of something right now! Go and negotiate with her. I don’t care what you do, but we absolutely cannot let her get her way and kick us all out!"

"What can I possibly do?" Jason Vaughn said dejectedly, "I’m not even qualified to get a meeting with a lawyer like Jonah Spencer. What could I possibly do to stop him from taking Eve Vaughn’s case?"

Just then, Julian Lawson and Charlotte Vaughn returned home from a date. It was their three-month anniversary, and Charlotte Vaughn was holding a huge bouquet of roses, her smile radiant.

But when she walked in, she found her parents looking absolutely furious.

"Dad, Mom, what happened?" Charlotte Vaughn placed the roses on the coffee table and linked her arm through Julian Lawson’s. "Julian’s here. Why the long faces?"

Lana Chambers leaned in as if sharing a great secret. "You’ll never guess. Eve Vaughn is being kept by Jonah Spencer!"

The words were barely out of her mouth when Julian Lawson shot back, "Impossible!" Realizing he sounded a bit too emotional, he reined himself in and asked, "Where did you hear that?"

Lana Chambers said with self-righteous conviction, "Charlotte’s father and I saw it with our own eyes! How could it be fake? Eve Vaughn got into Jonah Spencer’s car! Think about it—with Eve Vaughn’s resources, how could she possibly get a top lawyer like Jonah Spencer to take her case? Don’t forget, Jason once went to Keystone Law with a fifty-million-dollar project from the company and was turned away at the door. What else could Eve Vaughn have to offer besides her own body as bait? What gives her the right to have Jonah Spencer represent her?"

Charlotte Vaughn felt a mix of excitement and worry upon hearing the news.

She was excited because Eve Vaughn had always acted so high and mighty. And look at her now! Getting kept by some man at such a young age, using her looks to get by. What a world of difference from her own legitimate, official marriage into the Lawson family! It was like night and day!

But she was also worried. This villa was worth a fortune, and they had grown accustomed to living here, always considering it theirs for the taking. If Jonah Spencer really stepped in to represent Eve Vaughn, wouldn’t the prize they already had in hand just slip through their fingers?

Lana Chambers kept ranting, "Eve Vaughn is just too ruthless! She’d even find herself a sugar daddy just to kick us out. Her uncle and I raised her for so many years! Even if we get no credit for it, we certainly put in the effort!"

Charlotte Vaughn turned to Julian Lawson, pouting coquettishly. "Julian, you have to help my parents think of something! They’re going to be your in-laws next month. Can you really bear to see them bullied like this?"

Julian Lawson snapped out of his earlier shock and anger. "I’m sorry, I don’t know Jonah Spencer well. If you want to persuade him, you’d have to ask my uncle. I remember he and my uncle are good friends and collaborate on a lot of business deals."

"Then you should talk to your uncle," Charlotte urged. She put on a victimized expression and said pitifully, "Your uncle seems to look down on our Vaughn family. He probably thinks we’re beneath him. I don’t even dare to speak to him. Julian, please help my parents. They’ve lived in this villa for so many years; they’ve grown attached to it. For them to be kicked out by Eve Vaughn at their age... It’s just cruel."