“I could even have reason to suspect you… of deliberately seeking out state secrets, in an attempt to…”
She didn’t finish the sentence, but everyone knew what she was implying.
Serena’s lips curved into a cold, mocking smile as she looked at Isabella. “Furthermore, your senior colleague… as Mr. Harrison’s personal assistant and an internal staff member of the institute, was fully aware of the confidentiality agreement, yet he disclosed internal information to you without authorization.”
“Regardless of how much he revealed or what the content was, that act alone already constitutes the crime of leaking secrets.”
“Right now, I have reason to suspect whether he has engaged in similar leaks with other people.”
Serena’s voice was languid, but the words she uttered made Isabella’s face grow paler and more frantic with each passing second.
She was so frightened her lips were trembling, and she couldn’t utter a single word, her mind filled with nothing but panic and dread.
Then, Serena took out her phone, making a show of dialing a number. “Should I call Mr. Harrison and ask the relevant authorities to launch an investigation into your helpful colleague?”
Isabella’s composure was fragile at best. The sight of Serena about to make a call sent her into a full-body tremor.
Only then did she truly grasp the severity of the situation. If Mr. Harrison found out and the authorities got involved, her colleague’s career would be… ruined!
And as the instigator who had sought out the “classified” information, she would be implicated as well.
Moreover, Mr. Harrison would absolutely never take her on as a student. If she couldn’t study under him, what was all her previous effort for?
She had built up so much hype, acting as if she was destined to become Mr. Harrison’s student. If she failed to achieve her goal, she would become the laughingstock of her entire social circle!
It wasn’t like she hadn’t served them before. She had already put food on their plates several times during the meal.
Serena let out a soft laugh and, one by one, served each of the three men.
As she placed food on Old Mr. Lancaster’s plate, the old man suddenly spoke in a deep voice. “Serena, you are the true heiress of the Lancaster family, my, Reginald Lancaster’s, own granddaughter, our family’s long-lost little princess. You were lost to us for twenty years, and now that you’ve finally returned home, it is only right that we dote on you and make it up to you.”
“You don’t need to worry about Isabella’s feelings, nor do you need to wrong yourself to avoid putting us in a difficult position. If anything in this house makes you feel the slightest bit uncomfortable, you just have to say the word, and Grandpa will take care of it for you.”
That girl, Isabella… she had clearly gotten fixated on the wrong thing.
She had enjoyed the life of luxury that rightfully belonged to Serena; she should be grateful. In fact, the only reason Isabella was still allowed to remain in the Lancaster family was because of Serena’s permission.

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