On the way home, Celine marveled, "I never expected Natalie to have such a loyal side!"
Liora added, "This is great. She's on our side now. She'll definitely cause trouble for Mara at the finals."
Mira sighed helplessly. "She was spoiled by her family growing up, so she's very self-centered and willful. But in terms of being truly malicious, ten of her wouldn't add up to one Mara. I'm not counting on her to join our side, I just need her to distract Mara a little and cause me less trouble."
As the car approached the Mercer family's villa, Celine couldn't help but worry. "Mira, are they going to give you a hard time when you get home?"
Liora also said, "Maybe we should go to your house with you. Your parents wouldn't dare do anything to you in front of us, right?"
"Thanks for worrying about me, but it's okay. I'm not afraid of them anymore."
Though she didn't need their help, she was grateful for her friends' support.
"If you run into anything you can't handle, remember to call us."
"I will," Mira replied with a smile.
As soon as she walked through the door, she saw Lacey hugging Mara and wiping away tears, while Adrian sat to the side with a grim expression.
When he saw Mira, he snapped, "You finally decided to come home? Don't you know what happened to Mara?"
"Isn't she perfectly fine? She doesn't even need to stay in the hospital."
"Get out! Do you have any heart for your own sister at all?"
"No. I've said it before—just give me the papers to officially disown me, and I'll leave immediately."
"Mira, I... I don't blame you for not helping me at the stables. I don't blame you for not caring after I got hurt. But please, don't make Mom and Dad angry. They're getting older and can't take the stress."
Her words only infuriated Mr. and Mrs. Mercer more. Just as they were about to scold Mira, she spoke.
"That's right, I didn't want to help you. The last time I helped you so much, you nearly destroyed me. I've learned my lesson now. I'll stay as far away from you as possible. Getting involved with someone like you who repays kindness with malice is just asking for bad luck. As for them being angry, don't you have their precious darling right here? That should be enough to cure anything."
With that, she left.
"Ignore her, that monster!" Mr. Mercer snarled.
Her finances had already been cut off. Besides disowning her, there seemed to be nothing left that could control Mira. They couldn't win a verbal argument, and with her brothers away, the three of them together were no match for Mira physically. And if things got ugly, Mira might just expose their wrongdoings to the public.
And so, just like that, it ended in a stalemate.

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