Upon hearing her daughter’s yful, affectionate tone, kimberly’s heart softened. Her voice warmed. ” Alright. When youe back, I’ll make you anything you want to eat.”


    “Thanks, Mom!”


    They chatted for a while longer before ending the call.


    As soon as she set down her phone, Kimberly’s thoughts drifted back to what Michael had said earlier. The more she dwelled on it, the more her irritation grew. If z came back to the family, she would be right back to the days when she felt humiliated every single day.


    Just imagining it made her feel like life would be unbearable.


    She took a deep breath and pushed the matter aside for now, deciding to deal with it in a few days.


    <b>* </b>


    That evening, Michael returned home. During dinner, he asked if she had gone to see Liz.


    Kimberly’s smile vanished in an instant. “I’m not going to see her. If you want her back, you can go yourself.”


    Michael mmed his utensils onto the table. “Didn’t you hear a word I said on the phone?”


    Kimberly’s temper red. “What are you yelling at me for? You were the one who wanted to cut ties with her in the first ce. If you want to bring her back now, go find her yourself. As far as I’m concerned, Mandy is my only daughter.”


    “I’m giving you three days to talk her intoing back. Otherwise-”


    “Otherwise what? Are you really going to start a fight with me over Liz?”


    Michael frowned. “Stop talking about her like she is some outsider. She is our biological daughter.”


    Kimberly’s eyes narrowed. “And what is that supposed to mean? That you suddenly have a problem with Mandy because she isn’t?”


    Michael held her gaze and kept his voice steady. “I’ll say this once more. If you don’t go see Liz within three days, don’t me me when things get ugly.”


    With that, he stood and walked away.


    Kimberly mmed her utensils down. “Michael Smith, youe back here! Who do you think you are, ordering me around?”


    No matter how loudly she shouted, he didn’t turn back.le went straight to <i>his </i>study.


    Once inside, he sat down, still fuming, and called his assistant. “Find out where Liz is living and where she works.”


    The assistant, Hugo Cook, paused before replying, “Alright, I’ll look into it right away.”


    Ten minutester, Hugo sent over a file containing Liz’s recent work history and current address.


    Michael opened it, his frown deepening when he saw she was now working as a divorce attorney. Displeasure flickered in his eyes. To him, it was a useless profession–one that brought no benefit to the family and only created enemies.


    He called in the butler, gave him Liz’s address, and instructed him to pass it along to Kimberly.


    “Make sure you tell her she needs to meet with Liz within three days.”


    “Yes, sir,” the butler said.


    “Go.”


    After the butler left, Michael returned to his paperwork.


    Over the next two days, Liz wrapped up several ongoing cases but did not have any new onesing in. She spent her days at the office searching for leads. She knew she could not keep this up for long. For awyer, having no cases and staying out of court too long could be fatal to a career.


    Just as she was debating whether to take on some smaller cases for the time being, a nasty post about her appeared online and was trending within hours.