Mr. and Mrs. White looked utterly distraught.


    Mr. White, seething with anger, raised his hand and pped Karina hard across the face. "You useless girl! What kind of sister are you? You can''t even protect your own brother."


    Karina clutched her cheek, her eyes filled with indignation. "He''s the one who


    racked up the gambling debt! It''s two hundred million, not two hundred dors! How am I supposed to pay that?"


    "Can''t you make Noah pay? If he dares to refuse, threaten to divorce him!" Mr. White snapped.


    "He''s already divorcing me! Are you happy now?" Karina cried.


    "What? Noah wants to divorce you?" Mrs. White said in disbelief. "But he adores Nic. He wouldn''t divorce you, not for the child''s sake."


    "Noah said he''ll take custody of Nic and give me a settlement," Karina exined truthfully.


    "A settlement? With that divorce settlement, we can pay off Kevin''s debt," Mrs. White said, her eyes lighting up.


    "Foolish!" Mr. White was clearly thinking more clearly than his wife. "The only reason the White family has been able to throw its weight around Istra all these years is because of our connection to the Thompsons. If Karina and Noah divorce, we''ll lose everything."


    "This divorce can''t happen," Mr. White dered.


    "And if she doesn''t divorce him, what then? Are we supposed to just watch our son get his hands and feet chopped off? My son... he''s my life!" Mrs. White wailed, clutching her chest.


    Mr. White was torn, and could only vent his frustration on Karina. "This is all your fault, you useless thing! You can''t even keep a man under control. You''ve been married to Noah for years, you''ve even given him a child, and you still don''t have control of the family finances! If you did, your brother wouldn''t be in this mess!"


    Karina bit her lip, choking back sobs.


    Right after Nic was born, Noah had considered putting her in charge of the household finances. But not long after, Kevin got into trouble-a drunk driving incident that killed someone.


    The victim''s family demanded an exorbitant sum inpensation, threatening to send Kevin to prison otherwise. Karina used all the money Noah had given her to pay them off.


    At the time, Nic was just a


    newborn. For the sake of their child, Noah didn''t scold Karina, but he never entrusted the family finances to her again. He just gave her a card to cover daily expenses


    "You have to get the divorce. We can''t let anything happen to Kevin," Mrs. White said, her mind made up "But you can''t let Noah have custody of Nic. You have to fight for?t. Noah cares more about thato daughter of his than anything.. long as you have Nic, youff always have leverage over him."


    Hearing this, Mr. White nodded in agreement.


    In their eyes, there was only their son and their own interests; their daughter Karina was not a consideration.


    "Noah will never give me custody of Nic," Karina said.


    "If he won''t give it to you, you have to make a scene! The Thompson family cares about their reputation they fave. Besides, you''re the one who''s raised Nic since she was born. She''s still little, she needs her mother," Mrs. White insisted.


    Karina listened, stunned for a long moment, before nodding nkly.


    ...


    Yvonne had been on set for a month now. She had adapted well, and filming was going smoothly.


    After wrapping up for the day, Yvonne removed her makeup and headed back to the hotel with Thomas.


    Of course, it wasn''t just the two of them; other actors from the set and their assistants were there as well.