"Mom!"
Seeing Alma Ferreira raising her hand for another slap, Oliver dashed forward, grabbing her hand directly.
He looked at Alma in disbelief, "Mom, what are you doing?"
Suddenly being grabbed by the wrist, Alma’s slap didn’t land. She stiffly turned her head, her face pale, eyes vacant, appearing montarily like a walking corpse.
She stared blankly at Oliver, as if it took a few seconds to rember who he was, her lips trembling, her voice hoarse as she questioned, "Oliver, are you not listening to anymore?"
"Mom, do you know what you’re doing?" Oliver stared intently at Alma, "Even if Sophie was wrong, you shouldn’t hit her."
The Scott family never advocated physical punishnt.
Alma disciplined her children strictly but had never actually hit them; even when reprimanding, it was always asured.
Although many tis, her subtle thods of education often left them short of breath.
"Does it work when I talk nicely to her? I’ve devoted so much ti and effort to cultivating her, and what has she given back to ?!"
Alma, driven to madness, shook off Oliver’s hand, pointing at Sophie with furious eyes, "Did she ever listen when I told her not to touch comics? She secretly drew comics and plagiarized! Now, look at this ss! She’s lost face, and our whole family is disgraced along with her, making a laughingstock out of us nationwide! What have I raised?!"
Alma was on the brink of collapse, her every word revolving around "reputation," causing Oliver’s expression to grow increasingly stern.
Yes.
He had realized the truth a long ti ago.
Alma raised them up to be "excellent," all for the sake of "face."
To make her proud, to save face, to keep Ernesto Scott with her.
All along, both Sophie and he had grown up under her kind of coercive education.
What she deed unacceptable was totally off-limits; what she believed worthy of boasting about, she forced them to learn... It was always like this.
No matter how well Sophie perford academically, she had to sneak around to read comics.
They lived under Alma’s unilateral discipline, so severe at tis, akin to puppets manipulated by her, stripped of independent thoughts.
"Mom, Dad’s coming back tomorrow. Even though he doesn’t interfere with us, he wouldn’t allow Sophie to be hit. Think about it carefully yourself." Oliver calmly finished speaking to Alma, then turned his head to look at Lisa, nervously standing at the door, saying, "Lisa, take her out."
Lisa was also afraid that if Alma continued to stay, she’d only be more ruthless towards Sophie, so upon hearing Oliver’s words, she mustered her courage to walk in.
Supporting Alma’s hand gently, she suggested, "Madam, let’s go..."
Alma’s anger hadn’t faded, but the ntion of Ernesto Woods by Oliver did restrain her, showing no intention of hitting Sophie again.
"You better think it over thoroughly! Don’t leave the house for the next few days, so you won’t embarrass us out there!"
Glaring at Sophie, who was curled up in a corner, Alma furiously left these words before being helped away by Lisa.
The two disappeared at the door, and the sound of footsteps gradually faded.
Oliver exhaled, turned around, walked to Sophie, and reached out to pull her up, "Sis..."
"Get out!"
With Sophie’s scream, Oliver’s hand was pushed away.
Frozen for a mont, Oliver looked at her worriedly, speaking softly, "Sis, you need to rest well. If anything happens, you can talk to ."
"What do you know?! Everything cos so easily to you, whatever you achieve is effortless, do you know how hard it is for to attain everything?!" Sophie looked up, despair and resentnt filling her bloodshot eyes, tears not yet dry, she shouted angrily, "I don’t need you to care, just get out!"
Oliver froze.
The intense, negative emotion from Sophie left him at a loss for words.
He knew Sophie wasn’t as adept at learning as he was, yet was burdened with high expectations by Alma, tirelessly pushing herself all her life to satisfy Alma’s standards.
Forever needing to co first in grades, leading to sleepless nights until three or four a.m.;
Alma forced her to learn dancing, and even when injured, she had to endure the pain and practice;
Faced with setbacks, she dared not complain to Alma for fear of scolding, she could only cry secretly under the covers, then rise and continue studying after the tears dried;
...
This persisted until she went to Capital Uni, when things slightly improved.
But...
No matter the desire to break free from the cage, plagiarism was inexcusable.
Past painful and oppressive experiences do not justify current mistakes.
Only, she had been shocked enough tonight, so Oliver said nothing more.
After a brief silence, he softly said, "Sis, get so rest. No matter what, everything will pass."
He turned around, walked out of the bedroom, and gently closed the door.
*
Once Oliver left, Sophie sat crouched in the corner, arms hugging her knees, unable to stop herself from crying out in pain.
Zero used actions to show her that all her pride, glory, and splendor were just a joke, all within his calculations...
While she, was rely a pawn for him to toy with.
The sense of humiliation fueled her anger and drove her insane.
Online comnts further pushed her to the brink.
She never thought, when everything seed to be going so well, why it suddenly turned out this way.
Clearly, she should continue to thrive on her comic journey;
Clearly, she could beco the second Zero, perhaps even surpass him;
Clearly, she should have used this event to make a complete coback, gaining Alma’s support for her dreams;
...
Yet, within a few short hours, everything changed.
Everything was gone.
From the celebrated "comic goddess" praised by everyone online, she beca the despised plagiarist mocked by all.
Her whole world had collapsed.
Crying until she was exhausted, Sophie sobbed until she was utterly drained, drawing deep breaths, biting her lip, fumbling for the phone that had fallen, trembling as she clicked on the Weibo ssages.
Unexpectedly, she saw so comforting and supportive ssages amid the accusations and ridicule that filled her view.
[UU, we believe you absolutely didn’t plagiarize.]
[Honestly, UU, is it possible Zero and CC Comics are teaming up against you? These people are all in cahoots, you’re fighting alone, but don’t let them defeat you!]
[Goddess UU, speak up, don’t let Zero continue his arrogance, we are all supporting you!]
[UU, I’m your fan for your looks, you have to stay strong! I believe you aren’t as bad as they say, don’t worry, we’re behind you.]
...
She still had fans.
Fans who continued to support her.
People were still willing to stand up for her.
Sophie incredulously scrolled through the ssages.
After a long while, she wiped her tears and drew a deep breath.
[UU]: I didn’t.
At one a.m., UU’s Weibo updated, with three simple words, acting as a stabilizing reassurance for the fans.
At the sa ti—
"First Ruins" was taken down by CC Comics, and the official Weibo deleted all related posts about "First Ruins."
The official stance was unmistakably clear.
The netizens who stayed up until the early hours saw the stances of both sides and imdiately beca invigorated.
[UU is still being stubborn. What actually happened?]
[The official has taken sides! UU’s plagiarism is undeniable, isn’t it?]
[If it’s really as UU’s fans say, that CC Comics clandestinely leaked the fifth Chapter of "First Ruins" to Zero, that might make sense. But, Zero would never do such a thing. Begging for more concrete evidence from official sources.]
[Yeah, is there any harder evidence? An official explanation would help, otherwise, there’s too much ambiguity.]
...
At 1:05, CC Comics’ official Weibo updated with two successive posts.
The first: A statent terminating the contract with UU.
The second: Zero’s storyboard drafts for Chapters 1-10 of "New World."
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