Lloyd was still furious, raising his hand to deliver another slap.
This time, Samantha didn't let him succeed.
She firmly held onto his hand, raising an eyebrow and asking, "What? Trying to kill me? Do you think I'm still the little girl from over a decade ago, letting you hit and scold me?"
From childhood to adulthood, her inherent impression of her father was his explosive temper.
The slightest displeasure would result in beatings and scoldings.
Sarah always came to protect her.
But strangely, the more Sarah protected her, the harder Lloyd hit her.
She didn't understand the reason when she was younger.
Now she understood.
Sarah did it on purpose. On the surface, she appeared to be defending her, but in reality, she was adding fuel to the fire. Lloyd, upon hearing this, became even more enraged.
Lloyd angrily said, "Regardless, you are still my daughter, and I have the right to hit you."
Samantha sneered, "Daughter? Didn't you sever ties with me in the newspapers four years ago? What's this about? Have you forgotten about it?"
Lloyd's face alternated, looking extremely ugly. He hadn't expected his obedient daughter from four years ago to become so sharp-tongued.
Samantha let go of his hand, slowly took her seat, and casually said, "I came today because of that pitiful blood connection. Speak quickly. I'm busy and don't have time to waste on you."
Seeing her arrogant demeanor, Lloyd became even angrier. He said without a hint of kindness, "Immediately cut off all contact with Ethan and clarify that Suzy did not plagiarize your design drafts."
Samantha's heart turned cold in an instant.
"Do you know what clarification implies?"
Lloyd, indifferent, said, "Your reputation is already bad; you won't mind this one or two more times. But Suzy is different. If this matter is not clarified, her life will be ruined."
Upon hearing this, Samantha's heart, despite knowing that Lloyd's intentions were not good, couldn't help but ache.
Even though she was mentally prepared for his visit.
Her heart still hurt so much when she heard these heartless words.
Her eyes turned red uncontrollably, and with a stern voice, she questioned, "Am I not your daughter too? You're afraid of ruining her life, but aren't you afraid of ruining mine?"
Lloyd dismissively said, "Can you compare to Suzy? She is my beloved, the most outstanding successor of the Miller family. And you?!"
His words, one by one, were like sharp blades, piercing directly into Samantha's heart.
At this moment, she completely gave up on this father in name only.
The faint hope in her heart was extinguished, producing wisps of smoke.
She slowly stood up, forcing back the tears in her eyes, and said expressionlessly, "I'm sorry for not being outstanding enough. I don't have the ability to solve the current dilemma for your beloved. Please find someone else!"
After saying this, she tried to turn around and leave.
Lloyd grabbed her wrist, preventing her from leaving.
"If you don't clarify, don't think about leaving today."
Samantha turned around, gradually approaching Lloyd, disdainfully raising her eyebrow, "What? Want to imprison me? Come on! Even if you kill me, I won't clarify for Suzy. If she dares to do such disgraceful things, she should bear the consequences."
Lloyd, driven to anger, lifted his hand to hit Samantha.
Samantha raised her head defiantly, staring fearlessly at him.
"What? Want to try hitting me? Do you believe I'll make you infamous?!"
Under her provocation, Lloyd's eyes turned bloodshot with rage. He suddenly grabbed Samantha's neck, pushing her onto the table.
"You ungrateful daughter, how dare you speak to me like that! I will kill you. Since I gave birth to you over twenty years ago, I have the right to take your life..."
The suffocating sensation turned Samantha's face into a liver color. Her neck veins stood out prominently, her lips turned purple, and her eyes bulged unbelievably, staring at Lloyd.
She can't believe it, he actually completely disregarded the father-daughter relationship and tried to strangle her.
Tears uncontrollably welled up in her eyes.
However, more painful than the physical struggle was the torment in her heart.
She couldn't understand why her biological father would treat her like this.
Suzy is his daughter, isn't she? Why does he have no feelings for her at all?
The air in her chest became increasingly thin. Samantha's face was full of despair. Slowly closing her eyes, on the verge of passing out, the door of the private room was suddenly kicked open.
A powerful aura instantly spread throughout the entire room.
Lloyd hadn't had a chance to clearly see the person who arrived when his chest was fiercely kicked.
His entire body was sent flying.
Ethan looked down on Lloyd from a high vantage point, exuding a chilling aura from head to toe.
"Lloyd Miller, you've got some nerve, daring to touch my woman..."
The air rushed into Samantha's nostrils, causing her discomfort and triggering a fit of coughing.
"Cough... Cough..."
Ethan lifted her by the waist and, just before leaving, coldly dropped a remark, "I won't let today's matter rest..."
Without looking back, he left the private room.
Lloyd's face turned ashen, in pain on the ground, unable to get up for a long time.
He hadn't expected that Samantha would be so important in Ethan's eyes that he would not hesitate to take action against his former father-in-law.
This time, he was completely finished.
...
Ethan quickly took Samantha to the hospital.
Nick conducted a series of detailed examinations on her.
Seeing Ethan looking worried, Nick felt annoyed and spoke impatiently, "Don't worry, she just fainted due to lack of oxygen, no life-threatening danger. She can be discharged after twenty minutes of oxygen!"
Upon hearing this, Ethan's suspended heart finally settled.
Nick personally placed an oxygen mask on Samantha's face and emotionlessly asked, "Did you really break off the engagement with Suzy?"
Ethan nonchalantly responded with a 'yes.'
Nick asked, "Is it because of Samantha?"
Ethan's eyes flickered with guilt. "It has nothing to do with Samantha. I can't marry such a malicious woman as Suzy."
Nick mercilessly exposed his lie, "Don't you always know her true colors?"
Ethan fell silent. He just quietly watched Samantha, who was still unconscious.
In Nick's eyes, his reaction was an admission.
Nick grabbed Ethan's collar, his handsome face contorted with anger, and he said indignantly, "Ethan, do you remember Jessica? She died less than five years ago, and you've already fallen in love with another woman. Are you worthy of her?"
His words were an undeniable blow.
They made Ethan's tall figure sway.
Nick gritted his teeth and continued, "Do you remember how Jessica died? If it weren't for you, she wouldn't have died. You owe her, and you'll never be able to repay that debt in this lifetime."
It was her twentieth birthday that day.
But she remained forever in that moment.
Whenever he thought about it, he felt an unbearable pain.
He wished he could die in Jessica's place.
The scar in his heart was once again laid bare, and Ethan's throat tightened, his heart trembled heavily, feeling incredibly embarrassed and miserable."
***