Chapter 4

The next day, the second day of the holidays.

Lily and I woke up naturally, watched TV together, and did crafts.

With no fake relatives and no drama, the house was filled with joyous laughter.

Around noon, my phone started vibrating like crazy.

Notifications from various social media apps rang like mad.

I tapped on the notifications and saw a trending topic at the top of Ins's local feed:

"Thirty-Year-Old Daughter Forced to Act Like Monkey for Elders' Filial Piety"

I clicked on it, and the pinned post was the full video and long screenshot of the chat logs from the news exposé account.

In the video, Ivy, wearing that ridiculous floral cotton jacket and monkey costume, twisted and contorted amidst the elders' laughter.

Scene after scene, like loud slaps, landed squarely on Ivy and those old folks' faces.

The comment section was even wilder:

"It's 2026, and we still have these feudal relics? Seriously laughable. How empty must a house full of old people be to need to humiliate juniors for validation?"

"Sucking the life out of juniors, trampling on their dignity—is that what these people want?"

"That woman is also a minion. She's been kneeling for so long, now she wants to drag others down too, disgusting!"

"Am I the only one who noticed the six-year-old girl? If her mom wasn't tough, she would have been the next one forced to wear the monkey costume!"

As the trending topic's popularity exploded, insiders also started to come forward with information.

"This family's surname is Davies, locally known as a supposedly refined and educated background. But their ancestral home was strictly passed down only to male heirs. The daughter in the video probably wants to fight for the family property so badly it's driven her crazy."

The netizens went even wilder.

"Monkey family," "patriarchal," and other keywords were repeatedly mentioned, spreading like a virus.

The family's good name, which they had boasted about for decades in the local area, was completely ruined within a few hours.

My phone started being bombarded by unknown numbers.

I randomly answered one, and it was Ivy's hysterical wailing.

"Sarah! Are you crazy?! My reputation is utterly ruined because of you, take the video down right now! Hurry!"

"Now all the netizens are calling me a joke, saying such awful things, it's all your fault! All your fault!"

I listened to her screaming calmly.

Only when she was tired of cursing did I speak, calmly. "Ivy, you wore the outlandish costumes yourself, you agreed to let them film the video yourself, and you willingly performed. What does that have to do with me?"

She immediately acted as if she'd been wronged, crying even harder. "But I was forced! You think I wanted to?!"

"So, you came to force my daughter?"

Without waiting for her to wail again, I hung up.

Looking at the torrent of abusive messages flooding my apps—things like calling me an unfilial descendant, saying I'd ruined the family.

Some even threatened that my daughter and I would die horrible deaths.

My heart remained unmoved. I sent one unified reply, "When you put that monkey costume on my daughter, you should have known this day would come. If you touch my daughter again, I'll show you what hell on earth truly means."

Then, I blocked every number and account I could.

The world was quiet once more.

Over the next two days, Lily and I waited for Ethan to come home, enjoying the most peaceful New Year we'd ever had.

However, early on the morning of the fourth day of the holidays, Lily and I were woken by a rough banging and smashing sound.

I comforted Lily, then peered through the peephole.

Uncle Michael and Ivy stood outside, looking furious and menacing. "Sarah, you get your ass out here! You've gone too far, you have to take that video down today! Otherwise, I'll smash this damn door down!"

Behind him was a dark mass of relatives.

"Sarah! You ungrateful wretch! How can you still hide like a coward after airing such dirty laundry?"

Ivy also cried out, "Cousin, how could you ruin me! Are you satisfied now that you've ruined the whole family?!"

Then she theatrically slumped to the ground. "You take the video down right now, or I'll die right here at your door!"

I watched her exaggerated performance, and the last shred of pity in my heart dissolved.

She had been completely assimilated by the elders, willingly becoming part of this rotten system, even trying to drag my daughter into it.

But since this was her choice, she shouldn't blame me for showing no mercy when I dealt with her.