Chapter 85
The next morning, as soon as it was 9 AM, Adrian Mercer, Chairman of the Mercer Group, made a high-profile public announcement: he was officially severing parental ties with his daughter, Mira.
Effective immediately, all obligations of support and care between them were terminated. The former Miss Mira Mercer was no longer a member of the Mercer family and had forfeited all rights to inherit the Mercer Group’s fortune. From this point forward, the actions of one party would have no bearing on the other.
The news immediately caused a massive uproar online.
“What? The Mercers disowned their 17-year-old biological daughter p>
“Well, I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never heard of a family disowning their own daughter before she’s even an adult p>
“And it’s Mira! The girl who just won that arts championship. She’s talented, beautiful, and I heard she’s a top student. How could they just throw her away p>
“I wish Mira were my daughter p>
“You guys think this is because of that Mara girl p>
“That girl… who knows what rock she crawled out from under. She’s a real troublemaker, definitely bad news p>
“Sigh, Mr. and Mrs. Mercer must have lost their minds. They’ve probably been bewitched by that little witch p>
The public still had a fresh memory of the drama surrounding Mara from a while back. So, no matter what happened now, people automatically cast her as the villain without any prompting.
An army of protective fans, many of whom felt a maternal instinct toward her, quickly formed online, all rallying to Mira’s defense. They flooded social media with posts condemning Mara and, by extension, Mr. and Mrs. Mercer.
Ethan and Damon were once again thrown into a new round of public relations damage control.
Of course, a small minority questioned Mira, calling her ungrateful, rebellious, and unable to tolerate her own sister. But they were few and far between. Mira told Kieran to have the PR team monitor the situation, but not to intervene unless it got out of hand.
With that, Mira felt a sense of relief, while Shane was seething with rage.
“She took a winning hand and played it into a complete disaster.” For the first time, he took the risk of summoning Norman, the butler, and gave him a long, direct set of instructions before finally dismissing him.
Meanwhile, the Mercer family had some important visitors: Wesley and his parents.
If the family had disowned their daughter, what did that mean for the engagement that had been arranged since childhood? Naturally, the Scotts had come for an answer.
“We just want to know if this disownment is permanent, or if it’s just a temporary disciplinary measure p>
Lacey was about to say it was temporary, but Adrian cut in. “It’s a permanent severance of our relationship p>
“Then what about our families’ alliance?” Mr. Scott pressed.
Adrian replied, “You could consider Mara p>
“Impossible. We will not accept a substitute.” Mara’s character was terrible, and her reputation was in the gutter. If the Scott family accepted a daughter-in-law like her, they would become a laughingstock.
Alliances between powerful families were for mutual benefit and support. A daughter-in-law didn’t have to be beautiful or exceptionally capable, but she absolutely could not have a flawed character and a ruined reputation.
In the previous life, they had chosen Mara primarily because Mira’s reputation had been destroyed. This time Mira had fought back, and, Mara was the one with the bad name. The Scotts, naturally, were unwilling to accept her.
While the four adults were discussing matters in the living room, Julian Mercer, who had returned, invited Wesley into smaller sitting room to chat. Julian. was a race car driver who preferred a wild lifestyle and rarely came home. He had only rushed back that morning after seeing the shocking news about his family online.
He had never been fond of Mira, but for things to have escalated to this point, with Mira being pushed out of the family by Mara he couldn’t help but feel suspicious. He might be
reckless and careless, but that didn’t mean he was an idiot.
However, upon returning home and seeing Mara’s miserable state, his opinion shifted again. Perhaps Mira really was the wild, unruly one, and his parents had simply been pushed to their limit.
Just then, Mara, having heard their voices, walked over.