A Caged Songbird's Escape: Into the Arms of a Predator novel Chapter 669

With that single sentence, the air in the hospital room completely froze.

In the eyes of the outside world, Old Mr. Wilkinson was the absolute embodiment of justice and impartiality. Having held a position of ultimate authority for decades, he had never once shown favoritism or bent the rules for anyone.

Yet here, in this exact moment, the granddaughter he respected and relied on the most was looking him dead in the eye and calling him "unfair."

Old Mr. Wilkinson stared blankly at her. It was impossible to read his exact emotions, but his overwhelming, terrifying aura radiated a silent, crushing pressure. "So you are saying that I am wrong?"

The calmer the old man appeared, the more dangerously he was suppressing his explosive rage.

No matter how stellar Laurel's corporate achievements were, she was nowhere near powerful enough to go head-to-head with him yet.

Rex, fully understanding the catastrophic risk she was taking, took a few quick steps forward, positioning himself to shield his older sister.

Unlike Laurel, who had flawlessly built her career and was currently rising to the absolute pinnacle of power, Rex—the designated family rebel—was the perfect target to absorb the old man's wrath.

His reputation was already completely in the gutter anyway. A little more damage wouldn't hurt.

To his shock, Laurel simply raised a hand, stopping him from stepping in front of her. Breaking entirely from her usual calculated diplomacy, she looked her grandfather right in the eye.

"If that's how you want to interpret it, then no, I won't deny it."

She thought he was wrong.

Old Mr. Wilkinson slammed his hand against the hospital bed, his eyes blazing with fury. "Do you have any idea what you are saying?!"

While the old man adored Rex the most, Laurel was the one he valued above all others.

From the time she was a child, she had been brilliant, incredibly composed, and socially flawless. She was a master at calculating risks and always prioritized the family's survival above all else. She was the undisputed heir to the Wilkinson empire.

"But look at it from my mother's perspective. If it weren't for Maya, Vera would have grown up as the fiercely protected, beloved princess of this family. She wouldn't have spent her entire life suffering, completely alone and helpless. Why was Maya taken away by the police? Because she plotted to murder Vera. She wanted her dead!"

"And yet, even knowing that, my father still had a soft spot for her. Tell me, does my mother not have every right to be furious? As a mother, demanding justice for the biological daughter she already owes a lifetime of debt to is the most basic human instinct."

Staring down the old man's piercing, razor-sharp gaze, Laurel didn't falter for a single second. She enunciated every single word with deadly precision. "I think you are being unfair because you are clearly biased. At the end of the day, the ruined reputation my father is facing right now is exactly what he deserves. No one poured gasoline on the fire, did they? Yet you are blaming my mother entirely, simply because she refused to help him cover up his own sins."

Her final, completely objective statement hit the old man so hard that his sharp eyes visibly wavered.

She was right.

Suzanne hadn't done anything except refuse to help Tristan hide his mess.

If Tristan had never committed the horrific acts in the first place, things would have never reached this devastating breaking point.