Kenneth had been sick for a good while, struggling with his health for nearly two years.

When Liam tried to get everyone to kneel and pray for Kenneth, people weren't convinced. It was obvious to everyone he was really sticking up for Charlotte. holds this content.

"Liam!" Pamela was so mad she was shaking, "You can't seriously expect me to kneel too?"

"We're praying for Kenneth, not for me," Liam said, looking down at her with slight contempt, "Pamela, you're all concerned about some child who isn't even born yet. But when it's your brother, you suddenly have all these objections. Are you hoping he dies?"

"Of course, I don't want my brother to die!"

"Then kneel down," Liam's voice suddenly got louder, "and pray for him!"

As his words ended, a wave of people in the room grudgingly bent their knees behind Charlotte, bowing their heads.

Pamela, surrounded by others, couldn't stop trembling with anger.

Then Liam knelt solemnly, bowing three times to the ancestral tablets to show his sincerity in praying for Kenneth.

Seeing him kneel, Pamela knew she'd look bad if she didn't.

"You're unbelievable!" Pamela cursed under her breath, her knees wobbling as she knelt down.

But just as she thought about getting back up, Liam said, "Pamela's senior and has been mocking someone for four hours. A few seconds of kneeling won't hurt, and Grandpa won't mind." These words are like adding fuel to the fire!

She had the energy to make fun of others for hours. If she only knelt for a few seconds, Liam would surely make a scene about it!

Pamela bit down on her teeth and knelt down again, "Everything I did today was for the Parker family, for my brother! I have nothing to feel guilty about!"

"Nothing to feel guilty about? Yeah, right."

Liam snorted coldly, got up, and reached out to Charlotte.

Charlotte, tears streaming down her face, didn't move to get up. "I want to pray for Grandpa too..."

"You don't need to," Liam interrupted her sharply, his tone was rude but his intent to protect her was obvious.

"You're not sincere. You'd probably curse Kenneth in your heart."

He didn't want Charlotte to kneel.

Charlotte tried to stand, but she slumped back down after several attempts, her forehead covered in sweat.

She had knelt too long and couldn't get up.

With tears in her eyes, she looked at Liam but said nothing, not asking for help.

She was Dylan's girlfriend, and she couldn't show too much closeness to Liam in front of his family.

Liam was aware of this. His eyebrows were knit together, his hands clenched, as he struggled to contain himself.

"Why do you kneel just because someone tells you to?" he said with a raspy voice, "You're not even officially part of the family yet. No one should be ordering you around."

Charlotte and Dylan weren't engaged, she wasn't really part of the Parker family, so she didn't have to listen to their commands.

"I was brought here against my will," Charlotte murmured.

"Does the Parker family tolerate such thugs?" Liam declared as if his word was final, "Find them and deal with them!"

The bodyguards who had been waiting outside quickly took away the men who had caused the commotion.

They weren't taken far, and their screams could be clearly heard from the shrine.

Pamela's face went white as a sheet. Those guys were her crew.

She was supposed to be the respected elder, and this was the family shrine.

She thought Liam wouldn't dare make a scene here and would have to stand by while Charlotte suffered. That's why she came up with her little scheme to get back at Charlotte. But Liam, oh he played it smart. He used the excuse of praying for Kenneth to drag everyone down with him, and without blinking, he had her people taken away to face the music! All because of Charlotte!

This bitch

"Liam!" Pamela couldn't keep quiet any longer, scolding him, "You're the head honcho of the Parker clan! The hope of the family! How can you be so blinded by a whore and act so foolishly!"

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Hearing that, Liam took a deep breath, clearly ticked off.

Charlotte, right there beside him, was the first to pick up on his bad mood.

Liam's always been the cool type, too chill to bother with family drama.

But that just made the Parkers push their luck, poking their noses in his business, trying to boss him around again and again.

He had said before, 'If you've watched me grow up, you should know what gets under my skin.'

Looks like Pamela didn't have a clue.

What Liam can't stand is people trying to pin him down or push him around.

So when Charlotte gave him a heads-up, 'I'm gonna use you, I want you to bend over backward for me,' he was cool with it because he was in the know and didn't get fed up with her moves. But the Parkers? No way. They talked a big game, trying to play puppet master with Liam's life, all under the guise of 'doing what's best for you.'

Like Liam would ever stand for that.

"Pamela."

Right on cue, Liam laid it out, "You've lost your marbles."

He closed the case on that, had a couple of chairs brought over, and sat with Charlotte up front, watching the whole sorry lot kneel and wince.

Pamela, the old-timer, couldn't hack it for more than a few minutes, nearly toppling over.

Liam had someone catch her.

"The Parker family's too chaotic, not the peaceful retreat of a sanatorium. For the sake of Pamela's health, she shouldn't come back unless it's really important."

That was Liam's way of telling Pamela to pack off to a sanatorium.

Pamela lost it, kicking up a fuss, but Liam acted like she wasn't even there and had her escorted out.

Once Pamela was gone, others started moaning about feeling sick, trying to duck out.

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Just then, Liam, sitting there, was the king of his castle.

Charlotte sat next to Liam, sharing in the status and glory that came with his position.

They stayed in the shrine for a good two hours, and during that time, a doctor came to fix up Charlotte's knee and face.

The way Liam was openly favoring Charlotte got under the family's skin again.

"Why is she even sitting here?"

"'Cause I'm here," Liam shot back, his voice cold enough to freeze hell over.

The guy who asked wilted under Liam's icy stare, shutting up real quick.

Liam didn't stand up until it was crystal clear that no one was going to question him again. He nodded at Charlotte, and they got ready to leave.

As they stepped out, Charlotte murmured, "They were all just standing around watching the drama. If you stand up for me like this, they'll resent me." They might not confront Liam, but she could end up catching the heat.

It started to sprinkle outside, and Liam flipped open an umbrella, gesturing for Charlotte to hold onto it.

"I belong to Dylan..." Charlotte started to protest.

"I'm the one who saved you," Liam insisted, taking her hand so she couldn't pull away.

They shared the umbrella, walking into the drizzle together.

"This way, they won't dare to make a show of you again," he said, addressing her earlier worry.

Charlotte was puzzled, "But they'll hate me, they'll make things tough for me..."

"They won't," Liam said with conviction, his voice steadying Charlotte's nerves. "As long as I'm here, they wouldn't dare."