Sue was terrified, and instinctively, she put her arms around Nathalia protectively. She couldn't imagine how much Nathalia had suffered before, how badly she was beaten without anyone to help her, to protect her.

Nathalia could sense Sue's worries, and she said gently, "Don't worry, mum. I'm ok. The worst has gone. I've survived." She smiled at Sue to assure her.

​​

Tears ran down Sue's face, and she embraced Nathalia tighter. How could anyone treat her so cruelly?! My lord, what has she been through?! Compared to her, my own experience was nothing. I've at least had a home, I had my parents' love and protection, and I have my son who loves me. But this girl, she had nothing; she had nobody then.

Just thinking about it hurt her badly. She wished she could have known her earlier and protected her.

Sue wasn't the only one that was touched by Nathalia's strength.

Matt watched her with affection. This gentle and beautiful girl. She's always so cheerful, so positive, so tough, so honest. God knows how much she has been through to grow to be strong. If she had a choice, she would like to be protected like other girls.

Nate kept his pair of blue eyes fixed on Nathalia, amazed by her more than ever.

Daniel was still too shocked by the new discovery of Zack's identity to say a word.

"Let go of me! Nathalia, you are a bitch! You locked up my mum, sent my sister to the asylum, and now you are trying to get me! I will never forgive you! I'm going to kill you one day! I swear!" His murderous words echoed in the room. Everyone gasped and stared at him in disbelief.

My god! That's the real Zack Carter! So insolent! So violent!

Did I hear him, right?! He said he's going to kill her!

Sue would love to slap Zack on his face, but she stayed next to Nathalia to protect her. Nathalia, however, was very calm herself. She lifted her brows and said mockingly, "You know what, I'm not surprised at all. I know you've always wanted to kill me. I'm not scared either. I know I'm blessed and protected."

Zack had been hiding his anger all this time, and now it all came out. He took off his mask and revealed his murderous look. "I wish I had punched you and kicked you harder, hard enough to kill you! If you had died then, we would not have to deal with all this trouble! We would have been a happy family! My sister and I would still be loved by our parents! We were all so happy. You, it's you that ruined it all. You should be dead!"

His eyes turned red with anger, his face terrifying. The girls had to look away, frightened by his murderous look. They didn't dare to imagine what Nathalia had been through.

Nate finally interrupted. "It's obvious that he was a bastard. One can easily tell by his mannerisms. Barbarous.

Curt joined in, "Poor Frank Carter. He's been tricked all his life." In fact, Curt didn't care about Frank. It was Kathrine that he felt sorry for. He wished he could have saved her. She must be heartbroken if she knew how brutally they had treated her daughter.

"I would not pity him myself. He deserves it. What he has done is unspeakable!" Nate felt a fit of sudden unjust anger in him. One can hear it in his tone. It caught Matt's attention for a second, but he didn't think much of it.

"Murdering his wife, abandoning his daughter for a prostitute! What a stupid asshole!" Nate added angrily. "Such punishment is too kind to him."

"I can't agree more." Curt supported.

Daniel heard their comments, and it shocked him again to know that Zack was not a Carter child. He glared at Nathalia with immense resentment. "Tell me this is not true! Say it! It's not true!" He barked at her.

Nathalia lifted her brows and looked at him, curiously, "It's true. But why are you so emotional? It doesn't really have anything to do with you, does it? You are merely someone that wants to help a stranger. It doesn't matter who his real father is."

"I...I…" Daniel stammered and was gasping for breath. All of a sudden, he fainted and fell onto the floor.

Really? That's all you can take? I have overestimated you then. Nathalia thought. "Please take him to the hospital. Despite what he has done, I can't leave him to die, not here." She said to her bodyguard-in-chief.

The security guards quickly carried Daniel out while the bodyguards dragged Zack away. Zack struggled violently, glaring at Nathalia resentfully. "Nathalia, I hate you! I will get revenge one day!"

His ferocious voice echoed in the room and sent shivers down people's spine. Yet, Nathalia was just as calm as usual. She responded with a smile. "I shall await the arrival of the day." She wasn't afraid at all as she knew she had learned to be strong, and she was protected.

Zack Carter was now a nobody, with no money nor power. What could he manage to do anyway?

Nathalia turned around and spotted the presenter hiding in the corner. "Please continue. What's the next item up?"

The presenter's face was awfully pale, and he was shaking obviously. "The next..." He stammered and blinked his eyes a few times, completely at a loss. "Sorry, just give me a few minutes to calm down first." He had never experienced anything like it, too much violence for him to take apparently. But how come Mrs. Nathalia Davidson is so calm?! I was just watching. She was the one that was actually involved!

Nathalia heaved a quiet sigh and said gently, "No worries. Take your time." What's he so frightened about? It was just trivial.

Somehow she felt sudden fatigue and a bit sick. This is weird. It's so sudden. She thought. She just wanted to get the auction done soon and go home and rest.

After a couple of minutes, seeing that the presenter was still shocked, Nathalia thought she should probably get someone else to do it. Just then, two men volunteered at the same time. "Shall I?" "I will take over."

Nathalia looked at Ben, then Matt, feeling a bit awkward. Both men could be good candidates.

Ben stepped forward confidently. "I'm the CEO of the Carter Company, and I've checked the auction items before, so I shall be the perfect one to host the auction."

Nathalia understood very well that Ben wanted the chance to show off, and she did admit that he was a good option, however, she didn't want to embarrass Matt as he was offering help with good intentions.

Matt smiled and said casually, but cleverly, "That's great then. I'm sure Mr. Ben Johnson could handle something so trivial."

Trivial?! Ben stared at him, disapprovingly. "I've hosted hundreds of grand and important meetings. This will be no problem at all." He defended proudly.

Nathalia was getting impatient with their meaningless argument. "Alright, Ben, the stage is yours." She cut them short and said clearly. It sounded more like an order from a supervisor.

Though displeased with Nathalia's tone, Ben couldn't show his anger in front of the crowd. He said 'thank you' dryly and went up to the stage.