At a family meal, guests sneer at Cherry's clumsy table manners and Uncle Edmund snaps, declaring "Cherry is my daughter" and warning that anyone who disrespects her disrespects him. Erica is then singled out and threatened with being sent back to the old mansion, escalating the household confrontation. The scene abruptly shifts when someone shouts that Mr. Gordon's father has collapsed. Dr. Lee reports the man is unconscious and urges everyone to brace themselves; another voice warns they still have two months left. As relatives rush to the patriarch, Edmund's protection and the family's immediate future remain unresolved.