Chapter 534

533
Sanford called , “ Mom . ”
Liora insisted , “ Apologize . He is your brother , after all . ”
Sanford’s knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists . He glared resentfully at Jonathan . Through gritted teeth , he forced out a reluctant , “ Sorry . ”
Liora said , “ Watch your attitude . Say it again .”
Sanford remained silent .
“ Say it now , ” Liora urged sharply once more .
Sanford took a deep breath , exhaled slowly , and forced out , “ Sorry , Mr. Lynn . ”
Liora raised her hand threateningly .
Jonathan calmly turned to Sanford , his eyes narrowing slightly . He said , “ The legal notice has already been issued . Given the serious damage his actions have caused to my company and my family , I will not let this go unpunished . ”
Liora bit her lip , her eyes brimming with helplessness as she looked at Jonathan . Staring at his painfully familiar face , she said , “ As for the company’s impact , you could just issue a simple clarification , couldn’t you ?
“ But when it comes to family , you’re blood relatives . Why must you turn against each other like this ? ”
Sanford couldn’t take it anymore . He grabbed Liora’s arm and snapped , “ Mom , just stop . They’ve never treated us like family , so why should we keep pretending they are ? ”
He fixed Jonathan with a defiant stare and said , “ Go ahead and sue me . I’m not afraid . ”
Jonathan’s lips curled in a faint , cold smirk . He said , “ Very well . ” With that , he turned on his heel and left .
Sanford shut the door behind him .
On the bed , Liora was wracked with heartache and fell into a violent coughing fit .
Sanford hurried to pick up the scattered pills from the floor . He said , “ Mom , please don’t upset yourself like this . Your health is what matters most . ”
Liora frowned at Sanford , her face full of exasperated disappointment . She asked , “ Why is it so hard for you to just swallow your pride ? ”
Sanford stared painfully at Liora . His voice was tight with emotion as he said , “ Why should 1 back down ? Tell me honestly , were you the other woman
back then ? ”
Liora looked away , silent .
Sanford said , “ I can’t believe you were the other woman. You’re the heiress of Onlyora Group . Why would you ever stoop so low ? Why would you wreck someone else’s relationship ? ”
Liora sniffled and said , “ I was the one who fell for Yorick , but he didn’t feel the same way . Back then , I was young and arrogant , thinking money could buy anything . But he valued love above all else .
“ I admired his determination and his dedication to his family . He even told me , ‘ First come , first served . ”
Sanford’s breathing grew ragged . He said , “ If you couldn’t win him over , you could’ve just moved on . Mom , I always thought you were strong enough to let go , so why did you have to resort to such underhanded means ? ”
Liora closed her eyes briefly . Then she said , “ Enough . I used underhanded means to have you , and I’ve raised you all these years . There’s no undoing it
1/3
533
now . ”
Sanford’s fists trembled , his disbelief etched across his face . He said , “ In my heart , you were always someone who loved and hated fiercely , so was I just the result of your scheming all along ? Answer me . ”
Liora couldn’t bring herself to meet Sanford’s gaze . Her voice trembling , she whispered , “ Sanford , please , just stop . This is all my fault , and I’m so sorry .
Sanford snapped , “ But ‘ sorry ‘ isn’t what I want to hear . I want the truth from you . I know you’re afraid of Irene . When she’s around , you can’t bring yourself to admit certain things .
“ But now it’s just the two of us . I’m your son , after all . Can’t you even be honest with me when we’re alone ? ”
“ What I said in front of Irene was the truth , ” Liora spoke , each word clear and deliberate .
Sanford’s eyes burned crimson with fury . He said , “ Fine , then . ”
Sanford had always been a sensible child . Ever since he found out that Liora had a man she could never forget , he had spent all these years longing to seek justice for her years of suffering , and for himself .
Yet in the end , this was the bitter truth he now faced .
Sanford declared , “ I publicly accused Jonathan’s family . Since everything I said was false , it’s only right that he sues me . This is the price of my recklessness . ” With that , he stormed out without a backward glance .
He slammed the door shut with a resounding bang . Ignoring Liora’s desperate calls , he never looked back .
After leaving the hospital , Jonathan received a call from Hayden .
Hayden already knew the truth about Sanford’s parentage . He said , “ Sanford is indeed your father’s son , Werner already confirmed it to me . ”
“ How did he find out ? ” Jonathan asked .
Hayden explained , “ Werner also went to Shaville on business . He ran into Donald there , and Donald was the one who told him . ”
Jonathan fell silent .
Hayden continued , “ I heard your mother is still in the hospital . Is she alright now ? ”
Snapping out of his thoughts , Jonathan replied , “ She had a confrontation with Liora , got overwhelmed with emotion , and passed out . But she’s stable
now . ”
“ That’s good , ” Hayden said , not pressing for more details about Irene and instead shifting the conversation back to Sanford .
He said , “ Jonathan , just let Sanford off the hook . He’s young and reckless . Just do some damage control . After all , you’re family , and he’s your brother . ”
Jonathan’s eyes hardened . The reason he hadn’t told Hayden the results of the DNA test right away was simply because he didn’t want to hear this kind of talk . He had already decided to teach Sanford a lesson .
Jonathan said , “ Grandpa , I’ll handle this my way . You don’t need to worry about it . ”
Hayden said , “ Don’t I know you all too well ? You’re such a hardhead . I’m telling you , just drop the case against Sanford . Once your mom is discharged , all of you come back to Nareigh . We’ll talk about the details then . ”
Without waiting for Jonathan’s response , Hayden hung up the phone .
Meanwhile , Evelyn also took to her social media to defend Jonathan . She proclaimed that Jonathan was a good man , and his entire family was good people as well .
533
Jennifer just couldn’t fathom why both Teresa and Evelyn were speaking up for Jonathan and Irene : She went straight to Teresa and berated her for unnecessarily wading into a mess that wasn’t even her business .
Jennifer said , “ Sanford didn’t expose anything about Mike , we should be grateful to him , We ought to support Sanford and stand with fin
“ But what do you do ? You turn around and side with Jonathan , and now you’re even defending that old witch Irene . ”
Teresa stated flatly , “ I’m not defending Irene , I’m just standing up for Jonathan . If I were to kick Irene when she’s down now , by extension , I’d be doing the same to Jonathan . ”
Jennifer scoffed , “ Do you still love him ? ”
Teresa didn’t answer directly . Instead , she countered Jennifer , “ Jonathan has done so much for our family . Thanks to him , we won Charlie’s case he was sentenced to twenty – five years . So why shouldn’t I speak up for him ? ”
Jennifer pressed , “ Don’t dodge the question . I’m asking you straight , do you still love him ? ”
AD