Chapter 1130
“Mom, as long as you keep treating me well, you’ll always be my mother,” Joanna added, feigning a pathetic sweetness. After realizing her biological mother, Sophia, was a manipulative snake, Joanna knew Wendy was the ultimate meal ticket.
Wendy glared at her, her eyes blazing with absolute hatred. “Are you still dreaming, Joanna?”
“Spoiling a vile, repulsive creature like you for twenty years was the single greatest mistake of my life.” Wendy’s voice was lethal. “You have no shame. You use people, drain them of their love, and toss them aside whenever it suits you.”
The regret was a physical weight on Wendy’s chest. How could she have raised such a soulless parasite? She had allowed this monster to brutalize her own brilliant, beautiful daughter. Ever since she discovered the truth, Wendy hadn’t known a single moment of peace.
Joanna let out a sharp, mocking laugh. “Wendy, the only reason you’re giving things to Natalie now is because I don’t want them anymore. Remember what you used to tell me? You said you would sooner show affection to a stray dog than give Natalie a single ounce of your love. Why are you suddenly begging to play the devoted mother?”
Joanna wanted to rip the two of them apart permanently. That had always been her ultimate goal.
Natalie chuckled darkly. She knew exactly what Joanna was doing. She was twisting the knife in Wendy’s chest. The harder Wendy had loved Joanna in the past, the deeper the betrayal cut now.
“What do you want, Joanna?” Natalie asked, entirely bored by the theatrics. Remembering why she was there, Joanna’s face twisted into an ugly snarl. “The attack on New Year’s Eve. It was you, wasn’t it?”
Natalie raised an eyebrow. “Does it really matter who did it?”
Truthfully, Natalie wasn’t entirely sure herself. It was highly likely Sebastian’s doing. “You’ve made a lot of enemies in the shadows, Joanna. Especially the Wilson family. You think you’re ruthless, but you’re nothing compared to the old man.”
At the mention of the Wilsons, Joanna scoffed arrogantly. “They’re already finished. What could they possibly do to me? If you have a problem with me, Natalie, come at me straight to my face.”
Natalie looked at her in genuine surprise, then burst out laughing. “Wow, Joanna, you’re finally pretending to have some integrity. If you actually fought fair, I might actually lose. But I’ve learned a lot from you, I only care about the results now. The process doesn’t really matter, does it?”
Joanna’s hands clenched into white-knuckled fists on her armrests. She took a ragged breath, trying to suppress her boiling rage. “I despise you with everything in me, Natalie I swear, I am going to make you experience true, suffocating agony. Sebastian and I are getting engaged very soon. You loved him more than life itself, and now he is entirely mine.”
She stared intensely at Natalie, desperate to see a flicker of heartbreak or devastation.
But to her absolute shock, Natalie just smiled. A calm, serene smile devoid of any sorrow.
Natalie knew exactly what reaction Joanna was starving for. But having already figured out the truth about Sebastian’s faked death, why would she care about a fake engagement?
“Well, congratulations,” Natalie said
cheerfully. “He’s the prize you’ve
begged for your entire life, and
you’re the
only one who still treats
him like treasure. I wish you both long, miserable life together l’m sure you’ll deserve each other.”
Joanna froze. This was her trump card. She knew exactly how fiercely Natalie had loved Sebastian.
Yet Natalie was perfectly at peace. There wasn’t a trace of pain in her eyes.
Joanna’s mind spiraled into a panic. If stealing Sebastian couldn’t break Natalie, what on earth could?