Westley straightened his silk tie, regaining his condescending smirk. “Using your resignation as a bargaining chip? That’s a bit pathetic, don’t you think?”
“Selfish? Dramatic? Pathetic?” Leonel sneered, the sound sharper than the broken glass on the floor. “Westley, I’ve slaved for the company on a pittance of five thousand a month while you hoarded the shares. Your wife and daughter draped themselves in diamonds while my daughter was exiled to the dirt of a backwater town. Tell me—who is the shameless one here?”
Westley’s mouth snapped shut.
Gia slammed her palm against the table, the wood groaning under the force. “Leonel! Are you still whinging about that? Adah is just like her mother—she’s a blight on this bloodline. I was being merciful by not strangling her the moment she was born! Sending her away was already an act of charity!”
Leonel’s eyes turned a dangerous, bloodshot red as he stepped closer to his mother. “Sally has been in her grave for years, and you still slander her. Adah is your granddaughter, but you treat her like an infection. Fine. I’ll be the one to protect her. She has nothing to do with this family anymore.” He turned on his heel, heading for the door.
“Leonel!” Gia screamed, lunging to her feet. Her voice was so shrill that it cracked. “You would really trash your inheritance—abandon your own mother—for that ugly, backwater brat?”
Leonel stopped dead. He didn’t turn around, but his shoulders were tight with fury. “Adah is not an ‘ugly backwater brat.’ She is my daughter, the only piece of my beloved that I have left. From this second on, she is the only person I live for.”
“Fine! Have it your way!” Gia snarled, her face contorting into something monstrous. “You’ve made your choice. Don’t cry to me when I get cruel. I’ll send someone to scrub that unlucky little wretch off the face of the earth tonight. Let’s see how well you ‘live for her’ when she’s in the ground.”
Leonel spun back, his face a mask of pure disbelief. “Mother—how can you be this vile?”
Just then, a low, freezing laugh cut through the heat of the room like a winter wind. All eyes snapped toward the archway.
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“You want my life, Gia?” Adah stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the chandelier, her expression terrifyingly calm. “I’m standing right here. Why don’t you come and take it?”
Adah’s voice cut through the room, sharp and commanding, forcing every head to turn toward the doorway.
A breathtaking woman stood there in a blazing red gown, her presence so luminous that it seemed to set the entire space aglow. And yet, not a single Norris recognized her.
Westley, true to his nature, was spellbound at once. His eyes swept over Adah without restraint, lingering as though he meant to memorize every inch of her.
Kimberly felt a knot tighten in her chest. Catching Westley’s dazed expression, she hurled a glare at Adah, sharp with hostility.
Rowena, cloaked in designer finery and layers of makeup, had always believed herself destined for an elite marriage. But standing before Adah’s natural poise, her carefully cultivated beauty crumbled. Jealousy flared instantly. More troubling still, this was the woman in red Allan had pursued at the banquet. Who exactly was she? Why had she appeared at the Norris estate? And how had someone unknown managed to enter without the butler’s announcement?
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