"That vicious bitch," Maxwell hissed. "Who does she think she is? Ordering a hit on us on New Year's Eve?"

Joanna felt utterly defeated. She had to undergo constant treatments over the next few days, leaving her no time to plot any retaliation against Natalie.

Worse still, she realized she had no idea where Natalie was living. She couldn't even arrange a counterattack.

"Maxwell, don't worry about any of that right now. Just focus on recovering. Once the holidays are over, we have a lot of work to do."

Thinking about the plot of land they bought from the Spencer family, a sudden knot of anxiety formed in Joanna's chest.

Her visions of the future had become disjointed, and she had absolutely zero memory of how that land deal was supposed to play out.

Maxwell gritted his teeth. "Give me my phone. I'm not just going to lie here and take this. Natalie is going to pay for what she did."

"She kept her head down for years, tricking not just you, but Sebastian and Wendy, too."

"She's dangerously competent, but she hid it perfectly."

Joanna handed him his phone, her brow furrowed in worry. "Maxwell, I feel like this is completely spiraling out of our control. Maybe we should try a different approach."

"This was a direct, calculated attack. She's far more dangerous than we thought. I never viewed her as a threat before, but now... we have to treat her as a serious rival."

But Maxwell, fresh off the adrenaline of waking up, was blinded by a toxic, suffocating rage. No one could talk him down.

"Don't worry about it. Let's make sure she can't even get out of bed first. Since she's already in a wheelchair, I don't mind adding a few more fractures to her list."

Seeing his conviction, Joanna didn't argue. She wanted Natalie dead just as much as he did.

Maxwell dialed his assistant, Boris. "Find out exactly where Natalie lives. And break one of her legs."

Joanna watched him with a sickening sweetness in her eyes. Was he really taking revenge just for her?

"Boss," Boris hesitated on the other end. "I have no idea where she lives. The company, is closed for the holidays, and since she moved out of the villa, she's completely off the grid."

"I'll have to stake out her office and strike when she shows up."

Maxwell exploded. "You useless piece of trash! You can't even track down one woman? Find her immediately! Call me the second you have an address. I want to watch her legs get shattered on a live feed."

That arrogant bitch dared to mess with him? She was dead meat!

The murderous intent in Maxwell's eyes was chilling.

Whatever humiliation he suffered, Natalie was going to pay it back a hundredfold.

His glorious future was not going to be derailed by someone as insignificant as her.

He had been completely blindsided during the attack, but not anymore.

Hanging up the phone, Maxwell turned his intense gaze back to Joanna. "When can you walk again?"

Despite the bloodlust in his eyes, he still found Joanna beautiful; she was the one who brought warmth to his life. No matter how much she acted out, he knew that over the years, her heart had only ever belonged to him.

But sitting in the wheelchair was agonizing. Under the harsh fluorescent lights, her

pale face contorted with a mix of pain and seething anger.

"The doctor said I won't be able to walk for three months, and I can't do any strenuous activity for a long time after that. I'll have to use a stunt double for the rest of my shoots."

Maxwell slammed his fist against the bed. "Absolutely not! If word gets out that you're using a double for an entire production, your reputation will be completely ruined."