Wendy wasn't done yet. "Joanna, I raised you to have morals. Why would you willingly become the other woman and destroy someone else's relationship?"

Joanna sneered. Was Wendy seriously trying to play the knight in shining armor for Natalie now?

She didn't pause to think, immediately launching into another mocking tirade.

"Are you seriously defending Natalie right now, Wendy? I'll say it again—the woman who isn't loved is the real homewrecker! If you need me to spell it out for you, I can say it louder. You and your precious daughter are the unloved third wheels!"

"Do you think playing the hero for Natalie is going to win her back? You and your golden boy of a son tore her to pieces! She will never forgive you, and that is exactly the outcome I've been aiming for."

Wendy glared at her, letting out a shattered scream. "It was all because of you! You orchestrated every single misunderstanding! You manipulated us into kicking my own flesh and blood onto the streets! This was all part of your sick game. You are completely rotten to the core, Joanna. You're going to pay for this."

In reality, Wendy knew perfectly well that Joanna's instigation wasn't the only factor -they had all been incredibly stupid.

Sometimes, a single lapse in judgment led to a catastrophic chain reaction. The human mind could be a terrifying place; a split-second decision could breed a lifetime of regret.

Her voice cracked. "If you hadn't staged all those little accidents to frame Natalie, I never would have thrown my own child out."

At this point, Wendy didn't care about her pride or social status.

She just wanted her daughter back, safe and sound.

Her Natalie had been so desperate for a mother's affection.

Whenever Wendy felt the slightest bit ill, Natalie had spent hours researching and preparing remedies for her.

Just a single smile from Wendy would make the girl's entire week.

She had seen that raw longing in her daughter's eyes, yet she had...

Wendy couldn't bear to dwell on the past. Thinking about it only fueled a violent urge to strangle Joanna.

Natalie's endless tolerance had only emboldened them to push her closer to the edge.

"Ah!" Wendy cried out, slamming a fist against her chest in agony.

Watching Wendy break down made Joanna beam with pure joy. "This right here. This is exactly what I wanted to see, Wendy. I wanted to tear your whole family apart! Natalie is your biological daughter, which meant all this wealth and privilege that besönged exclusively to me was suddenly at risk. You insisted on dragging her into our lives, threatening everything I built. I had no choice but to burn it all to the ground."

"Do you know what Natalie wanted most? Your love. I saw right through her. Every time you even looked at her orchestrated a little crisis so you would rush back to comfort me"

sõ

"But is it entirely my fault she suffered so much? No, it's yours! just handed you the weapons, and you used them against her. If you actually cared about her, my little tricks wouldn't have worked."

"Your blind indulgence gave me the power to ruin her.

Your constant excuses allowed me to do it again and again."

Joanna looked positively deranged, laughing in exhilaration. Breaking Wendy like

this was better than making a ten-million-dollar deal.

Wendy shut her eyes in utter despair. Joanna was entirely right. It was her own toxic enabling that had paved the way for Natalie's destruction.