Tears pooled in Natalie's stunning eyes. The traumatic, soul-crushing memories of her past life echoed violently in her mind.

The sensation of her bones shattering from the fall still haunted her every waking

moment.

Just looking at this man sent a primal jolt of terror straight to her soul.

The sheer malice in his eyes the moment he mercilessly shoved her off that building was permanently burned into her brain-he had looked exactly like a demon dragging her to hell.

Natalie quickly composed herself, burying the emotion.

But Joanna caught the slip. She realized Natalie still had lingering feelings for Sebastian.

This woman had thrown everything away for him.

As long as Natalie still cared about Sebastian, Joanna had the ultimate leverage.

Natalie tilted her head, giving Maxwell a sugary, terrifying smile. "You're absolutely right. I did it willingly, and I'll gladly embrace the consequences. I gave you the gift of sight once, which means I can drag you right back into the dark."

She was going to make this bastard experience the exact same agony of losing his eyes and his legs.

If he was blind, he wouldn't be able to push her off a building.

He was her walking nightmare.

Besides, it was Joanna's crew that orchestrated the car crash that paralyzed him in the first place.

"You're out of your mind!" Maxwell roared.

Without another word, he aggressively pushed Joanna's wheelchair toward the exit. There was no way in hell he was risking his eyesight.

Watching him panic brought a twisted sense of satisfaction to Natalie's eyes. Was Joanna actually blind? This guy clearly didn't give a damn about her the way Sebastian did.

It really felt like Joanna had traded a diamond for a piece of glass.

Natalie, Marshall, and Luna didn't bother engaging any further and simply followed them downstairs.

They all arrived in the main lobby.

Just as they reached the doors, Robert Warner burst through the entrance.

His face was twisted with fury, his eyes locked onto Joanna with pure hatred. He looked nothing like the polished, A-list movie star he usually was. He looked completely unhinged.

"You bitch! You're the one who threw yourself at me! Who the hell gave you the right

to do this to me? To blacklist me?!"

He had just been informed that his contract was terminated, and his agency was

now owned by Joanna.

The shock had floored him. How did

this weak easily manipulated girl-the same girl he had casually slept with and discarded-have the power and capital to buy out massive entertainment agency?

Acting was his entire life. The word 'terminated' felt like a death sentence.

Joanna stared coldly at him. She had read the board perfectly back then. If he had just manned up, claimed the baby, and married her, none of this would be happening.

At the time, her romance with Maxwell felt entirely hopeless, and she had no idea when he would ever return.

But if she had become the lady of the Warner family, the entire game would have changed.

She could have used their wealth to back Maxwell.

She also knew perfectly well that Sebastian was never going to marry her.

She had seen the reality of her situation with crystal clarity, yet she had still forced herself to play the victim.

It was only now she realized she was entirely capable of cutting off all emotional attachments. The only thing that mattered to her now was power and her empire.

Joanna smiled brightly, delivering the brutal truth. "Still haven't figured it out, Robert? The Warner family is already bleeding out."

"Your family has been hemorrhaging contracts for months, and you were the only lifeline they had left. But remember how you treated me? Are you really going to claim I threw myself at you?"

She had initially planned to use his A-list status to crush Natalie.

But Robert wasn't stupid. He realized she was using him and deliberately cut her off.