Caitlin stared at Amanda in horror. "Amanda! What are you doing? That's your mother! If I call for help now, she might have a chance! If you delay, she'll really

be gone!"

"So she dies," Amanda sneered. "She was nothing but a disgusting old hag. Good riddance!"

She threw her head back and laughed, a wild, unhinged sound.

They were all gone! It was perfect!

She no longer had to pretend. From this day forward, she could do whatever she wanted.

She wasn't afraid of Caitlin. The doors were closed. No one could hear them. Everyone who could have helped Caitlin was dead. What did she have to fear? A country girl was no match for her. Caitlin was now clay in her hands, to be molded and crushed as she saw fit. She would personally send her to prison, where she would rot for the rest of her life.

It was exhilarating!

She had spent years playing the part of the dutiful daughter, and she was sick of it. Now, it was her time to shine.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Caitlin looked up at Amanda, her eyes red-rimmed with grief. "I was right. You planned the car crash twenty years ago. You're the one who separated me from my parents, the one who had me thrown away, the one who poisoned my father. And my mother's disappearance... you're responsible for that too."

"You had only one goal."

"To legally take over everything the Gonzales family owns."

"That's right," Amanda admitted, no longer needing to hide the truth from two dead bodies and a girl who was as good as dead. "I did it all. I orchestrated the car crash. I planted Marcia in your mother's life to get rid of all three of you."

"Stuart was poisoned because I had someone add an extra ingredient to his medicine."

"Oh, and the old hag's chronic headaches? That was my handiwork too. Surprised?" A triumphant smirk spread across her face.

Caitlin's expression remained unchanged. "I always suspected you were behind Grandma's headaches. But she trusted you too much. You were her daughter. She never would have believed it."

She had tried to warn Keira countless times, but Keira had always defended her own daughter.

"Grandma trusted you so much. She stood up for you to me. How could you do this to her?" Caitlin's voice was filled with a sorrow not for herself, but for the woman who had been so blind.

"It's every man for himself. If

anyone's to blame, it's that old hag for having a second child in the first place! She deserved to die!" As the eldest daughter, she should have inherited everything. Stuart's birth had ruined her plans. So, Stuart had to die. They all had to die?

"What about my mother?" Caitlin pressed. "Amanda! What did you do to my mother?"

"She's dead. Carey died a long time ago," Amanda said, her eyes glinting with malice. "You were supposed to die with that bitch, but somehow, you little stray survived."

"I guess strays are tough."

She let out another laugh. "But what does it matter how tough you are? You're finished, Freya! At least Stuart got to live half his life in a bed. But you? You're just a stepping stone for my daughter."

"In this life, the next life, and every life after that, you will never get back up!"

"Is that so?" Caitlin looked at Amanda, and in the blink of an eye, her entire demeanor shifted. The grief and terror vanished replaced by an icy calm. She stood up, her chin held high. "Amanda, you seem

to be celebrating a little early."

Amanda scoffed, her eyes dripping with contempt. "You little bitch. Do you really

think you can still turn this around? Don't be ridiculous."

"Mother," a calm voice said from the bed.

Stuart sat up his face no longer

pale, his eyes clear and focused. He

looked at Keira, who was now sitting up beside him, and said, his voice steady "Did you hear all that? Did you see it clearly? The reason our family is in this state is all thanks to your most beloved eldest daughter. My dearest sister."