Chapter 1041:
“Mom,” she whispered, stumbling toward her, “Gregg is older than you. He’s practically my grandfather’s age. And you still sold me off to him.”
Tears blurred her eyes, spilling freely. “I did everything you demanded. I practiced piano until my fingers went numb; I worked myself to the bone just to make you proud; I agreed to a marriage I never wanted so our family could climb another rung on the social ladder. I did everything. So why…”
Her voice splintered. “…after all that, you still couldn’t love me? Why choose a life that would kill me over loving me even a little?”
Her anguished cry ripped through the square like lightning, leaving the crowd dead still, breath caught in their throats.
“What?! Gregg… he’s into that sick stuff?”
“Oh dear God… look at her arms. Those marks—some of them are still fresh. They haven’t even been married that long, right? The news made it sound like some fairytale romance… was it nothing but a deal? A transaction?”
“Paola may not be perfect, but look at this mess. Anyone raised in a family this rotten would twist the same way. That poor girl never stood a chance!”
“Married off to a man older than her own mother? And for what, profit? That’s not a marriage. That’s selling off a child in broad daylight!”
“The so-called pride of Crolens? Don’t make me laugh. She’s the city’s biggest tragedy, wrapped in designer labels.”
“How can Laurel be so ruthless? Sacrificing her daughter just to keep her claws sunk into power? Who does that?”
“So the A7 and A8 plots were Gregg’s tricks… and Detour Inc. used Paola like a bargaining chip? Hearts of vultures!”
𝗥𝘦𝘢d 𝘧r𝗈𝗆 𝘺𝗼𝗎𝘳 рhоnе oո 𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗇𝗈𝘷е𝘭𝘴.с𝘰𝗆
The murmuring shattered into chaos.
Reporters surged forward like a pack scenting blood. Cameras flashed, lenses aimed ruthlessly at Laurel and Paola. Shutters clicked like snapping teeth.
Laurel and Terrance stood stripped bare, exposed by their own daughter, their carefully buried schemes dragged into the daylight. Shame, fear, and crumbling desperation rippled across their faces like a confession they could no longer hide.
“You’re lying! You’re out of your mind!” Laurel’s voice cracked into a hysterical shriek. “How can you accuse me after everything I’ve done? I fed you, dressed you, raised you to stand among society’s finest! When have I ever mistreated you? Everything was for your own good!”
She lunged at Paola, wild and frantic, but she didn’t get far. Officers and rescue workers closed around her instantly, pinning her before she could even touch Paola.
Terrance jabbed a trembling finger at his daughter, fury distorting his features. “You ungrateful brat! That’s what you are! You’re making up filth to punish us! Gregg is a respectable gentleman. How dare you drag his name through the dirt? Rylie must’ve filled your head with poison!”
“Respectable?” Paola let out a sound that was half-laugh, half-sob, hollow, sharp, and skin-crawling.
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