Audrey’s POV:
Sienna quickly intervened, grabbing her mother’s arm.
Eleanor, in her rage, turned and slapped Sienna hard across the face.
“You useless girl!” Eleanor screamed.
“Are you siding with her now? You two couldn’t stand each other
when she lived here! Now you’re suddenly her loyal defender?”
She pointed a trembling finger at me.
“Do you think she’ll spare you when she’s done with us? Without
Bailey Group, you’re nothing!”
Sienna held her reddened cheek, her voice breaking.
“Mom… stop it. This isn’t helping…”
I could see in her eyes that Sienna had already accepted the
inevitable.
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Chapter 197
She knew their only hope now was cooperation.
“Don’t call me ‘Mom‘!” Eleanor snarled.
“I don’t have such a worthless daughter! Do you know how much
we’ve invested in you? You can’t give us any return at all!”
“Your career is a joke, but we thought at least you could marry well
and be useful that way. But here you are, almost thirty, living at home
with no prospects! You’re beyond help!”
“If you had an ounce of ambition, would Audrey be able to humiliate
us like this today? Would she have taken everything from us?”
“What was the point of raising you? You’re nothing but a liability!”
Eleanor’s words cut through the room like knives.
Even I was finding it difficult to listen.
I watched Sienna with new eyes as she stood there, head bowed,
shoulders shaking with silent tears.
In that moment, I understood something fundamental about the
Baileys.
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Chapter 197
Even with their own daughter, all they cared about was utility and
advantage. Without value, a person meant nothing to them.
Looking at Sienna, I felt an unexpected pang of sympathy.
But I hadn’t come here for family drama.
“Enough!” I slammed my hand against the coffee table, the sharp
sound cutting through the toxic atmosphere.
“Have you finished this pathetic display? Because I’d like to discuss
actual business now.”
The room fell silent.
Eleanor’s head snapped toward me, her face still contorted with rage.
“You,” she hissed, her voice trembling. “What the hell do you want to
do?”
“I want answers. About my child.”
Eleanor’s expression shifted unexpectedly, her rage melting into
something more calculating.
Then, to my surprise, she laughed, a harsh, cutting sound that echoed
3/6
Chapter 197
through the apartment.
“Your child?” She shook her head, eyes gleaming with malice.
“You’ll never know what really happened, dear Audrey.”
Her words hit like a physical blow, but I refused to let her see how
deeply they cut.
“I think you misunderstand the situation,” I said, my voice steady
despite the rage boiling beneath the surface.
“I’m now the majority shareholder of Bailey Group. I control your
livelihood, your reputation, your future.”
I leaned forward.
“Your comfortable life depends entirely on my goodwill. So I’ll ask
one more time: what happened to my child?”
Eleanor’s mouth tightened into a thin line, her eyes burning with
hatred,
You ungrateful little bitch! Suffer forever!”
George, however, was visibly crumbling.
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Chapter 197
His gaze darted between the documents, his wife, and me.
I continued to coax.
“Tell me the truth, and I might consider returning Bailey Group to
you.”
“George,” Eleanor warned, but it was too late.
George cleared his throat. “If we tell… you’ll return Group?”
“Yes,” I said, my heart pounding. “But I want the complete truth.”
Eleanor continued to protest, but George silenced her with a look.
“The child didn’t die,” he admitted quietly. “It was taken.”
The world seemed to stop around me.
Everything blurred around the edges as those words echoed in my
mind.
My child didn’t die.
My entire body quaked with the force of this revelation.
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Chapter 197
“T–taken?” I managed to whisper through lips that felt numb.
My hands gripped the edge of the sofa so tightly I could feel my nails
digging into the expensive fabric.
“By who? Who took my baby?”
I leaned forward, desperate for answers, my carefully constructed
composure crumbling by the second.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
