?<strong>Chapter 218:</strong>


    “If anger were truly powerful, you would have seeded long ago,” Melinda said, seizing the moment to mock Dean.


    Dean raised his head to meet Melinda’s gaze, his eyes burning with malice. “You vouched for that man, iming he could help me get rid of Jake. But look at what happened! The n was supposed to have him kill Kallie and her unborn child, but he betrayed me by taking Kallie away and allowing Jake to see through our scheme! Today, Jake humiliated me. You know Jake is always on guard. Handling things this way onlynds me in deeper trouble.”


    Despite everything, Melinda feltpelled to defend Stan. “Perhaps he had his reasons. Instead of yelling about it here, why not confront him directly and demand an exnation?”


    Dean, his face flushed with anger and his breathsing in sharp bursts, conceded. “You’re right. I need to face him and hear it from him.”


    With reason abandoned, Dean charged out, heading straight to Stan’s ce.


    Melinda frowned, trembling with apprehension. Dean seemed to pay no heed to the risk of Jake’s men monitoring his every move.


    Upstairs, Kallie noted themotion as Dean stormed in. She could clearly see the fury in Dean’s face as he rushed in with Melinda by his side.


    Kallie didn’t expect that it was Dean who had conspired with Stan. After all, Jake was Dean’s biological younger brother, yet Dean had gone to such extremes.


    Courtney, alerted by the noise, turned her attention to the scene and quickly grasped the situation. She shot Kallie a look of severe disapproval. “You’re the cause of all this. Dean’s only here causing trouble for Stan because of you. You are nothing but trouble!”


    Despite Courtney’s harsh words, Kallie remainedposed. She had grown ustomed to it. Now she could even retort expressionlessly.


    Kallie typed down her reply. “If you think I’m such trouble, then make a choice. Either end me or set me free.”


    Courtney, a doctor, was well aware of the methods she could employ to torment Kallie without endangering the child Kallie carried.


    This knowledge made Kallie’s situation increasingly unbearable.


    Moreover, Kallie grasped that without Jake’s intervention, escape was impossible. Though the Hayes and Brooks families continued their search for her, it seemed their efforts yielded nothing substantial.


    Plus, Kallie knew this situation was fundamentally a conflict within the Reeves family. She was still Jake’s wife. If the Reeves family imed they required no external intervention, the Hayes and Brooks families would find it challenging to rescue her, despite their desires. She realized she was an unfortunate pawn in the Reeves family’s internal strife.


    With this realization, Kallie felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her. She lowered her head and sighed deeply.


    Courtney noticed Dean’s antagonistic expression and sensed that the day’s events might not conclude peacefully.


    After a brief pause, Courtney reached out and grasped Kallie’s wrist.


    Kallie looked at Courtney, bewildered.


    Courtney’s lips curled into a frosty smile. “You started this mess, so it’s up to you to fix it. If we can’t settle things today, it’ll get messy. Should anything happen to Stan because of you, then severe punishment is only fitting.”


    Kallie’s heart raced with fear. Despite her fear, at this point, she didn’t want to dwell on what the oue would be.


    As Courtney dragged Kallie toward Dean and Melinda, she witnessed Dean lift his hand and strike Stan.


    Stan staggered from the blow but held back from retaliating.


    Courtney’s heart was heavy with sorrow. She tightened her grip on Kallie’s hand, pulling Kallie along with too much force, and shoved Kallie forward.


    “Dean, here Kallie is. Whether you want to kill or punish her is up to you. Just don’t trouble Stan any further,” Courtney dered.


    Dean turned around, a chill smile ying on his lips. He cast a brief look at Kallie’s pale face before his eyes settled on the slight swell of her belly.


    “What if she ends up like Melinda, only giving birth to a daughter? Wouldn’t that disappoint you?” Dean questioned Stan.


    Stan, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth withposed movements, responded, “The gender of the child doesn’t concern me. Yes, I broke my promise, but it was in your interest as well. Even if Jake holds no real affection for Kallie, any harming her way would serve as a perfect pretext for him to strike back at us. It’s wiser to seek apromise that benefits both sides.”


    Dean, still seething, snapped, “Do you think I’ll be fooled by such feeble excuses? Aren’t you just scheming to use her unborn child to your advantage? Yet, all this time, that idiot Jake remains oblivious that he is the father!”


    “Dean!” Melinda’s voice pierced the air just as Dean bellowed.


    But it was already toote.


    Kallie, standing off to the side, overheard everything. She lifted her head in shock and scanned the faces around the room. What did Dean mean by suggesting Jake was unaware that the baby she carried was his? And there was Melinda, appearing as though she had been privy to this for quite some time.


    Reflecting on her previous hospitalization, the time when Jake discovered her pregnancy, Kallie recalled how often Melinda had been there.


    Suddenly, everything clicked for Kallie like a bolt of lightning slicing through her confusion. Now it all made sense. She btedly realized the true cause of Jake’s seeming dislike for their child. It was because he believed the child was another man’s. What had these people done?


    Kallie pped a hand over her mouth as tears streamed down her face uncontrobly.


    Dean’s expression briefly flickered with regret upon realizing his slip. Soon, his gaze hardened once more. “I had thought about sparing your life,” Dean stated icily. “But now, that seems utterly pointless.”


    Shocked to her core, Kallie copsed into a nearby chair. Surrounded by their cold stares, she felt like amb amidst wolves, utterly defenseless.


    Courtney seized the opportunity to press Stan, saying, “Mr. Reeves, Kallie is no longer of use to us. If she reveals the truth to Jake, they might patch things up, and all our schemes will be for nothing. You can’t afford to be merciful right now.”


    Stan remained silent, a calcting glint appearing in his eyes.


    Melinda chimed in, “We’ve still got Sarah, and if pushes to shove, there are other women too. As long as we control Jake’s circle, why should we fear not being able to manipte him? Kallie is an unpredictable factor we can’t risk keeping.”


    Stan’s gaze shifted to Kallie, and he suddenly proposed, “Shouldn’t we ask Kallie’s opinion?”


    His words shifted the room’s atmosphere.


    Dean scoffed. “She surely wants to survive. Who doesn’t?”


    Kallie lifted her head to meet Stan’s gaze, a shiver running through her.


    Though Stan seemed the most benevolent in the group, he was more akin to a venomous snake in disguise.


    Kallie clenched her fists and shook her head in despair, portraying herself as someone who had given up all hope of living.


    Courtney’s smile widened. “See? She herself has lost the will to live. If something happens to her, it won’t be on our hands.”


    Dean remarked, “I’m giving you one final opportunity. If you don’t get rid of Kallie, consider our partnership over.”


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