Selena gritted her teeth and locked her gaze fiercely onto Natalie. "I''ve already apologized. What now? Does the Walker family n to keep us here by force?"


    Charlotte opened her mouth, ready to retort, but Natalie raised a hand to stop her. "Mom, let me handle this."


    Charlotte froze for a moment, then her eyes turned red. Her daughter had called her "Mom". She felt overwhelming joy, excitement, and a desire tough aloud in celebration.


    But she held it in. This was not the time to lose control of her emotions.


    "Alright, Nat. No matter what you want to do or n to do, your father, brothers, and I will always support you. We''ll always be your strongest support and greatest confidence."


    Natalie nodded slightly. She had always relied on herself as her strongest pir, but she saw no reason to correct Charlotte at this moment. She understood and trusted Charlotte''s love for her.


    Natalie stepped forward until she stood directly before Selena. "Selena, have you ever heard this saying?"


    "What saying?"


    "Wretches are always good at twisting the truth."


    "Who are you calling a wretch?" Selena hissed, her re filled with hatred. If looks could kill, Natalie would have been torn to shreds already.


    "I''m calling you a wretch. Selena, You''re nothing but a wretch." Natalie''s lips curled slightly. And I don''t call you that because of your past experiences. I call you that because you constantly me your misfortunes on me.


    "Do you think your words make any sense at all? In the Langley family, I was treated as nothing more than a blood bank. Diana beat and scolded me whenever she pleased, and Grace manipted and controlled me.


    "When your family lost their biological daughter, they didn''t even try to look for her. Instead, they took out their anger on me. What did I do wrong?"


    Natalie turned her icy gaze to Diana and raised her hand without hesitation. The loud smack reverberated in the hall.


    "This p is for all the times you hit me as a child."


    Diana''s head was turned to the side from the p, and before she could react. Natalie swung her hand back and delivered another fierce p.


    "This p is for starving me after taking my blood, leaving me to faint from hunger.


    "This p is for beating me and leaving scars all over my body after I wore a formal dress.


    "This p is for locking me in the basement when I was 12.


    "These three ps are for arranging for three men to assault me when I was 15.


    "These three ps are for forcing me to pay for Mrs. Langley''s medical expenses alone.


    "Mrs. Langley Senior may have saved me, but I now suspect that her car ident was orchestrated by your family. Diana, you''d better pray that Mrs. Langley''s ident was truly an ident."


    With each p, Natalie listed another instance of Diana''s abuse.


    Diana''s head snapped side to side under the blows, her face swelling like a balloon. As Natalie''s usations continued to pour out, Diana grew increasingly terrified. She knew all too well how cruel she had been to Natalie.


    In that moment, she didn''t even dare to say that she was her mother.


    Meanwhile, the Walker family''s faces turned red with fury as they listened to Natalie recount her suffering.


    Natalie''s relentless ps had turned Diana''s face into a swollen mess.


    "Diana, why was your daughter''s disappearance my fault?"


    Natalie''s voice was cold as ice, her eyes brimming with undisguised hatred as she stared at her.


    "You knew from the start that I wasn''t your daughter. You could have sent me to an orphanage. Instead, you pretended to be my mother and used it as an excuse to abuse me."


    Because of Diana''s cruelty, Natalie had never dared to hope for familial love or trust anyone who imed to be family. After all, how could a child unloved by her own parents expect to be loved by anyone else?


    "And you, Selena," Natalie said, turning to her. She raised her hand and delivered a hard p.


    "This p is for falsely using me of stealing your engagement ring when you first returned to the Langley family."


    Natalie pped her a few more times, listing Selena''s transgressions with each p.


    "This p is for saying I slept with Tyler.


    "This p is for calling me promiscuous and shameless.


    "This p is for spreading lies about me in front of other men.


    "This p is for bullying me at Quinton Hospital."


    She had refrained from retaliating in the past because she believed Grace''s affection for her was genuine. But she had learned that affection was nothing more than poison wrapped in sugar. Revenge was long overdue. Natalie''s cold smile deepened, her delicate features shrouded in frost. "Selena, did you really think I would let you walk away with a simple apology?"


    "Ms. Walker, I was wrong."


    Before Selena could respond, Diana dropped to her knees with a loud thud, kneeling before Natalie.


    "Ms. Walker, it was wrong of me to mistreat you in the past. But you''ve already hit me and scolded me. Please spare my daughter!"


    Diana prostrated, reaching out to grab the hem of Natalie''s dress. Charlotte stormed over, grabbed Diana by the hair, and pped her hard across the face several times.


    When she was done, Charlotte ground her high heel into Diana''s face. "You vile woman! Is this how you abused my daughter? The Langley family is nothing but a family of scoundrels!"


    Furious beyond words, Charlotte turned to the crowd andmanded, "Anyone who joins in will be richly rewarded afterward."


    The onlookers, quick-witted as ever, understood what she wanted them to do immediately. They rushed forward, raining punches and kicks on Diana and Selena.


    "Don''t kill them," Charlotte said coldly as she pulled Natalie aside.


    "Hector," she called.


    "Yes, Mom," Hector responded, bringing over a medical kit.


    "Nat, let others handle things like this in the future. Don''t hurt your hands," he said gently as he began applying medicine to Natalie''s reddened palms.


    Natalie had pped Diana and Selena numerous times, each blow carrying significant force. Her palms were bright red and slightly swollen.


    Mason, his eyes red, held Natalie''s other hand and blew on it gently. "Does it hurt, Nat?"


    Natalie looked at the concern in her family''s eyes. They cared only about whether her hands hurt after hitting someone, whereas the Langley family would have scolded her for disgracing them.


    The difference between love and indifference was ringly clear.