?Chapter 287:


    Ruben snorted derisively. “Challenging, perhaps, but hardly impossible for someone of Elliana’s caliber. Now, let’s secure a discreet vantage point to enjoy the spectacle! Bonnie has presumed too much on her friendship with your mother. It’s high time someone reminded her of her boundaries.”


    Ruben’s gaze swept the room before settling on a secluded sofa. “That spot will serve perfectly. Help me over.”


    Ruben had transformed, before their eyes, into a mischievous elder orchestrating entertainment at another’s expense.


    Bertram and Emmanuel silentlyined about being made aplices but dutifully guided Ruben to his chosen observation post. Meanwhile, Elliana watched Ruben’s strategic retreat with knowing eyes before turning back to Bonnie with a measured smile. She recognized Ruben’s subtle gift—space to handle Bonnie without interference. His absence meant he wouldn’t be forced to rebuke her should she offend Bonnie. He had essentially granted her free rein to respond as she saw fit.


    With Ruben’s tacit permission to seek justice, Elliana felt no need for restraint. Bonnie had just insulted her mother—an offense she couldn’t possibly overlook. This malicious hag needed to understand the consequences of her careless cruelty.


    “You hideous creature!” Bonnie hissed, her eyes narrowing to slits. “I was just contemting how to teach you humility, and here you deliver yourself to me!”


    With Ruben no longer present, Bonnie’s facade of civility evaporated, revealing naked hostility. “Word has reached me that you’ve made Trinity’s life difficult in the Evans household. Do youprehend whom you’re antagonizing? Let me enlighten you—Trinity is precious to me, and I tolerate no one mistreating her! Diane and I share decades of friendship, and my influence within the Evans family runs deep. If you fail to recognize your ce, you have only yourself to me for what follows!”


    Bonnie’s tirade poured forth in a torrent of barely contained fury. Her antipathy toward Elliana stemmed not merely from conflicts between Elliana and Trinity within the Evans residence. More fundamentally, Elliana upied the coveted…


    Position of Evans family matriarch—a role Bonnie had long envisioned for Trinity, whom she had strategically ced in the Evans household since childhood. Now, Elliana, whom she deemed unworthy based on appearance alone, had imed that prized position, bing a thorn in her side.


    Elliana listened with unwavering patience until Bonnie exhausted her venom. She then regarded Bonnie with eyes that glinted with mockery. Bonnie’s argumentative skills proved remarkably pedestrian—her threats tant and crude,cking any semnce of subtlety.


    ????????’?? ?????? ?????????? g?.????.???????.????ν?.???????.????.???????.???


    Since Bonnie opted for such basic tactics, Elliana decided sophisticated countermeasures would be wasted. Better to speak in terms this hag would understand.


    Decision made, Elliana lifted her overly made-up face, her lips curling into a dangerous smile as she prepared to meet Bonnie’s crudeness with precision and devastating effect…


    “Tell me something, Mrs. Craig. If your granddaughter means so much to you, why didn’t you raise her yourself? Why pawn her off to another family and parade her around like she’s some prize animal waiting to be imed? Honestly, it felt like watching a wildlife documentary.” There was no mistaking the venom in Elliana’s voice—every word dripped with deliberate hatred.


    .


    .


    .