?Chapter 241:


    Katie’s eyes narrowed, suspicion shing across her face as she fixed Christina with a sharp re. “What the hell was that supposed to mean, huh?”


    Christina tilted her head, lips curling into azy smirk. “You tell me—what do you think I meant?”


    “So you’re going to bail on the deal now?” Katie pressed, her voice dropping dangerously low.


    “Me? Break my word?” Christina snorted, shaking her head mockingly. “Please. I’ve got more integrity than the rest of you put together.”


    Augh slipped from her lips—crisp, unbothered. The truth was, she didn’t mean anything else. She just wanted to keep Katie and her crew on edge and let them stew a little. As long as they yed by her rules, she’d stick to her promise—unlike them, who’d twist any loophole to wriggle free.


    “You!” Katie’s jaw clenched furiously, but she couldn’te up with aeback.


    Before the tension could thicken further, Joselyn jumped in, her voice strained and brittle. “So, no matter how hard I p myself, you’ll never be pleased, right?”


    “Chill out. I already let the others off for just scraping by,” Christina replied, flicking her wrist as if shooing away a fly. “Do what you’re told, and I’ll y fair.”


    Joselyn studied Christina, a knot of doubt tightening in her stomach, but in the end, she just clenched her fists and braced herself. There was no other way forward.


    Without any way to guess what Christina was thinking, Joselyn had no choice but to strike herself even harder than the others. The self-inflicting pnded with a sharp crack that echoed through the air, making her vision blur as the taste of blood burst on her tongue. But if this was what it took to w her way out of the humiliation of being dragged out of here, she’d bear it.


    “Mom!” Brendon and Katie shouted together, their voices shaking with panic and heartbreak.


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    “I’m alright,” Joselyn muttered, forcing a smile through clenched teeth as she steeled herself for another p.


    Brendon and Katie sent searing looks at Christina, who only beamed back at them, utterly delighted, practically glowing with cruelty. She looked like she was reveling in their misery, not an ounce of empathy left in her eyes.


    The second pnded with a crack that snapped Joselyn’s head sideways, agony shing down her jaw and deep into her bones. Fiery red welts spread across her cheeks, throbbing in the silence. The pain cut through her like a spotlight.


    Joselyn swallowed her cries, hatred zing in her gaze as she red daggers at Christina. “Happy now?” she snapped, forcing the words through gritted teeth. Smirking onlookers ringed the scene, their half-hiddenughter only stoking her anger, but she bit it back. This wasn’t the ce for vengeance. Not now.


    One day, she’d return this shame to Christina, ten times over.


    Every eye swiveled toward Christina, awaiting her next move.


    Christina gave a slow, exaggerated nod and then burst intoughter. “Now that had some real bite… eighty points out of a hundred! Well done, Mrs. Dawson!” She broke into mocking apuse, her grin radiating satisfaction. “Just what I’d expect from the queen of the Dawson family. Tonight’s MVP, no contest.”


    Joselyn’s expression contorted, outrage and disbelief battling for control. How could anyone be this insufferable?


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