<b>Chapter </b><b>198 </b>


    Not to mention all the other things Marcia had done–Elissa didn’t have it in her to y savior.


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    <b>11</b><b>:</b><b>400 </b>


    Herpassion was in short supply.


    Marcia stared in disbelief at Elissa’s retreating figure, then turned to Frank, her voice shaking. “She can just walk away and leave me like this? You really think she’s some kind–hearted angel?”


    She just didn’t get it.


    Why did everyone think Elissa was sweet and obedient, when she could be this cold?


    Frank seized her chin in a bruising grip, his voice low and dangerous. “Why are you here? Did youe to hurt her?”


    ”


    “I–I didn’t…” Marcia stammered, terrified as she remembered just how frightening he could be. “I just wanted to know–what does she have that I don’t? You’ve clearly got feelings for her, so why haven’t you divorced her yet?”


    Frank’s eyes narrowed with contempt. “That’s what you’re curious about?”


    “Yes…” Marcia nodded frantically, ignoring the pain in her jaw, desperate to convince


    him.


    Frank released her with a shove, as if discarding something worthless. “You think you’re even worthy ofparison?”


    He didn’t give her a chance to respond. With a final cold look, he turned and walked


    away.


    Bernard understood and gestured for his men to restrain Marcia. They forced her into the car and headed straight for the house on the edge of town.


    The night was pitch ck.


    Most of the houses out here were just investment properties, empty and eerily quiet at this hour. The silence was unsettling.


    A fleet of ck sedans pulled up in perfect formation, each driver as disciplined as a


    soldier.


    Marcia was yanked from the car. The sight of the house–the same ce where she’d suffered so much–made her panic. She struggled desperately, running to Frank’s side, pleading for mercy.


    “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I never should’ve pretended to be her–just let me go, please, I’m begging you!”


    Frank’s voice was ice–cold, devoid of any warmth. “If I let you go, who will give her


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    <b>11:40 </b>1


    justice?”


    If Marcia hadn’t stolen her identity all these years, maybe he would’ve found little Nine long ago.


    Thinking of Elissa, Marcia’s face twisted with bitterness. She spat out, “But she’s doing just fine now!”


    than before?


    Elissa never imagined anyone could envy her to this degree.


    If she had known, she probably would haveughed.


    Her parents were cops, but she’d spent most of her childhood eating at the neighbors‘ because her parents were always working. Their lives revolved around their jobs, not


    her.


    After Matriarch Paige Murphy took her in, she was constantly punished–yelled at, pped, even forced to kneel for hours.


    Those eight years after Rowan abandoned her had been even worse.


    And her marriage to Frank… well, that was a whole other story.


    Still, Elissa knew exactly what Marcia was talking about. Her face remained utterly calm. “Yes, it’s me. I never came looking for you, and yet here you are at my door.”


    When she first found out Marcia had been the one bullying her at the orphanage, Elissa had considered confronting her, demanding an exnation for the past.


    But in the end, it all seemed pointless.


    Besides, she was too busy with herb project to waste time on old grudges.


    Yet now, here was Marcia, showing up on her doorstep.


    Hearing Elissa’s admission, Marcia’s rage only grew wilder. She lunged for her, but Elissa slipped out of reach. Marcia’s voice grew shrill with desperation. “Why are you always against me? Haven’t you taken enough? Can’t you just give Frank to me?”


    Elissa stared at her, incredulous. “Am I the one standing in your way, or are you the one determined to be the other woman? Marcia, if you want to lose your mind, go check yourself into a hospital!”


    With that, Elissa turned to head into her building.


    Marcia chased after her, a twisted smile on her face. “The other woman? If I hadn’t married Spencer, Frank would have chosen me! You would never have even had a chance!”


    “But you didn’t marry him, did you?”


    Elissa looked at her, exasperated by how irrational she’d be. “Marcia, I have no idea what went wrong between you and Frank, but if you have a problem, take it up


    with him. I’m not part of your drama.”


    Elissa had noticed just the day before that Frank’s attitude toward Marcia had shifted.


    But she had no idea things had spiraled so far out of control that Marcia would show up at her door.


    The whole situation was almostughable.


    She was the legitimate wife, and yet here she was, stuck in the middle of her


    husband’s affair–forced to y mediator between the mistress and her own


    husband.