Natalie let out a bitter, self-mockingugh. The family she thought would save her had been the beginning of her destruction.


    Never again. It didn''t matter anymore whether Wendy believed her or not. How those four brothers and Sebastian were ruined by Nathan and Joanna was no longer her concern.


    Returning to this life, she had only two goals. First, build her career. Second, protect the family that truly mattered. But before any of that, she had to deal with the menace that was Marshall Spencer.


    Meanwhile, the investigator Wendy had hired to tail Nathan reported back. Nathan had gone to the office and nowhere else. She then had a technician hack into his phone, which waspletely clean. His contacts were all business-rted or family. There was no trace of a mistress.


    When Wendy received the news, she wanted to tear Natalie in half. Her daughter''s words had kept her on edge for days. As she''d suspected, that wretched girl hadn''t changed at all.


    She had initially nned to let Natalie stay in a small, rundown apartment on the outskirts of the city after the divorce, which she would take back once she remarried. Now, she decided against it. She would wash her hands of a daughter who wished ill upon her own mother. Consumed by guilt over her suspicions, shepletely forgot about getting another DNA test. She resolved to make it up to Nathan for doubting him.


    Outside the room, Nathan smirked. Wendy had finally dropped her suspicions and was now drowning in guilt. He had won. He slipped quietly down the stairs. Wendy had no idea that the investigator she''d hired was one of his men. Over the years, he had infiltrated the entire Don family enterprise. It was already practically his.


    The Scotts were a small-time family.


    1.n


    He had only married Wendy for her looks and because of that incident which had secured him a life offort. One stupid daughter, four stupid sons, and one stupid wife-he all in one fel


    would get rid of them


    Swoop. He knew Wendy''s


    personality inside and out; her guilt


    would make her dote on him for


    some time.


    Humming a cheerful tune, Nathan went downstairs. Joanna was already dressed for the banquet, waiting for Sebastian to pick her up. She was in high spirits. Tonight, she would see Natalie kneel and apologize in public. Her own selfless act of "saving" Mrs. Spencer Sr would create a surge of positive press, paving the way for her entry into the entertainment industry.


    "Dad, what''s got you in such a good mood?" she asked with a smile.


    Nathan''s smile widened as he looked at his beautiful daughter. "Good news, my dear. Your mother ising down. Let''s go watch Natalie beg for mercy. Sebastian is meeting us at the venue."


    A vicious smile yed on Joanna''s lips. She had already arranged for paparazzi


    to be there tonight. She was going to grind Natalie into the dirt.


    The inte was in a frenzy. Everyone was scrambling for a way into the banquet to see Natalie''s public humiliation. Joanna had been carefully cultivating her image for her celebrity debut. She was already somewhat famous for being kind,


    girlfriend


    gentle, and Sebastian''s the


    -She was a ho


    topic Natalie on the


    other hand, was the viin of the story, used of everything, including trying to steal Joanna''s


    man. The online vitriol grew uglier by the hour.


    In his car, Sebastian sat with an imposing air, his dark suit barely containing his powerful frame. He was scrolling through the news, his brow furrowed and a dark energy radiating from him as he read the endless stream of insults directed at Natalie.


    His assistant, Sean, was driving. He had also seen the online chaos. Natalie had once helped him, and he couldn''t stay silent. "Sir, should I have the posts taken down?"