"You only need to step on my existence to prove your own nobility once." Natalie''s voice was cial as she turned to leave, giving Wendy no chance to speak. When Wendy had hurled those insults, had she forgotten for even a second that Natalie was the daughter she had carried?


    Wendy ran after her. "Natalie, please, let me exin..."


    "I said, no exnations are needed. You can think what you want. Joanna is your perfect angel. I never tried topete. In your eyes, everything I do is wrong. The papers severing our ties are signed. I''ve paid you back for the year I lived with you. Is there anything else I owe you? Tell me now, and I''ll settle it all at once."


    Wendy looked at the pain in Natalie''s eyes, her own voice trembling as she tried to speak, but no words came out.


    "Oh, right," Natalie remembered. "As your child, I owe you financial support in your old age. When you turn sixty, feel free to sue me in court. I''ll pay whatever the judge deems appropriate."


    "Natalie, that''s not what I meant..."


    Natalie turned and walked away, getting into a luxury car waiting at the curb.


    Sebastian came downstairs just in time to run into Joanna.


    Joanna watched Natalie''s car speed away, her voice dripping with envy. "Mom, Sebastian, how can Natalie afford such a nice car? Don''t tell me she''s doing something shady now that she has no other options.”


    The words jolted Wendy from her grief-stricken state. "Joanna, shut your mouth!" she roared. "Isn''t she in this position because of you? The moment you came back, Sebastian wanted a divorce. She signed the papers and left, and you still have the nerve to nder her?"


    Joanna stared at her mother in disbelief. Was she... defending Natalie?


    "Mom, I... I was just worried about Natalie. She is your daughter, after all."


    Wendy didn''t reply. Instead, she looked at Sebastian, a deep disappointment in her eyes. He had helped Joanna frame Natalie. She had been so wrong about him, A feeling of utter istion washed over her. Natalie''s ather wo echoed in her mind-that Joanna was Nathan''s daughter with his mistress. She had to investigate. This time, she would do it herself.


    Her gaze, now cold and hard, settled on Sebastian. "Do you know, Sebastian, that


    a single lie can make you lose a person forever?"


    Her stare made Sebastian''s skin


    crawl. He had the sinking feeling that Wendy would never ept him as a son-inw again. He thought of what Natalie had said, and his ow heart felt hollow aching with a pain that stole his breath. He had only acted that way because he was so angry. How could Natalie go on a date while she was still married? And with Matthew, of all people.


    Joanna saw the back of her mother''s retreating figure. She had overheard their conversation. A wave of guilt and anxiety washed over her. She knew her lie had been exposed, and that it would only drag her deeper into a mess of her own, making. One lie required a hundred more to cover it, and even then, it might never be enough.


    Just as she was spiraling, Sebastian''s voice cut through her thoughts.


    "You''ve really disappointed me, Joanna. Go get lunch by yourself." His voice was as cold as ice.


    The words startled her. She took a deep breath and ran to catch up with him, her eyes filled with unease. "Sebastian, I was just joking. Are you really going to be mad at me for that?"