"As a mother, you never once protected me. As brothers, they all looked at me with contempt. Now I understand. Your whole family is rotten to the core."


    Tears streamed silently down Natalie''s face.


    Wendy was stunned. The hatred in Natalie''s voice was so raw, it felt like she was telling the truth.


    "Natalie, please, don''t say that. I was wrong. I truly didn''t know. It was all Joanna, scheming in the dark..."


    "No, you knew," Natalie cut her off. "You just favored her. You thought I was some country bumpkin who would embarrass you in front of your high-society friends. Joanna was perfect, the beloved darling of the Scott family, beautiful and kind on the outside. I was just a pretty face, nothingpared to the precious daughter you so carefully raised."


    Wendy''s heart seized with pain. She had thought that way once, but she had since seen the truth.


    "Natalie... I''m sorry. I was wrong. I''ll never be like that again. Please,e back, won''t you?"


    "Heh..." Natalie''s face was a mask of hatred. "Come back? Back to what? To listen to more of your insults?"


    She turned and walked away.


    "Natalie..."


    "Mom, don''t listen to her!" Jerome yelled from the bed. "Even if Joanna was wrong, Natalie is just as vicious!"


    Wendy turned back, a cold smile on her lips. "More vicious than you? Didn''t she warn you? She did, but you didn''t believe her. You call


    Vicious but have you ever met


    considered that what you did to her was far worse?"


    "I''m sending you abroad today. After that, I don''t care if you live or die. Since you care so much about Joanna and your father, you can let them take care of you from now on."


    "Mom, why are you doing this to me too?" Jerome''s eyes reddened.


    Wendyughed, a hollow sound.


    "Yes, why have wee to this? Because you''re just as cruel as Joanna and Nathan. I see your true nature now in struggling to keep the


    She pointed to the documents on the table, but before she could speak, amotion erupted from the hallway.


    "Natalie! This is my cousin! He


    crashed his race car, and both his


    legs are shattered The doctors have given up on him said he''ll be


    crippled for life. I know you can save him. Natalie, please, you have to help me!"


    Herbert''s voice was desperate. He had been looking for her, and here she was.


    Natalie had run into him at the elevator. They had trained under the same martial arts lineage, though with different masters. He had built his career abroad while she had nearly been destroyed by her own naivety in love.


    She looked at him, his eyes welling up with tears, and saw a kindred spirit. They both cried too easily.


    "Herbert, calm down..."


    He gripped her hand tightly, his palm slick with sweat. "No, Natalie, I can''t! I don''t trust any other doctor with this surgery. You have to be the one to do it."