Wendy opened her mouth, but no words came out. It was her fault. She hadn''t woken up to the truth soon enough. She remained standing there, weeping, long after Natalie had gone.


    Inside the room, Jerome closed his eyes, his mind a chaotic storm. So, he had been wrong. Truly, deeply wrong. Natalie hated him to the bone. They had all looked down on her for being from the countryside, yet she was a designer and a doctor.


    And what could Joanna do? Pout, cry, and y the victim, all while constantly ndering Natalie. Why had he never given his real sister a chance to exin?


    Wendy took a deep breath and walked back into the room, finding Jerome still reeling from shock. "Jerome," she said, her voice heavy with fatigue, "I have to send you away today. I can''t guarantee your safety in this country. And I don''t trust the specialists your father found. He won''t allow them to treat you properly."


    Jerome''s eyes flew open. "Mom, he''s my father! He wouldn''t do that to me. You were always the one controlling me, telling me I couldn''t do this, couldn''t do that. Dad was different. He always gave me freedom."


    Wendy stared at him, dumbfounded. How could he still not understand?


    "Jerome!" she finally roared. "How can you still be so blind? Your father and Joanna have wanted you dead from the very beginning!"


    "Impossible!" Jerome cried out, unable to believe it even after hearing the evidence with his own ears.


    Wendy''s voice cracked with pain. "So, all these years you resented me for being strict? Fine. You want freedom? Go find it." She gestured to the bedside table. "Your new bank cards and documents are all there. I''m done with you. You''re free."


    With that, she turned and walked out.


    Jerome stared after her, stunned.


    "Aaargh!" He clutched his head and broke into ragged sobs, the devastating truth finally crashing down on him. The father he loved, the sister he doted on-they were the ones who wanted to destroy him. They had even tricked him out of his shares.


    Yvonne was pregnant, but the child wasn''t his. Joanna had set him up to be the fall guy. And since his ident, Yvonne hadn''t visited him once. The goddess he once worshipped.


    He still couldn''t understand why. Why would his father and Joanna do this to him? And at Mr. Wilson''s party, his father had been with another woman.


    They had framed Natalie eighty-six times. Every single incident, big or small, had Joanna''s fingerprints all over it. And he loving Joanna as he did, had always taken her side. So, Natalie was the first person they wanted to eliminate. Then him. Was their other brother next?


    As the pieces clicked into ce, his world copsed into pure agony. His face went pale, and beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. Pain, sharp and seating, snaked through his legs like venom ''


    "No... it''s not like that. Dad and Joanna aren''t those kinds of people..." Hey on the bed, desperately trying to numb himself to a reality he couldn''t ept.


    Then he remembered Natalie. She could perform the surgery that would allow the patient across the hall to walk again in two years.


    He snatched his phone and frantically dialed Wendy''s number. He couldn''t go abroad. He had to stay and help his mother.


    Wendy had just reached the hospital lobby when she saw his name on her screen. Still furious, she answered. "What do you want now, Jerome?"


    "Mom," he pleaded, e back. Can we please just talk?"