Tears streamed down Wendy''s face. "People only learn to cherish things after they''ve lost them. I''ve lost my daughter, and frankly, I''m prepared to lose all four of you boys. Your second brother is a lovesick fool who chased that woman overseas. Your father has orchestrated it so that all of you are far away, pursuing your own ''happiness.'' But in reality, he just wanted you away from thepany so I would be isted and he and Joanna could make their move."


    Jerome''s hands clenched into fists. Looking back, the acting had been so clumsy, but because they had doted on Joanna since she was a child, they never questioned her. She was the favored one, and she took full advantage of it. At the first sign of trouble, they had always rushed to protect her.


    "We were wrong," Jerome sobbed, burying his face in his hands.


    Wendy wiped her own tears away. "Sign the transfer agreement. Thepany has already been partially infiltrated by your father''s people, and Joanna has ced many of her own inside. I''m going to gut thepany and leave them with an empty shell. Let them scheme all they want, only to end up with nothing."


    She knew she couldn''t win a direct fight against Joanna. Her recent investigations revealed that Nathan and Joanna had long been nting their people throughout thepany. But she wouldn''t just hand over the business she had built her entire life. And she wouldn''t let that mistress off the hook either. She had struck her hard that night, ensuring she wouldn''t dare show her face again. For her to have even been at that party, Joanna must have brought her. Next time, she would make her suffer even more.


    This time, Jerome signed without hesitation. Wendy gave him an address for a private clinic where he could recover in seclusion, then left.


    When she got home, while Nathan was out, she went to his safe...


    After helping Queena pack, Natalie''s phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number. She stepped outside to answer it.


    "Hello?"


    "Natalie, it''s me." Natalie paused. It was Jerome. How strange. He''d never spoken to her in such a gentle tone before. But she was done with them and her voice was cold What do you want?"


    "Natalie, I was wrong about everything before. I was so wrong. I don''t expect you


    to forgive me, but I''m sorry. I know the truth about what happened six months


    ago."


    "Is that all you called to say?"


    Natalie''s voice grew even colder. He was sorry now, but she didn''t need it anymore. She remembered how happy she''d been when she first learned she had four brothers, in addition to her own three. She had thought she was the luckiest girl girl in the world. But she had been wrong. Those four brothers were the demons of her life.


    "Natalie, I know I did so many terrible things to you, especially with what happened to Larry. Looking back now, toan''t believe how vicious f


    was." Jerome''s voice started to break. "You''re my real sister, yet I tried to have you ruined. I''m sorry, Natalie. I''m so, so sorry."