Natalie smiled and declined. "I''m sorry, madam, but we have nothing to talk about. Our bond is broken. Let''s go our separate ways."


    She had already said what needed to be said and done what needed to be done.


    Because Wendy had given birth to her, after severing ties, she had told her the truth about Nathan''s affair and that Joanna was his biological daughter.


    She had repaid the debt of her birth.


    Wendy knew her daughter would never forgive her, but she desperately wanted to thank her. "About Nathan," she said in a low voice, "thank you for telling me."


    Natalie shook her head. “Don''t thank me. I should be thanking you for giving birth to me. The reason I told you the truth was to repay you for carrying me for nine months."


    Wendy began to weep softly. So that was it.


    If it hadn''t been for that sense of obligation, she would have remained in the dark.


    She would have only learned the truth after herpany was devoured by Joanna and her four sons were dead.


    Natalie watched her cry without feeling much of anything. Their love had been exhausted in her past life.


    Wendy suddenly blocked Natalie''s path. "Natalie, are you really unwilling to forgive me? I know I was wrong now."


    Natalie let out a coldugh, looking at her tear-streaked face. They shared at least a fifty percent resemnce; she had inherited Wendy''s almond-shaped eyes, which were her most beautiful feature. "But can anyone be generous enough to forgive a mother who was once willing to kill them?"


    "Madam, you have already killed me once. I have repaid my debt to you. You will never be forgiven."


    "Please remember that, and don''t disturb my life again."


    No forgiveness meant no forgiveness.


    In her past life, as her biological mother, she could have stopped Sebastian from killing her. But for the sake of the family''s interests, for her four sons, and for her precious adopted daughter she had chosen to abandon her.


    "What?" Wendy looked at her in disbelief, shaking her head in agony. "Natalie, I never did that! Natalie, are you misunderstanding something?"


    "A misunderstanding?" Natalie shook her head with a faint smile. "There''s no misunderstanding. Because, without my warning, you truly would have killed me for your beloved adopted daughter."


    "I warned you for my own survival. So, please, do not disturb my life again."


    Her voice was as cold and sharp as ice from a mountaintop.


    Wendy froze, staring at her through her tears.


    Thinking back on all the ways she had hurt Natalie for Joanna''s sake, she finally understood. Things would have escted to the point where she would have killed herown biological daughter, only to set up Joanna for a final takedown.


    What a venomous n Joanna had devised. But why had she been so bewitched,


    so determined to defend Joanna?


    She... she really had been so biased, always doting on Joanna while treating Natalie as if she didn''t exist.


    Joanna was talented, sweet-tongued, and knew how to please her.


    Natalie, on the other hand, was always seen as bullying Joanna, and she had naturally taken Joanna''s side.


    Natalie sneered. “Do you understand


    now? A parent''s favoritism is like a


    poisonous snake. Your favoritism,


    allowed Joanna to hurt me again


    and again, because she always


    knew you would unconditionally


    defend her and me me


    “When you raise a snake in your home, what do you expect but to be bitten?”


    The words were a knife to the heart.


    Wendy staggered backward, nearly copsing.


    Sebastian, who had quickly approached, caught her just in time.