Natalie''s words were barbed. To say she didn''t hate her would be a lie.


    As long as the past wasn''t brought up, she could almost manage it. But the moment she saw her mother, the hatred would bubble up uncontrobly.


    Wendy was taken aback. She had, in fact, said those things. "Natalie, at the time, I..."


    "Don''t bother exining. Whatever your reasons were back then, it has nothing to do with me now. I''ve already repaid you for giving birth to me. What happened with Nathan was me settling that debt. From now on, when you see me, please act like you don''t know me."


    "I will never forgive you for the pain you caused me."


    Natalie was ruthless. Wendy''s words, whenever she recalled them, still felt like a knife to the heart.


    Wendy watched her daughter''s angry, resentful gaze and swallowed the words she was about to say.


    It was true. For that shameless, vicious woman Joanna, she had used the cruelest words in the world to hurt her own biological daughter.


    She said through tears, "Natalie, I''m sorry! I didn''t know anything back then..."


    Natalieughed coldly, cutting her off. "Does that have anything to do with how horribly you spoke to me, or the fact that you didn''t know Joanna was a bad person? Let''s be honest, you were just ashamed of me, thinking I wasn''t presentable and would embarrass the Don family. Don''t use ''I didn''t know'' as an excuse to cover up what you did. I said I would never forgive you, and I meant it."


    Natalie quickly paid for her items and left the store. This morning had been infuriating.


    Wendy stood frozen, overwhelmed with pain. Thinking about what she had done to Natalie for Joanna''s sake made her want to kill herself.


    Back then, she had truly only loved Joanna, the daughter she had raised with her own hands. In her eyes, Joanna had been perfect.


    It was also true that she had been afraid Natalie would embarrass her. She was unworthy of being her mother.


    Truly unworthy.


    She hade to the store today to buy a gift for a friend''s grandson''s party. That''s why she was out so early.


    But why was Natalie buying baby clothes?


    Wendy lowered her head and wiped away her tears. After paying, she left the store.


    For the past few days, she had been searching for any sign of Mrs. Wilson. They had worked together on the n at the party.


    But something had happened to


    Mrs. Wilson that very night. Wendy


    knew the situation was dire and that Mrs. Wilson was likely in grave danger. If it weren''t for her, none of this would have happened


    "Mrs. Wilson, where are you? You have toe back and protect your child."


    She had been keeping an eye on Evelyn Carrington these past few days. The girl seemedpletely unconcerned about her mother''s fate. With her mother missing she Was still out every night, partying hard with a bunch of guys.


    fateth herpet


    It was not a good sign. A girl living like that could easily get into trouble.


    But she wasn''t Evelyn''s mother and couldn''t persuade her to change her ways.


    Evelyn had gotten very close to


    Sophia, acting like they were mother


    and daughter Wendy had a nagging


    feeling that Sophia was using


    Evelyn.


    That woman, Sophia, was definitely up to no good. There was no way she genuinely cared for Evelyn.


    Feeling anxious, Wendy left the store and saw Natalie''s car driving away. On impulse, she quickly got into her own car and followed her.


    It was only after Natalie was gone that she realized she knew absolutely nothing about her.


    This realization filled her with even more guilt. She knew her daughter''s name was Natalie, and that was it.


    She had been so busy caring for Joanna that she didn''t even know who her own daughter''s friends were.