Family on Their Knees Heart Turned to Ice novel Chapter 1157

It seemed the two years of meticulous psychological grooming she had invested in the boy hadn't been a waste after all.

"Oh, Lillian, Lillian," she muttered to the empty room. "You can give birth to Sebastian's son, but what does it matter? He came from your womb, yet he refuses to even acknowledge you. His entire heart belongs to me. I want you to suffocate. I want you to feel the agony of rejection. I want you to realize that as long as I breathe, you will never have a happy ending."

Bella muttered her vicious promises, closing her eyes and practically vibrating with twisted ecstasy.

She hadn't expected Sebastian to drag the kid back so quickly.

Did he really think he could use Noah to butter up Lillian and play happy families again? He didn't even stop to consider if Bella would allow it.

She had spent two solid years molding that child. He practically despised Lillian.

Sebastian bringing him back only handed Bella the ultimate weapon.

Did Sebastian honestly believe Noah would help him win Lillian back?

What a joke. By using this tactic, he was only driving her further away.

Sebastian was profoundly clueless about his own son. He didn't understand the boy's vanity or his deep-seated loathing for his biological mother.

The subtle manipulations Bella had orchestrated over the years had deeply conditioned the boy.

Noah had internalized the belief that having a mother who was an ex-convict would make him the laughingstock of high society.

With that deeply ingrained prejudice, how could he ever accept her?

Drunk on her own perceived brilliance, Bella opened her desk drawer and pulled out a burner SIM card. She swapped it into her phone and quickly typed out a message to Lillian.

[Lillian, your son is back. Thrilled? Hahaha. Guess what? He just told me he absolutely despises you and will never, ever acknowledge you as his mother.]

She hit send and inhaled a deep, satisfying breath. Every muscle in her body relaxed with pure vindication.

She hadn't endured the pain of childbirth, yet she had gained a devoted son perfectly equipped to destroy Lillian. The feeling was utterly intoxicating.

Consequently, Bella's venomous text vanished into the void.

Lillian received dozens of spam messages from unknown numbers daily. She didn't even bother swiping through them.

Her phone's spam filter automatically purged unrecognized contacts anyway.

So, while Bella spent half the day celebrating her masterstroke, she had no idea that her message hadn't provoked a single ripple of emotion in her rival. Lillian hadn't even seen the trashy text.

When normal people needed to reach her, they used her professional email or routed calls through her secretarial pool.

When close family and friends needed her, they called her private, whitelisted number.

Any unknown numbers or blocked messages were swiftly and completely ignored.

As for random text messages? Unless the stars aligned, they were destined to rot in her unread folder forever.