Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 264

"Are you saying Arnold Vance has nude photos of Nora?!"

"From the way he was talking, yeah. But I don't know if he's bluffing. He was being vague, and it's been so many years..."

Juliette didn't hear a single word of his warning.

Only one ecstatic, manic thought echoed through her skull: Nora is finished!

The daughter of a convicted rapist, completely exposed through compromising pictures! Her reputation would be utterly annihilated!

A century-old powerhouse like the Lancaster family valued their pristine image above all else. There was no way they would ever tolerate a woman dripping in that kind of filth!

And wasn't Edmond Sterling still hung up on Nora?

Didn't he want to crawl back to her?

Then she would utterly destroy Nora!

She would drag her name through the mud until there was nothing left!

A slow, twisted smile stretched across Juliette's face. The light in her eyes burned with a manic, almost psychotic thrill.

As far as she was concerned, her entire life crashing down around her was exclusively Nora's fault.

If it weren't for her, Juliette would still be the beloved, untouchable heiress of the Sterling family, instead of a pathetic pariah rotting in this cheap hotel.

Juliette practically leaped to her feet, pacing the room in frantic circles before spinning to face Dorian.

"Tell Arnold that if he actually has the evidence to ruin Nora's life forever, I'll pay whatever price he names."

Dorian stared at her, a heavy frown pulling at his brows.

"He won't ask for pennies."

"I don't care how much it takes!"

Juliette's voice cracked, rising in hysterical pitch. "I have money. The Sterling family gave me a massive allowance over the years, and I barely touched it. I've got plenty saved up, plus a bunch of high-end real estate."

Dorian nodded grimly. "Alright. I'll negotiate with him when he gets back."

Juliette took a deep breath, parting her lips to say something else—

It was too fast. Dorian couldn't react in time. The heavy boot slammed directly into his gut, sending him flying backward like a broken kite. He smashed into the wall, bounced off, and collapsed onto the carpet. The switchblade slipped from his grasp, sliding uselessly across the floor.

Before he could even attempt to push himself up, a heavy combat boot slammed down onto the side of his head, pinning him to the floor.

"Ah!"

Dorian screamed in agony, his face ground mercilessly into the carpet. The rough sole of the boot dug into his cheekbone until the bone cracked audibly, fresh blood trailing down his old scars.

"Who the hell are you?! Back off... Help—"

Juliette shrieked, all the blood draining from her face. But before the word 'help' fully left her mouth, two of the men surged forward and slammed her forcefully to the ground.

Her cheek flattened against the cold hardwood. She thrashed violently, screaming at the top of her lungs, "Let me go! Do you know who I am?! I am the Sterling family heiress! If you dare touch me—"

"And what if they do?"

A chilling, bone-deep voice drifted through the open doorway, snapping Juliette's screaming instantly in half.

Pinned to the floor, her cheek pressed against the wood, she could only watch a pair of immaculate black dress shoes step slowly into the room.