Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 373

"Are... are you insane?"

"I'm perfectly sane," Nora said, her voice eerily calm. "Since you never loved me anyway, just pretend I was never born."

Penelope's face flushed a furious red, her chest heaving heavily. She was livid.

"You ungrateful brat! I broke my back raising you for over twenty years, and this is how you treat me?"

"Did you raise me just to use me as a stepping stone for Jade? Did you ever actually love me? Even for a second, you should have realized that I can feel pain too..."

"You think you're the only one who hurts? If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have had to flee all the way to San Francisco! I..."

"If it wasn't for you, would I have been stuck with a father like that?"

Penelope turned ashen, completely at a loss for words.

Memories of a past that made her wish for death flooded Nora's mind. Her heart was bleeding, yet she couldn't shed a single tear.

"I was the one being abused, but you beat me and cursed at me. Do you have any idea how I survived all those years? Do you know I was in so much agony that I wanted to end my own life?"

"No, you don't. You only cared about squeezing every ounce of use out of me to please your precious new family. You treated everyone else like blood, but you never treated me like a human being..."

Nora's lips curled into a bitter sneer. "Arnold Vance deserved everything he got, but you aren't innocent either. You don't deserve to be a mother!"

"You..." Penelope raised her hand in a blind rage, aiming a vicious slap at Nora.

Nora instinctively dodged.

Missing her target, Penelope lost her balance and pitched forward, slamming her forehead against the sharp corner of the nightstand.

"Ah!"

Penelope shrieked, clutching her head. Blood seeped through her fingers, quickly dripping down to smear half her face.

"Penelope! What happened? Are you okay?"

Supported by Marcus and the nightstand, Penelope managed to stand. She wiped the blood from her face, looking utterly deranged.

Staring at her crimson hands, the fury in her chest exploded. She pointed a trembling finger right at Nora and began to scream.

"You miserable brat! You think you're so tough now? You want to sever our relationship? I fed you, clothed you, and kept you alive for two decades! Now that you've climbed up the social ladder, you think you can just kick me to the curb? Keep dreaming! You ungrateful little bitch!"

Her rage escalating, Penelope turned her manic glare to Hudson. "I'm laying it all out right now! I'm calling off this marriage! She doesn't deserve to join the Lancaster family! Give her back to me so I can teach her some goddamn manners!"

Terrified, Marcus yanked at her arm. "That's enough! Stop talking, you're still bleeding!"

Penelope violently shoved his hand away, her eyes locked on Hudson.

"I am your mother-in-law, and today I'm pulling rank! I'm not negotiating with you. Leave her here right now! This marriage is over!"