Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 473

Nora avoided her hand, saying blankly, "Penelope, just get straight to the point."

Penelope's smile froze. She hadn't expected Nora to refuse even calling her 'Mom.' A flash of resentment crossed her eyes, but it vanished instantly.

She quickly adjusted her expression, speaking in a low, pleading tone. "Nora, about Jade... I know you're angry, but she's young and foolish. She knows she was wrong now. For the sake of growing up together, just write a Waiver of Prosecution. With that waiver, her sentence could be reduced by a few years..."

"Why should I?"

Penelope urged, "Jade is your sister! We are family, after all..."

"She certainly didn't treat me like family when she plastered those slanderous posters everywhere."

Penelope choked on her words. Beside her, Marcus finally spoke up, his tone much steadier than Penelope's. "Nora, I know Jade was in the wrong, and she deserves to be taught a lesson. But she's only in her twenties. If she goes to prison, her life will be ruined. Please, for my sake, just..."

Nora cut him off. "Marcus, if I didn't have Hudson backing me up today, if I were just an ordinary person with no power, have you thought about what those posters and rumors would have done to me?"

Marcus opened his mouth but couldn't find the words.

Penelope panicked and blurted out, "How can you be so cold-blooded? We raised you for all these years, and now that you've made a name for yourself, you won't even help us with this? Do you have no conscience?"

Nora looked at her self-righteous expression. Once, she might have felt a twinge of sorrow, but now she felt absolutely nothing.

"I'm cold-blooded? When you forced me to take Jade's place in that marriage just to curry favor with the Reeds, why didn't you call that cold-blooded? Whenever I was wronged, when did you ever stand by my side? Now that Jade is in trouble, you suddenly remember I exist?"

"Penelope, I owe you nothing."

Penelope never expected Nora to dare call her by her first name. Humiliated and furious, she raised her hand, ready to slap Nora across the face.

"Penelope!"

...

Marcus and Penelope looked dreadful as they were escorted out of Cloudwater Estate.

The wrought-iron gates slammed shut behind them, and Marcus finally exploded.

"Look at what you've done! You treated Nora terribly since she was a child. She was a perfectly good girl, and you drove her to cut ties with us entirely!"

Penelope was stunned by the outburst. "Marcus, what are you saying..."

Marcus's face was livid. "I was a fool to trust you. How could I ever believe that someone who doesn't even love her own biological daughter would genuinely care for someone else's child!"

Penelope's face drained of color, her lips trembling. "Marcus, I swear to God, I treated Jade much better than Nora. I never mistreated Jade..."