Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 474

"You ruined her with your spoiling!"

Marcus's voice rose sharply, the veins bulging on his neck. "If you hadn't indulged Jade at every turn, would she have turned into such an arrogant, reckless fool? All you care about are your own petty schemes! Look at the monster you've raised!"

Penelope panicked. "I didn't... I really didn't..."

Marcus looked entirely drained. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his voice was chillingly detached. "We're getting a divorce. I'm taking Xavier, and you are leaving with nothing."

Penelope stood rooted to the spot, refusing to believe her ears. "No... I won't sign the papers... Marcus..."

But Marcus wasn't listening. He pulled open his car door and slid into the driver's seat. The engine roared to life, and the car sped off into the distance.

"Marcus! Wait for me... You can't just abandon me... Marcus!"

Penelope chased after the car, crying hysterically for hundreds of feet until it vanished at the end of the road. She collapsed onto the pavement, tears streaming down her face.

"You can't... You can't do this to me..."

A suffocating wave of despair crashed over her, leaving her numb to the scrape of her hands against the rough asphalt.

After what felt like an eternity, she slowly stood up and wiped the tear streaks from her face. The panic and sorrow in her eyes were gone.

In their place was a venomous, calculating glare.

Nora...

I raised her, and all I got was a bitter enemy, is that it?!

If it weren't for her, that miserable brat would have died years ago!

She had raised the girl out of the goodness of her heart, and yet both her marriages were destroyed by her!

"What do you mean?"

Penelope turned around, glaring at the tightly shut wrought-iron gates with a freezing stare.

"Didn't you always want to know who framed you, making you sit in prison for fifteen years for nothing? I'll tell you the truth. When you were messing around with her underwear and left your DNA behind, she took it to the police as evidence. That's what sealed your conviction."

"And the day you tried to get physical with her, she had already arranged with that neighbor girl, Sienna, to call the cops if anything happened... Arnold, you didn't even lay a single finger on her, yet you rotted in a cell for fifteen years."

She paused, dropping her voice even further. "Doesn't that make you sick to your stomach?"

The line stayed silent for a long time.

Knowing he was listening, Penelope pressed on. "As long as we kidnap her, you know the Lancaster family's wealth better than I do. Forget ten million—even if we demand a hundred million, Hudson will pay it without batting an eye."

Arnold suddenly laughed, a dark, chilling sound. "Deal. Wait for me. I'll be in San Francisco tomorrow!"