Chapter 148
Chapter 148
“Sylvia, give Joanna back the money you took from her right now.” Liana was the first to speak.
Byron remained silent, his brow furrowed as he kept his eyes
fixed on Sylvia.
Joanna felt a secret delight. ‘With both Byron and Liana backing nearly all of the Moore family’s assets.
me up
now, there’s no way Sylvia won’t give the money back,’ she thought. That was
“Not a chance,” Sylvia snapped without hesitation.
Byron paused for a moment. “Sylvia, maybe you could return part of it
to
Joanna.”
He just wanted Sylvia and Joanna to settle their differences. Letting Joanna take a small loss was enough; there was no need to drive her to desperation.
Sylvia glared at Byron. “Byron, I’m only going to say this once. I’m not giving a single cent back.”
Sylvia suddenly flared up and demanded, “What? Just because you saved me, you think I should do what you say and give the money back to Joanna?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Byron said irritably, realizing Sylvia had misunderstood him. He was just making a suggestion.
“Byron, if you think you’ve been wronged, then I’ll give you my life right now.” Without hesitation, Sylvia strode to the window and threw it open.
They were five stories up. One wrong step, and it would all be over.
Byron’s heart pounded as he rushed forward, gripping Sylvia’s wrist tightly. “Sylvia, calm down. I’m not forcing you. It’s your choice. If you want to give Joanna the money, do it. If not, then don’t.”
A cold smirk curled at Sylvia’s lips. She’d already guessed Byron would react this way.
‘If I die here, the Blair family will face public backlash,‘ she wondered. ‘That’s exactly why I’m doing this to shatter Joanna’s hope of getting the money back and push her into desperate action.
‘If she could send someone to kill me today, she could try again tomorrow. I have to force her hand. Only then can I catch her red–handed.‘
Sylvia turned to Joanna with a smirk. “Joanna, did you hear that? Even Byron says I don’t have to give your money back. So just consider it gone for good.”
Joanna trembled with rage, tears welling in her eyes. When Byron refused to help, she turned desperately to Liana. “Mrs. Blair, could you talk to Sylvia for
me?”
Liana’s heart ached as she looked at Joanna, just about to speak up for her to Sylvia.
Sylvia stormed over to Joanna, grabbed her by the collar, and yanked her forward. “Joanna, have you no shame? You want money, so you get everyone else to beg for you. Can’t you speak for yourself? Stop playing the victim all the time.”
Remembering how Joanna had tried to have her killed, rage took over. In one swift motion, Sylvia executed a shoulder throw, slamming Joanna hard
onto the floor.
A loud crash echoed through the hospital corridor/making the passing doctors and nurses jump in alarm and rush over to check.
Even Liana, who had just been about to speak up for Joanna, froze in shock and quickly shut her mouth. ‘My aging bones couldn’t withstand a hit like that,‘ she thought.
Joanna was slammed senseless and lay sprawled on the floor, unable to get up for quite a while.
Byron shot a cold glance at the nurse reaching for the phone. “This doesn’t concern you,” he said icily, waving her off. The nurse immediately hung up and tactfully withdrew.
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Chapter 148
Liana helped Joanna up from the floor, hesitating briefly. “Joanna, let’s not talk about that now. Did you hurt yourself? Should take you to see ae doctor?”
Joanna’s eyes were rimmed with red, but neither Byron nor Liana seemed willing to stand up for her, a wave of frustration and resentment welling bu inside her.
“Mrs. Blair, I’m fine. I just feel suffocated. I’ll head home now,” Joanna said weakly. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she leaned heavily on the wall and limped out of the hospital.
Though her eyes looked pitiful, a deep–seated resentment flickered within them.
‘Sylvia, you brought this on yourself! Joanna seethed inwardly. ‘If I could have someone hurt you once, I can do it again. Let’s see how long your fuck lasts. There won’t always be someone there to save you!
A faint twitch crossed Sylvia’s brow before she quietly slipped out after Joanna, her expression unreadable.
Byron had wanted to ask Sylvia to stay and talk, but Liana was already supporting him into the hospital room.
“Byron, don’t be so reckless. What if you’d been seriously hurt today? Do you want to break my heart?” Liana scolded, her voice full of concern.
Byron simply nodded, then pulled out his phone and dialed. “Any leads on the person who ran Sylvia down today?”
Even though Sylvia kept insisting it was Joanna’s doing, Byron thought that was highly unlikely. He needed to track down the real culprit.
“Mr. Blair, no leads yet. The suspect was cautious. He fled through blind spots with no surveillance,” came the reply from the other end of the line.
Byron’s face darkened slightly as he ended the call. It seemed the guy had covered all their bases. Byron’s concern for Sylvia grew deeper.
Sylvia quietly tailed Joanna’s car all the way to her apartment building. Parking under the shade of a tree, she stayed put, keeping watch and out of sight.
Sylvia deliberately riled Joanna up at the hospital, all to force her into contacting the hit–and–run motorcyclist who tried to run her over.
Given how intensely Joanna hated her, Sylvia was sure Joanna would reach out to him again.
Sylvia waited in her car all day, watching as daylight slowly faded into night. Just as Sylvia began to doubt whether Joanna would come out today, Joanna’s car pulled out of the villa.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Sylvia started her engine and discreetly tailed her.
It was already past eight at night. There was no way Joanna was going to a social event. Her car had left the city center and was heading toward the remote outskirts.
Sylvia followed closely behind as the wide concrete road gave way to a bumpy dirt path. Not daring to get too close, she maintained a cautious distance.
Joanna had arranged to meet the man who’d tried to run Sylvia down earlier. Their rendezvous was set in the village just ahead.
In her car sat a suitcase stuffed with cash enough to make sure Sylvia would be permanently silenced.
On either side of the dirt road were vegetable plots. A middle–aged woman had just gathered an armful of homegrown vegetables when Joanna’s car zoomed past.
The car grazed her, sending her tumbling to the ground with a startled cry.
Joanna barely glanced in the rearview mirror, showing no concern. She was nearly late for her meeting with the man, so she hurried straight into the village.
Sylvia pulled her car over and called out, /Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
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Chapter 148
Sylvia could have kept talling Joanna, maybe even caught her red–handed. But the moment she spotted a woman lying on the ground, writhing she didn’t hesitate and jumped out of her car to help.
“My leg hurts so bad,” the woman cried, clutching her leg. Her pants were torn at the knee, blood seeping through, as she kept moaning in pain.
“Let me get you to the hospital,” Sylvia
urgently, helping the woman into her car and speeding off toward the nearest ER.
man who’d tried to run Sylvia down earlier.
Meanwhile, Joanna had already met up with the
The man kept his motorcycle helmet on, his sharp eyes clouded with worry. ‘Mom went out to pick vegetables ages ago. Why isn’t she back yet?‘ he thought.
