Hadley fixated her gaze on the television with a cigar dangling from her lips. She was ignoring Emily’s presence completely.
Her expression was unreadable.
Emily was about to break the silence when Madeleine barged in. “Emily Clemons, I’m warning you now. You better do as I said, or else I’ll no longer regard you as my daughter...”
Madeleine trailed off when she noticed Hadley’s presence.
“There’s a thief! A thief has broken into our house!” The room was filled with Madeleine’s screams.
“Emily, get hold of her! I’ll guard the door!”
“You thief! I’m warning you! Give us one hundred thousand hush money, or we’ll send you to the police station...”
Emily was utterly speechless.
My mom’s first reaction when she encounters a thief is to blackmail for money...
Are you kidding me?
“Mom, she’s not a thief. She’s Hadley Murphy,” Emily reminded Madeleine.
Madeleine studied Hadley closely and she was surprised. “Mm? You’re really the tranny. What are you doing in my house?”
What?!
Hadley’s anger suddenly spiked.
How dare this countrywoman jeer at my sexuality and call me a tranny!
I can’t take this anymore!
Hadley hurled her cigar towards Madeleine and roared with rage, “Shut the fuck up!”
The burning end of the cigar found its way directly into Madeleine’s mouth, causing her to shriek in pain.
“Stop it!” Emily shielded her mother from the wrath of Hadley. “Hadley Murphy, why are you here?”
Hadley calmed herself down and returned to her seat on the sofa.
Damn... I destroyed my glorious image because of Madeleine Clemons...
Hadley drew a deep breath and said, “I came to offer you a deal and see if you’re interested to cooperate with me.”
“What kind of a deal?” asked Emily.
Hadley flashed a devilish smile. “A deal to destroy Zeke Williams’ reputation. I believe you’re unwilling to leave Rivermouth, and neither do you want your brother to spend the rest of his life in jail. Can you imagine your enemy living happily ever after while you’re suffering?”
“I can help you,” Hadley persuaded.
Emily took a deep breath and said, “Why should I trust you?”
“Why?” Hadley scoffed, “Because I’m Zeke Williams’ enemy as well. Is this reason good enough?”
Emily hesitated.
Or rather, she was afraid.
She was totally intimidated by Zeke Williams’ power and capability.
She didn’t dare to put up resistance against him.
Hadley sighed in disappointment and walked toward the door. “Forget it. You’re hopeless. I’m just wasting my time here. I’ll let you be. You just do as you wish. It doesn’t matter to me anyway; I’ll eat humble pie at most. But if Zeke is not dead, you will be led by the nose for the rest of your life.”
Emily panicked when she saw Hadley walking out of the door.
This might be my last chance to get rid of Zeke Williams.
Emily knew she couldn’t afford to let the opportunity slip. “Hey, I’m in.”
Hadley was pleased to hear that. “Great, looks like we have a deal here. Let’s go, we need to plan things out.”
“Wait!” The two were about to leave when Madeleine stopped Hadley.
“All this while my daughter is the one who takes care of me. If she leaves with you, then who’s gonna take care of me? Who’s gonna bring me food? I’ll starve to death.”
“Look, you’re rich and you even gave those hooligans one billion. I mean... As an act of charity, I think you should give me some money.”
Emily had never felt so disgusted in her life when looking at her mother’s face that spelled pure greed.
How could she even say the words ‘act of charity’? She is stooping so low to even disregard her honor for money.
Hadley was stunned by Madeleine’s brazenness. “I wonder how is it possible for someone like you to have such a beautiful daughter...”
“She could have been a lovely princess, but too bad you nurture her into a shallow young lady.”
Hadley fished out a credit card from her pocket and threw it onto the ground. “Buy yourself some food. I don’t want your daughter to blame me for your death.”
Madeleine picked up the credit card and bootlicked Hadley, “Thank you. Thank you.”
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