Family on Their Knees Heart Turned to Ice novel Chapter 1371

It made zero sense. Lillian shouldn't know anything about the kidnapping.

Even the amputation video had been scrubbed from the dark web shortly after it went live, thanks to Sebastian paying the ransom.

There was no way it was just a coincidence that Lillian had seen it.

Did Lillian actually know the truth?

In the past, Bella never viewed Lillian as a threat, but Lillian's status had evolved drastically. She couldn't underestimate her anymore. So, Bella began to dig.

"Mom, what exactly did that woman say?"

Sabrina quickly relayed Lillian's sarcastic, probing comments verbatim.

Bella took a deep breath, her mind racing. Based on those quotes, it was impossible to tell if Lillian possessed hard evidence or if she was just bluffing to terrorize them.

"Mom, ignore her," Bella scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. "She just wants to watch us burn. Even if we had nothing to do with it, she's intentionally planting seeds of doubt in Dad and Brandon's heads.

"She can't stand seeing us succeed. She knows we're major Shareholders in the Mercer Group, and if she returns to save the company, we'll end up getting rich off her hard work. It eats her alive.

"So she's deliberately driving a wedge before she agrees to come back."

Sabrina naturally followed her daughter's logic, finding comfort in it. But then reality slammed back into her.

"But Bella," Sabrina whispered frantically. "Debbie was in your custody.

"If you didn't hurt her, who did?

"Where is she? Bella, please stop lying to me. You checked out of the old safe house, so where are you keeping her now?

"Just let me see her with my own two eyes so I know she's safe, and I'll drop all of this. Please."

"Mom... I don't want to lie to you," Bella finally confessed, her voice dropping. "Debbie had an accident.

"And no, she isn't in my hands anymore. She fell into the hands of the casino people.

"The reason I haven't been at the office is that I'm losing my mind. The Blood-Debt Vultures are relentlessly hunting me down for the loan, and I have no money to pay them!

"Sebastian is filing for divorce, and he's using The $1 Salary Clause so he doesn't have to give me a single dime.

"I'm too stressed to even think about work."

Bella unloaded a massive barrage of information all at once.

If Sabrina had maintained her sharp focus, she would have realized this rapid-fire dumping of crises was just another classic manipulation tactic to divert her attention.

But the moment the words "debt" and "not a single dime" hit the air, panic hijacked Sabrina's brain. She was instantly swept away by Bella's engineered hysteria.