Family on Their Knees Heart Turned to Ice novel Chapter 1571

"A marriage alliance? Wow, I haven't heard that phrase applied to me in a long time."

Lillian stared out the window. Her first marriage to Sebastian Blake certainly hadn't been an alliance.

If they were going strictly by status, the Mercer family's declining pedigree didn't even qualify to shine the shoes of the elite Blake family.

Yet, the elder Blakes had been incredibly fond of her. When they discussed the marriage, the dowry and assets they transferred to her far exceeded what a standard corporate alliance would have demanded.

And now, her relationship with Leonard Prescott was lightyears away from a business transaction.

Brandon had devised a million desperate schemes to save the Mercer Group, but surprisingly, pimping himself or his brother out for a wealthy wife was never one of them.

It seemed the Mercer brothers simply lacked the wiring for romance. Or perhaps they were just acutely aware of their utter lack of charm.

From childhood, their entire existence had been consumed by the corporate ladder. They craved absolute control, extreme wealth, and a pristine public reputation. Women were completely off their radar.

They were clueless when it came to dating, and they had zero ambition to improve.

—

At the hospital.

Bella Ward had just burned through another massive sum of money to suppress the Media Smear Campaign online. She barely had any funds left of her own; the money she was bleeding now came straight from the $5 Million War Chest she had coaxed out of Brandon.

Every time she refreshed her feed, vicious comments mocking her popped up. The most infuriating part was that every single trending topic inevitably led back to praising Lillian.

The thought of Lillian living a flawless, glamorous life made Bella physically sick.

Why did Lillian get to thrive while Bella's life was spiraling into a living hell?

She had been backed into a corner, completely desperate. She had meticulously plotted this entire scheme, thinking she had finally carved out a lifeline for herself.

Yet somehow, all she had done was build a pedestal for Lillian, launching her rival's public reputation into the stratosphere.

Bella couldn't swallow the humiliation. The injustice of it was tearing her apart.

She sat on the hospital bed, aggressively gnawing on her fingernails, radiating toxic anxiety.

Seeing her daughter spiraling, Sabrina Ward felt a sharp knot of worry.

"Bella, why do you look so miserable? You're inches away from total victory.

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