Queen of Wild Cards novel Chapter 376

Julius was fully aware of exactly what had transpired that night. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have been able to produce a doctored video so flawless that forensics experts couldn't debunk it.

Since three days had passed without the video leaking to the press, Byron finally understood Julius's unspoken message.

The message was clear: Keep your daughter on a tight leash, or I will destroy you!

It was a terrifying display of dominance. Julius was not a man anyone should dare cross.

"I understand, Dad. I'll go up to my room," Yvonne mumbled, her tone defeated.

On the surface, she submitted to her father's orders. But deep down, the jealousy continued to fester.

Why did that small-town nobody get everything Yvonne had ever wanted, handed to her on a silver platter?

Julius was supposed to marry her.

A venomous thought took root in her mind: If only Stella Hawthorne didn't exist.

...

Compared to Yvonne, Rhoda Ford was living a true nightmare.

She had spent the last five days alone in a hospital bed. Not a single member of the Ford family had come to see her.

When she first woke up, the nurses told her that her father had dropped her off, only to storm out in a blind rage shortly after.

Unaware of what had caused his reaction, she waited until she felt slightly better before texting Yvonne.

It was through Yvonne that she finally learned why her father was furious.

She also learned just how ruthlessly Julius protected Stella.

Laying in the sterile hospital room, Rhoda replayed every single encounter she had ever had with Stella. A chilling realization washed over her: she had never won. Not once.

Instead, every single confrontation had ended with Rhoda suffering a devastating loss.

At the Ember Bar, she and Chloe Hawthorne ended up swallowing their own poison and losing their dignity;

At Shirley & Co. Jewelers and Crestview Plaza, she ended up hospitalized;

Without her, none of this would have happened!

Without her, Rhoda could have at least maintained her decent, comfortable life as a Ford, holding onto the title of a wealthy heiress.

After finalizing her discharge papers, she walked out of the hospital doors.

Since she was barred from the Ford estate, her only other option was to seek out her biological mother.

But the thought of returning to a life of poverty made her skin crawl.

She decided she would go back to the Ford estate to beg her father for mercy. If she could stay, perfect. If not, she would at least pack her belongings and smuggle out as many valuables as possible before leaving.

If her father refused, she could always throw herself at her grandfather's feet.

As long as she remained a Ford, she still had a chance to marry into power. If she went back to her biological mother, her future was officially dead.

No matter what, she wasn't going to let go of the Ford family easily.

What she didn't know yet was that returning was no longer an option. Franklin Ford had already officially erased her from the family registry. She was no longer acknowledged as a daughter of the Fords.