Rising From Betrayal Reborn As The Family Outcast novel Chapter 143

Chapter 143

After hearing what Leo said, Mavis let out a bitter laugh.

She sneered, “So you think you’ve done us every kindness, and that we’ve come out ahead, huh?”

Suddenly, she ripped up the divorce agreement and threw the scraps at him. “I never thought you could be so ruthless and heartless.

“You want a divorce? No way.”

She was absolutely furious, her chest felt like it was being ripped apart.

‘If it were Celia asking for a divorce, would he really leave her with nothing?

‘He’d never be this cold to Celia, but he’s got no problem being this heartless to me.

She was about to lose her mind from anger.

Leo’s face grew even colder. “I’ve got stacks of divorce papers. Tear up as many as you like-it won’t make a difference.”

Mavis glared at him. “I’m not agreeing to a divorce. I’m not signing anything.

“Hand me another, and I’ll rip it up too. Try me if you don’t believe it.”

Mavis was only refusing the divorce to keep her husband on the hook-she needed more time, so she could eventually transfer all the money to herself and Nicole without anyone questioning it.

Leo let out a cold laugh. “You think ripping up the agreement is going to intimidate me?

“Did you forget? If we don’t settle this with the agreement, we can always go to court and get divorced that way.

“If you really want to embarrass yourself, I’m all for it.

“If you won’t sign, then I’ll see you in court!”

Back when he still had feelings for her, Leo was willing to indulge her and put up with all her drama.

But now, she’d used up every last bit of his patience.

‘She really thinks refusing to sign the papers is going to threaten me? What a joke, Leo snorted to himself.

Mavis was so mad at Leo that she felt like she was about to pass out. “How could you treat me like this? Why? L…”

She was crying and yelling, snatching up everything on the coffee table and flinging it at Leo.

She kept sneaking glances at the incense burner sitting on the cabinet behind him.

The incense was still burning while she kept throwing things and freaking out.

Leo had never seen his once gentle and virtuous wife completely lose it like this before. His face turned even colder.

If he’d known she could be like this, he never would’ve let her into his life.

He stood up and said, “I don’t have time for your nonsense. Calm yourself down.

“If you keep acting out and burn through the last bit of my patience, you and Nicole will be kicked out with nothing.”

He threatened, “Whatever I gave you, I can snatch right back.”

With that, he left with a cold, expressionless face.

As the incense finally burned out, Mavis collapsed onto the floor, staring blankly at his fading silhouette.

It felt like she’d been transported back in time, to that day years ago when she’d finally gathered the courage to confess her feelings to him.

She’d stepped forward, hoping to stop him, but without even glancing her way, he brushed past and walked out.

All she could do was watch his back as he left, her courage vanishing-she just couldn’t bring herself to chase after him.

‘Why does he have to treat me this way? I love him-doesn’t he see that?’ Mavis thought, her heart twisting in pain.

The more she thought about it, the worse it hurt-her chest felt like it was being torn apart. She just couldn’t hold back anymore and burst into tears.

Nicole heard her mom crying and hurried downstairs, only to find the living room looked like a war zone, with shreds of the divorce agreement littering the floor.

She rushed over to help her mom up. “Mom, don’t let him get to you.

“If he’s going to be that cold, you don’t have to go easy on him either.”

Then she leaned in close to her mom’s ear and whispered, “Is it done?”

Mavis knew exactly what she meant and nodded. “He breathed it all in.”

Nicole’s biological father told them to play it safe and have a backup plan.

If the food didn’t do the trick, they’d go with the incense instead.

She’d been pretty sure of herself-after all, they’d been married for years, and she’d cooked a nice dinner hoping they could part ways peacefully. She figured he’d at least go along with it.

But she never thought he’d be so suspicious of her.

Yeah, she’d tampered with the food, but the way he turned her down still stung.

Good thing she’d listened to her real dad and lit the spiked incense in the living room.

Incense was always burning in their house anyway, so nobody would ever suspect a thing.

Nicole breathed a little easier and gave her mom a reassuring hug. “Don’t cry, Mom. Next time you see him, he’ll be the one begging for your forgiveness.”

Mavis clenched her jaw. “Damn right. I’ll make him crawl back to me, desperate and helpless-he won’t be able to live without me.”

Her real dad had said that once Leo breathed in the incense, it’d kick in after about two days-he’d be desperate and totally helpless.

“With him out of the picture, your ex-dad finally got to marry your mom.

“He did come out for about a month during that time, and that’s when he hooked up with Mavis. After that, he got called back home again.

“By the time he came out again, Mavis had already married your dad.

“But when he came out that time, he probably called in favors and had people keeping an eye on Mavis the whole time.

“No way she could’ve married your ex-dad that easily without Julian giving her a push from the shadows.

“He used his medical skills to either buy people off or blackmail them, turning them into his own puppets.

“He even managed to get the closest confidants of your ex-dad and brothers under his thumb.

“I suspect he’s already planted some of his own agents inside Hammond Group.

“His goal is either to take over Hammond Group for himself or to ruin it completely.”

Jason’s voice dropped, cold and dangerous. “And he wants to utterly destroy the Hammond family-make sure they’re left in

ruins.”

Alicia’s eyes darkened. “So that’s how it all fits together.”

‘So Julian was the one who killed me in my last life.

‘After I was gone, the rest of the Hammond family probably got destroyed too,’ she thought, a bitter chill running through her.

“Is there any real proof he’s done something illegal?” Alicia asked, her eyes narrowing.

“He’s a real piece of work-covers his tracks like a pro,” Jason said. “But I’ll keep digging and see what I can turn up.

Someone this dangerous, who’s a threat to Alicia, can’t be allowed to run loose.

They weren’t going to resort to murder, so they had to dig up enough evidence to send Julian to prison.

Alicia said, “Thanks, I’m counting on you!”

She wasn’t about to just sit back and do nothing either.

After she hung up, Alicia waited around for a bit, and soon enough, the paternity test results finally came in.

Sure enough, her ex-dad and Julian turned out to be blood relatives.

She snapped a pic of the results and sent it straight to Kevin’s phone.

Since Julian was trouble the Hammond family brought on themselves, there was no way Alicia was going to take him down solo-they all had to team up for this.

The real fight with Julian was just getting started. Now it was game on-let’s see who’s left standing when the dust settles.