Rising From Betrayal Reborn As The Family Outcast novel Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Leo stared at the big screen, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Then, looking utterly shaken, he turned to Kevin. “What the hell is going on?”

It finally hit him.

Kevin had been keeping things from him all along, and Alicia hadn’t been too busy to come home.

He just couldn’t understand why Alicia would want to cut ties with them.

And she’d gone so far as to make such a scene right at his birthday banquet.

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She was so publicly severing ties with them, intentionally embarassing him and the Hammond family in front of all their guests.

I’m her father! Why is she treating me like I’m her enemy?’ he thought, his heart aching.

His face turned ashen with rage, and he clutched his chest, his breath coming in short gasps. He was clearly furious.

Kevin never saw it coming-Alicia’s so-called “big surprise” was actually this bombshell.

She was dead set on cutting ties with them. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have pulled this stunt right in front of everyone.

Just as he was about to speak, someone in the crowd suddenly gasped.

“Whoa, Alicia just dropped a post on X!” someone shouted.

This person had notifications turned on for Alicia, so they got an alert every time she posted.

Someone else leaned in, curious. “What did she say? Is she dropping another bomb about cutting ties?”

The person glanced awkwardly at the Hammond family before answering. “She tagged Hammond Group and Kevin, telling them to pay back what they owe.”

The crowd gasped in shock.

Right away, people started pulling out their phones, searching up Alicia’s post on X.

After reading it, everyone had the same thought: Alicia wasn’t pulling any punches-she was absolutely savage.

Just like her last “gift”, this was another bomb dropped on the Hammond family, totally humiliating them in front of

everyone.

Of course, Leo caught that bit of conversation.

He turned to Kevin. “What’s this X post? Pull it up for me.”

He’d never bothered to sign up for X and hardly ever checked it

Whenever he went online, it was just for news or business stuff.

Even though both his daughters were in showbiz, he never really paid much attention to that world.

Kevin pulled out his phone and opened Alicia’s X page, and for a second, it felt like his heart was about to give out.

Seeing his reaction, Leo snatched the phone from him. When he saw what was on the screen, he was so mad he almost

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blacked out on the spot.

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Alicia DelaneyOfficial: You’ve been stalling on this debt for way too long. Wire the money to my account within three days, or I’ll see you in court!

She attached a copy of the shareholding agreement and a photo of the legal complaint.

And to make sure everyone saw it, she tagged Hammond Groups official X account and Kevin’s personal account.

Leo turned to Kevin, his voice shaking. “What is it this time?”

Kevin felt completely overwhelmed.

‘Alicia really knows how to make things worse-dropping this on Dad’s birthday. She’s absolutely ruthless, he thought.

Kevin could feel all eyes on them, and he finally spoke up.

“Dad, this isn’t really the best place to talk. Can we go somewhere else?” Kevin said awkwardly.

Leo couldn’t care less about the birthday celebration anymore.

He felt like he’d never been so humiliated in front of everyone in his entire life.

He grabbed the microphone. “I’m really sorry, but I need to deal with some family matters. Feel free to continue without

me!”

One of his old friends spoke up, “Go ahead, Hammond. We’ll take care of things here.”

After everything that had just happened, they could totally understand how he was feeling.

But honestly, Hammond really had trouble figuring out how to treat his real daughter and his stepdaughter.

From that video, it was obvious that his stepdaughter Nicole was clearly the favorite in the Hammond family.

And that piano her dad bought at an overseas auction just for hel-seriously, talk about flaunting it.

It was pure showing off. Imagine how Alicia, his real daughter, must feel watching all this.

Not only were they old friends with Hammond, they’d also been close with Alicia’s late mother.

They’d watched Alicia grow up.

Back then, Hammond was always showing off about how Alicia made him herbal dishes, and how he was getting healthier

thanks to her.

She even went out of her way to make soothing incense for him, so he wouldn’t have insomnia anymore.

It just showed how filial Alicia was to Hammond.

Their own sons had mentioned before that Alicia was super protective of her three brothers.

Forced by her stepmom and stepsister to publicly break off with her family, it was clear Alicia’s heart had turned completely cold-she’d given up on them for good.

Old Hammond was totally blind when it came to his own family

Leo nodded. “Sorry to trouble you all-thanks for handling things.”

He motioned for his three sons to follow and headed out.

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But after just a step, a sharp pain hit his chest. He paused, clutching at his heart.

Seeing this, Mavis rushed over to support him.

She looked at him with worry. “Honey, are you alright?”

Inside, she was fuming at Alicia.

That wretched girl is unbelievable-causing such a scene right a her father’s birthday party, she seethed.

Seeing her husband’s face go pale with anger and clutching his chest in pain, Mavis felt a stab of pain for him.

If Alicia were here right now, Mavis wouldn’t be able to stop herself from slapping her.

Back then, her family was doing alright, so she went to the same middle school as Leo.

That’s when she totally fell for him-he was rich, good-looking, and had that perfect gentleman vibe.

Too bad he didn’t even notice her at the time.

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But her feelings never faded. Instead, they just got deeper, hidden away in her heart, and she always paid attention to what he was up to.

When she realized how much effort he went to just to win over Alicia’s mom, she was eaten up with jealousy and bitterness. She even put herself through the pain of watching a video someone else had recorded of their wedding.

After that, her family just shoved her into a marriage with some ashy upstart.

At first, things seemed okay, but within a few years, her husband went bankrupt, and her own family’s fortunes crashed right along with his.

All the while, she kept a close eye on Alicia’s mom, watching her marry the man she herself loved and live a picture-perfect life, while her own situation just kept spiraling downhill.

That just made her hate Alicia’s mom even more.

When she heard Alicia’s mom had passed away, she couldn’t help but pop open a bottle of champagne to celebrate.

After that, she began scheming ways to get close to Leo.

She even got someone to lure her ex-husband into gambling, so he’d rack up a mountain of debt.

Then, while dodging debt collectors, she made sure to “accidentally” run into Leo’s car.

She told him they’d gone to middle school together and pleaded with him to help her out.

Sure enough, he helped her out. After that, she kept finding excuses to be around him, always looking for ways to stay close.

She kept reminding him that his third son and little daughter were still so young and really needed someone to care for them.

Whenever he was around, she’d act all sweet and considerate, playing up the perfect, gentle woman. Eventually, she won him over and married him, cutting ties with her ex and her family once and for all. All these years, she never lived the high life like other socialites, with spa days and endless shopping sprees.

Instead, she was the model wife, always at home. Even with a hose full of staff, she’d still roll up her sleeves and cook for

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the family herself.

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Whenever her husband had to travel overseas for work, she’d tagalong, fussing over him and making sure he had everything he needed.

Their bond only grew stronger as time went on.

All she wanted was for him to be hers and hers alone, so she did everything she could to erase any memory of Alicia’s mom from his heart.

She absolutely despised Alicia’s mom, and since Alicia looked so much like her, she couldn’t stand Alicia either.

She was dead set on making her own daughter, Nicole, the only Heiress of the Hammond family.

That’s why she always put on a show of treating Alicia even better than her own daughter, but behind closed doors, she was always plotting against Alicia.

She even tried to set Alicia up for failure by pretending to shower her with praise and favors, hoping to ruin her, but that girl was way too sharp to fall for it.

Alicia caught on to her schemes and called her out to Leo.

Fortunately, Mavis had always kept up her perfect act, so Hammond brushed off Alicia’s accusations.

After Mavis put on a tearful show, making herself look all wronged, Hammond just assumed Alicia was going through a rebellious phase.

Mavis just couldn’t bring herself to accept Alicia and her mother all because of that old grudge she held against Alicia’s

mom.

Even though she never managed to ruin Alicia, at least all the drama she and Nicole stirred up kept Alicia constantly fighting with the Hammond men.

‘If this keeps up, sooner or later those Hammond men will stop caring about Alicia altogether, Mavis thought, scheming to herself.

But who could’ve guessed that wretched girl would actually be the one to take the initiative and cut ties with the Hammond family?

Nicole had already told her about it, and the Hammond brothers were deliberately keeping their father in the dark.

So she’d been helping cover it up, making sure her husband stayed clueless.

She’d thought the same as the Hammond brothers-that Alicia was just bluffing, using the whole “cutting ties” thing as a bargaining chip.

‘Alicia’s the Hammond Group heiress-there’s no way she’d ever walk away from that title, Mabel scoffed to herself, certain Alicia would never let go of such a privileged identity.

She’d planned to wait for the perfect opportunity, then tell her husband about Alicia’s threats to cut ties, just to make him completely disappointed in his daughter.

But she never imagined Alicia would actually go through with it let alone announce it in front of everyone at his birthday banquet.

This was way beyond anything she’d calculated, and now things were spiraling out of her control.

Leo shook his head at her. “I’m fine. You and Nicole go back and keep entertaining the guests.”

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He couldn’t just leave everyone hanging like this.

Of course, Mavis was itching to tag along and see what Hammond and his sons would say.

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She wanted to watch how her husband reacted to Alicia-maybe he’d finally snap and just disown her right then and there.

If he didn’t, she’d be right there, ready to egg things on and use this mess to make sure Alicia was kicked out of the Hammond family for good.

But she’d always been the devoted wife, putting her husband first no matter what.

With him saying that, she couldn’t say a word about following him.

She forced a smile and said, trying to sound calm despite her annoyance, “Alright, just call me if you need anything.”

She could only watch as her husband and the Hammond brothers walked away.

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