The Scorned Heiress: No More Mercy novel Chapter 266

Charles's face twists with pure resentment as he fully buys into Jade's narrative. "I swear, she was born to curse me. I regret the day we ever brought her back!"

He has already accepted Jade as his perfect, obedient daughter. As far as he is concerned, an untamable, rebellious blood-daughter like Tara is entirely expendable.

"How can you say that?" Deanna frowns, suddenly uncomfortable with her husband's harshness. "Tara might be stubborn, but she isn't entirely at fault here!"

She crosses her arms, defending her biological child. "Her movie is doing incredibly well. And honestly, she clearly doesn't care about Evan anymore. Jade's crazy fans attacked her first. Is she not allowed to clear her own name?"

Deanna knows she favors Jade, but Tara is still her flesh and blood. And frankly, the entire Dennis and Jewell families would have to be blind not to see how thoroughly Tara has moved on. If Tara actually wanted Evan back, Lana wouldn't have been groveling at Deanna's feet for weeks, and Jake wouldn't have had to work so hard to push Evan and Jade together.

"Mom is right, Dad. It's my fault for not controlling my fans. They provoked Tara, and she felt backed into a corner," Jade weeps, looking at Charles with wide, innocent eyes. "I'll hold a press conference. I'll publicly apologize and clear Tara's name. I'll even have my assistants discipline the fan clubs behind the scenes. If I have to, I'll disband them completely."

"Just fix this mess. As long as the shareholders stop breathing down my neck, I don't care how you handle it," Charles snaps. Exhausted and disgusted, he turns and storms upstairs.

The massive living room falls into a suffocating silence. The air is thick with unresolved tension and unspoken blame. A few press releases aren't going to make this nightmare disappear.