The Scorned Heiress: No More Mercy novel Chapter 469

Deanna is already teetering on the edge of a breakdown over the humiliating public scandal. Now, watching her second son intimately cradle his adopted sister's face, the last thread of her sanity snaps. Her rage ignites into a full-blown inferno.

"Let go of her!" Deanna screams, her voice echoing off the vaulted ceilings. "You are a grown man! What do you think you're doing, holding your sister's face like that? Have you lost your mind?"

No wonder the public is ripping them apart. They haven't even been home for five minutes, and they are already slipping into these suffocatingly ambiguous dynamics.

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Nikolai argues, completely baffled by her outburst. "What's the big deal? This is how we've always acted. Did someone whisper some garbage in your ear and make you paranoid?"

The shouting draws Alec from his upstairs bedroom. He rushes down the staircase, cutting off Nikolai's defense. "Nikolai, you just got back, so you probably don't realize how bad it is. The whole internet is dissecting how inappropriately close you guys act with Jade. It's a massive scandal. You need to back off and stop giving people ammunition."

Nikolai frowns, still stubbornly dismissive. "I saw the articles on the ride back. It's just a bunch of trolls spinning lies. Why should we care? We've acted like this our whole lives. I don't see the problem. It's just people making a huge deal out of nothing."

"You still think there's no problem?!" Deanna shrieks, her blood pressure skyrocketing. For days, she has endured the polite sneers and thinly veiled mockery of the elite society wives. She has been the laughingstock of her social circle, and her son's blind ignorance is pushing her over the edge.

"Not on purpose?" Deanna presses, her tone sharp. "Then why is it that every time Jake and Lucinda tried to spend time together, you somehow managed to wedge yourself right in the middle? Once or twice is a coincidence. Every single time is just calculated."

Jade's heart drops into her stomach. Did something happen while she was filming? Why is Deanna suddenly bringing up Jake and Lucinda?

Fighting the rising panic, Jade keeps her expression flawlessly innocent. "Mom, I really didn't mean to. You know how fragile my health used to be. My brothers were always looking out for me, so we just naturally stuck together. There has to be some kind of misunderstanding. Please, Mom, if you think this is not okay, I'll change. I promise."