The Wife He Dumped, The Queen She Returned As novel Chapter 268

"Go to hell! Aren't you embarrassed to be acting like this at your age?"

Belle was so furious her face turned beet red. "If your nephew is so damn perfect, go crawl back to him! Why are you harassing Chloe!"

Chloe was completely numb to this flavor of manipulation and moral blackmail. Swallowing the bile rising in her throat, she grabbed Belle's arm.

"It's not worth blowing a gasket over someone like this. Let's go."

Linda panicked and lunged forward, trying to grab Chloe again.

"Where do you think you're going?! I haven't even finished talking and you're already trying to run! No matter what you say, I am your biological mother!"

Chloe's ice-cold demeanor sent a spike of primal fear through Linda. Realizing she was losing control, she hastily softened her tone.

"Chloe, fine. Mom admits I didn't treat you right before. I failed you..."

"But that's all in the past! Mom knows she was wrong. Now I know who really cares about me, who my real family is! From now on, I'll make it up to you. I'll treat you twice as well, okay?"

"At the end of the day, you're a piece of my own flesh! How could a mother not love her daughter?"

"She doesn't need your love!" Belle simply couldn't hold back. "You'll never get another chance..."

Halfway through the sentence, she realized what she was saying and immediately snapped her mouth shut.

"What do you mean, no chance?" Linda looked at Chloe in sheer panic. "What is she talking about? What are you scheming?"

Chloe met Linda's eyes and delivered her words like ice. "Didn't Preston give you money?"

The mere mention of Preston made Linda erupt. She immediately started playing the victim.

"That Preston looks all polite, but he is an absolute monster!"

"He did pay Leon a massive chunk of money that day, but before we even stepped out of the precinct, his lawyer chased us down and snatched every last cent back! He said we signed some garbage Non-Harassment Agreement, and if I ever showed my face around you again, I'd owe him a fortune in breach of contract!"

"Isn't that the most absurd thing you've ever heard?! A mother visiting her own daughter is a basic human right! Who does he think he is, forcing me into a rigged contract?! By what authority is he sticking his nose into our family business?!"

Linda's face lit up instantly. "Yes! Great! You're such a good girl. Mom will wait right here!"

As she watched Chloe's slender figure walk away, Linda felt a bizarre, inexplicable twinge in her chest. It felt like a tiny needle prick—a vague, unplaceable ache.

She truly hadn't expected Chloe to agree so effortlessly.

Her mind involuntarily flashed back to Leon's cold, dead eyes in the hospital.

When the loan sharks threatened to drag her off to a shady nightclub to pay off the debt, Leon hadn't said a single word in her defense. He had actually taken a few steps backward to distance himself...

Tears pricked the corners of Linda's eyes.

Turns out, her daughter wasn't entirely useless after all.

From today on, she promised herself she would make up for everything she had put Chloe through. They would finally stick together and rely on each other.