When Two Winters Met (Henrietta and Yosef) novel Chapter 259

Henrietta answered the call.

Pamela fell silent but continued to hold the kitchen knife towards Henrietta, her face a mask of tear-streaked injustice, as if she were the one being wronged. She seemed to have forgotten all the times she had shamelessly fawned over Henrietta; now she stood ready to attack her. Henrietta, however, remained impassive, completely unfazed.

On the other end of the line, Yosef's voice came through. "I'm almost at your office."

Henrietta paused. He was off work this early?

"I'm not at the office," she said.

"Where are you?"

"At my villa."

"Alright. I'm on my way," Yosef said. "See you in a bit."

Henrietta was a little surprised. He was coming over? "Okay. See you soon," she replied and hung up.

Pamela immediately grew tense. She'd heard from Matteo that Henrietta's new husband was an incredibly powerful man, the kind who could decide a person's fate with a single word. "Don't... don't think we'll be scared just because you're calling a man for backup!" Pamela howled. "You can't take this house! It's not right!"

"That's right!" Dexter chimed in. "Henrietta, you were together for years. Matteo even gave you all his savings! If you take the house back, where will he live? He's a famous actor! What will people think if he doesn't even have a villa? Aren't you supposed to be making him an international superstar? If so, shouldn't you let him live here? It's the least you could do! You have more houses than you can count, all of them mansions! Why do you have to be so cruel, so heartless?"

As he spoke, he began to cry, tears and snot running down his face. Pamela clutched the knife tighter. "Exactly! You were practically married! Don't be so ruthless, Henrietta! You have more houses than you can live in, what's wrong with letting Matteo have one? You owe him that! You're his boss, it's your duty to provide him with a luxury home!"

The couple's words shocked Winona and Charlotte. "You two shameless old fools," Charlotte snapped. "Just because Henrietta has a lot of houses, she's supposed to just give one away?"

Ignoring the couple's hysterics, Henrietta said calmly, "I have a lot of money, too. By your logic, does that mean I should just give it to you?"

"I-I never said that!" Pamela stammered. "Anyway, this house isn't just yours! Taking it back is robbery! You elitists with your high-priced lawyers, you’re all heartless monsters! I won't let you get away with this! Over my dead body!"

With that, Pamela pressed the knife to her own throat. "Oh, the heavens are cruel!" she wailed. "The ex-girlfriend is trying to kill her ex-boyfriend's entire family! Just let me die! She's going to throw us out on the street! How can you bully us like this? Just kill me, Henrietta! If I die, I’ll spend eternity making sure you pay for what you’ve done to my son!"

Faced with this dramatic display, Henrietta remained perfectly calm. "Make sure you hold that steady," she said. "And when you make the cut, pick a good spot so you die quickly."

He paused, then continued, "The card I gave you last time had eight or nine million on it, enough to buy this place outright. So let's figure out what the house is worth now. After we split it, you can return the extra money from my card to me."

Hendrietta raised an eyebrow. "That money was owed to me. You earned it all because of me. Without me, could you have earned eight or nine million? You'd be lucky to have earned eighty or ninety thousand."

Matteo glared at her. "Even if I earned it with your help, it was still my labor. Have I not been serious about my acting all these years? Have I ever failed to cooperate with a commercial event? How can you claim it's all yours?"

"Originally, I gave you that money to show my loyalty. I was willing to give you everything I had because I loved you and I wanted us to reconcile and get married. But now... you're married to someone else. So naturally, you should return my money!"

Hendrietta chuckled. "You've certainly done the math. Let me ask you, this villa was purchased for eight million. Did you contribute a single penny?"

Matteo scowled. "No."

"Alright," Henrietta continued. "The renovations cost over three million. Did you contribute a single penny to that?"

Matteo's face darkened. "Even if the total is eleven million, if we split it, you'd still owe me four or five million, wouldn't you?"