Return of the Crowned Heiress (Felicia) novel Chapter 5

"Stay away! Don't come near me!" Kayla screamed. Terrified, she hid behind Myra.

Myra couldn't bear seeing Kayla in distress and immediately ordered the maids and bodyguards in the mansion to hold the intruders back.

However, that just made things worse. Howell swung his fist at the staff, and Tabitha, with all her audacity, started pulling her clothes off. She threatened them, saying, "Go ahead, touch me if you dare! I'll accuse you of molesting me!"

The staff had seen difficult people before, but never anyone this shameless. Faced with such a scene, the bodyguards hesitated to act, and soon, the entire mansion echoed with Tabitha's sharp, grating voice.

Even Myra, who was usually composed, couldn't take it anymore. Her face hardened as she snapped, "Enough! Just tell me how much you want!"

Seeing that they had the upper hand, Howell stopped hitting people, and Tabitha stopped tearing her clothes off.

Shawn stepped forward with a smirk. "50 million dollars. Give us 50 million, and we'll leave right now. I promise you'll never see us again."

50 million?

Everyone except Felicia gasped. They had seen greed before, but never at this level.

"Absolutely not!" Dexter was furious. It wasn't about the money. He simply refused to be extorted.

Shawn sneered at his reply and said, "Well, then, let's go, Mom, Dad. We'll just take my sister and leave! Do you think being the richest man in town means you can hold our family hostage?"

Exactly. It was only right to take their daughter back. Without hesitation, Howell and Tabitha rushed forward and grabbed Kayla, refusing to let go.

Myra was beside herself with worry. Instinctively, she looked over at Felicia, who had been sitting quietly the entire time. After all, this was her adoptive family for 18 years. Couldn't she say something to stop this madness?

Felicia was looking back at her with an expression filled with disappointment, coldness, and hurt. Maybe Myra didn't realize it herself, but in that moment, her frustration and disappointment in Felicia were more painful than she knew.

Felicia almost wanted to laugh, but all she felt was a wave of bitterness.

Myra had witnessed firsthand just how vile that family was. Yet her first instinct was to protect Kayla from being taken, to feel anger at Felicia for not helping, rather than to feel compassion for her biological daughter, who had been raised in such a family for 18 years.

18 years, during which Felicia had longed countless times for a loving gaze from her parents, only to receive nothing but beatings from Howell and Tabitha. Finally, after her real mother had finally found her, all her attention and care were still directed at someone else.

In her previous life, and now in this one, the love she had craved was still nothing but a dream.

Myra, stung by the look Felicia gave her, felt a pang of regret. She opened her mouth to say something. However, before she could, Felicia stood up and walked over toward Howell and Tabitha to stop them.

"Let her go. I'll go back with you," Felicia said calmly.

Kayla, desperate to be rid of them, eagerly nodded in agreement. "Yes, yes, that's right. Blood ties don't matter as much as the bonds that were formed. My true parents are the ones who raised me, and I intend to honor them. I don't want anything to do with these people!"

Before anyone could react, Myra's voice broke the silence, almost hysterical. "No!"

Felicia smiled bitterly. "Kayla is right. The ones who raised me are the ones I am indebted to, so I should be the one to leave."

No one could have everything in life, but Myra wanted it all. She couldn't bear to lose either the daughter she had raised for 18 years or her biological child.

"Fine! 50 million it is," Myra snarled, grabbing a pen and swiftly writing a check before throwing it at them. "Take this and get out! And remember this: from now on, you have no connection to my daughter whatsoever! Got it?"

"Yes, yes. We got it!" Shawn said, his face lighting up with joy as he held the check. His hands shook as he counted the zeroes.

However, Kayla panicked, clinging to Myra's arm and pleading as she always did when she wanted something. "Mom, let Felicia go with them! We can just leave things the way they are. That way, no one's life has to change. Isn't that better?"

For a moment, Myra thought she must have misheard. That suggestion was ridiculous, but looking at Kayla's teary, pleading face, she couldn't help but relent.