The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella) novel Chapter 2059

"What do I want?" Yolanda cackled wildly, her voice thick with malice. "You've ruined my life, destroyed my family. What do you think I want to do?"

"If you're out for revenge, let them go," Arabella said calmly, her eyes locked on Yolanda's. "This is between us. There's no need to involve innocent people."

"You think I don't see through your little games, Arabella? Do you think this is my first rodeo? Guards, tie her up!"

Perhaps fearing Arabella might not comply, Yolanda pressed the blade of a switchblade against Joyce's throat. "If you don't cooperate, she dies!"

"Murder carries a heavy price," Arabella warned.

"Better to drag a few down with me than to wander alone as a lost soul," Yolanda shot back.

Two henchmen stepped forward and bound Arabella's hands behind her back, tying them tight and secure.

Yolanda's maniacal laughter morphed into sobs as tears welled up in her eyes. She screamed into the void, "Dad, Mom, can you see this? This wretch is in my hands now. Watch closely from heaven because today, she will pay! She will kneel and beg for your forgiveness!"

Tears streamed down Joyce and Mya's faces as they shook their heads, their muffled cries a testament to their unwillingness to see Arabella suffer.

Yolanda's eyes blazed with hate. "You're a Collins now, aren't you? So why the need to grind us into dust? Why couldn't you leave us a sliver of hope? That old fool left her entire fortune to you, a stranger, and not a penny to her own son or grandchildren."

She was beside herself with rage. "If she weren't so cold-hearted, would we be in this mess? You want revenge for her, but what right do you have? You plunged us into deep debt, got my parents executed, turned me into a laughingstock. You ruined my engagement party, my future, all the happiness I could've had. And you? You just waltz back into town, throwing your fancy comeback parties?"

Her foster mother had been a cleaner for years to support her. Even after the Murphy family's fall and the mountain of debt, Yvonne never abandoned her, offering the warmth of a home.

No, it must be Arabella's deceit!

"How can my foster mother compare to my own parents? She's just a stranger with no blood ties! She was childless, and I graced her with eighteen years of calling her 'Mom'. She should be grateful!"

Arabella stared, somewhat speechless. "Do you think raising a child is easy? If she just wanted company, why not find a friend? Why pick up a newborn and struggle to raise her?"

"Don't change the subject—it's all your fault she's suffering now!" Yolanda, seething, brandished the knife at Arabella.