Chapter 8
“No way! Graham, didn’t you say you run the Whitmore family?”
“How did the power end up in the hands of some little con artist?”
I didn’t even bother to look at her.
Instead, I ordered someone to pull up the security footage from the
Wate.
T
The footage showed Graham gripping my mother by the throat, cutting her off from every line of communication–and dangling news about me like a weapon to break her.
“If you want your daughter to come back alive,” his voice dripped with menace, “you’ll keep quiet. Text the old man. Tell him to hand me full control of the company.”
“Otherwise… start planning her funeral.”
1
My jaw clenched. I grabbed a fistful of his hair and spoke flatly, “This is how you break my mother? A kept husband who beats his wife and keeps a mistress?”
Graham scrambled for an excuse.
“It was Claudia–she came on to me! Sweetheart, I was just… I lost my head-
〃
I shoved a balled–up napkin into his mouth.
My gaze shifted to my four brothers.
“You’ve spent years pushing Mom around stealing from her, handing her things over to Claudia like she’s
royalty.
“Every ounce of comfort and status you’ve enjoyed came from the Whitmore name. And you still had the
to
I had paper and pen brought in on the spot.
”
hem. Mo
way?”
“I’m removing you from the family trust.”
Damien scoffed. “You can’t do that. You’re just our little sister–you don’t have the authority to-
The man in the tailored suit backhanded him so hard a tooth flew.
“Mr. Howard Whitmore said,” he growled, “the Whitmore property is hers now. She can do whatever she damn well pleases.”
The color drained from their faces.
They started to beg.
“Serena, we’re family–you can’t-”
I waved a hand, releasing them.
They took it as a sign I’d gone soft, snapping right back into that smug, entitled posture.
“Sure, you’re running things now,” one of them said, “but you’re too young to start throwing your weight around. What you should do
is-”
“Only one of you stays in this family,” I cut in, voice like ice. “The rest–out.”
“And those two women? They’re an eyesore. Get rid of them, and maybe I’ll be in a better mood.”
Graham’s eyes darkened.
In a flash, he was swinging at Brielle and her mother.
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The room erupted into chaos.
Over the years, they’d made enemies everywhere they went. Without the Whitmore name to shield them, there was only one way this ended–for them to wind up dead.
While they fought among themselves, I quietly saw the guests out. But the ones who had spoken against my mother–or laid a hand on her—those I marked down, every last one of them, for the day I’d settle the score.
When it was over, Graham was the only one conscious.
He crawled toward us like a dog.
“şeren,” he panted, “I’m the one who stayed, right? Right?”
I smiled faintly as someone looped a collar around his neck.
“You told your darling daughter to treat my mother like a dog,” I said, stay–as the guard dog.”
Brielle was my age.
my
H
Felcv. “You want to stay in the Whitmore house? Then
Which meant Graham had been cheating while my mother was pregnant.
And the moment left for college overseas, he’d moved the mistress and her daughter into our home. With my useless brothers running interference, they could have destroyed my mother completely–and used the same tricks on me when I came back.
d
If Graham’s rivals hadn’t gone after Claudia–digging for leverage to bring him down–and discovered she wasn’t even a Whitmore, I never would’ve known. They sent me the footage, and only then did I see what my mother had been living through.
HE
The rest of them were left battered and barely able to stand.
I didn’t call an ambulance, Instead, I sent them—along with the footage of the fight–straight to the police.
There were plenty of people behind bars who had scores to settle with them. Let’s see if they walked out alive.
When it was finally quiet, I pulled my mother into my arms.
Her body felt too thin, her bones too sharp. My eyes stung, and tears slipped free before I could stop them. She still tried to brush them
away.
“Mom… do you think I’m cruel?” I asked softly.
“No,” she murmured. “This is the only way to make sure you’re never hurt again.
“Then you’ll never be hurt again, either.”
I took her back to the estate, cleared out every last traitor, brought in a private doctor to treat her injuries, and stayed by her side until she fell asleep.
Within weeks, a string of small and mid–sized companies went under–every one of them tied to guests from Claudia’s birthday party.
I glanced at the news on my phone and allowed myself a slow, satisfied smile.
Across the room, my mother was choosing a dress, the grace and beauty she’d once had slowly returning.
There was still caution in her eyes, but I knew it would fade.
With me here, she’d find her confidence again.
She had to.
