After Sephina hung up the call, Clara asked, "Is she coming, Mother?"
Sephina nodded. "Yes. Let's see who she has married."
"Grandma, I remember the name of her husband," Briena chimed in. "I searched for him, and there's no one special with that name. All are ordinary men. That means she didn't marry anyone significant but just a random man."
"That's better. This way, it will be easier to get our hands on the entire company."
"Ivan will be here as well."
"Why did you call him here?" Clara asked. "To maintain your good image, you shouldn't show our family conflicts to him."
"Mother, I want him to see how pathetic the woman he loves is and how she has been nothing but trouble to us."
"Do as you wish," Sephina encouraged.
Natalie arrived at the Ford residence in a cab. The moment she entered the huge iron gate, the servants spotted her and started gossiping in hushed voices, but she paid them no mind.
This house, if not for her mother's memories attached to it, would have been a place she would never step into again. These people had sent her away to a far-off place with the intention of making her suffer and live at their mercy. After her mother's death, this so-called family of hers saw her as nothing but an eyesore. The only reason she tolerated them was that she still thought of them as family.
Entering the drawing room, Natalie saw her family waiting for her.
"Where is your husband?" Sephina asked, her gaze shifting to the door behind Natalie.
"He didn't come," Natalie replied, showing no interest in the conversation.
Sephina offered her a cold, impatient gaze. "Didn't I tell you to bring him as well?"
"And didn't I tell you I do not know him?" Natalie maintained her calm, as if her grandmother's words could no longer affect her. The memory of how they had all wanted to throw her out last night, without considering where she would go in the dark, and without showing an ounce of trust or mercy, was still fresh in her mind. She had had enough of them.
The older woman sighed in annoyance. "Is he so pathetic that you do not want us to see him?"
"You could say that."
Natalie had no will to argue. They wouldn't trust her anyway. All she wanted was to gather her few belongings and leave.
"Even after what you did, you have no shame, do you?" Sephina asked, standing up. "After sending you to a faraway place for years, I thought you'd learn to behave, but it seems you've only gotten worse."
Natalie stood her ground, a stubborn and defiant air surrounding her. "Are you just now realizing it, when it's already been two years since I came back from that hellhole?"
The cane in Sephina's hand made a dull sound against the floor, a symbol of her authority over the family. "I sent you there to rid you of this stubbornness, just like your mother's. But it seems five years weren't enough."
Natalie smirked and stepped closer to the older woman, her tall form casting a shadow over her not-so-tall grandmother, a reminder of Carryn. This daughter and her mother shared an invisible, domineering strength that seemed to flow naturally in their blood, growing stronger the more they were pushed into a corner. This was what Sephina hated most, as she could not control them.
Seeing the hatred in Sephina's eyes, Natalie asked, "What? Do you want to send me there again?"
A few years ago, they had sent her to a remote place in the country plagued by poverty and crime, leaving her to fend for herself. Thanks to their neglect and lack of updates, she had escaped long ago and found a less dangerous place. Only she knew what she had endured to survive and return home.
An evil glint appeared in Sephina's eyes. "Do you think I can't?"
"Try me," Natalie challenged, not backing down.
"Natalie, is this how you talk to your grandma?" her father scolded. "It would have been better if you had died with your mother."
Natalie looked at him, his words bringing back the memories of the day when she helplessly witnessed her mother dying in front of her own eyes, but this man never felt anything at the loss of his wife. She always wondered if this man was truly her father, or if she was even a daughter of this family. They always favored Briena and treated her as if she were a thorn in their side. But she had no reason to doubt her parentage; her mother was not the type to have another man's child while married.
Natalie scoffed. "After sending me to an uncultured place for years, do you expect me to have manners? You should have kept me home to learn them, but then…" she chuckled mockingly, "What would I have learned at home? How to seduce a man who belongs to another woman, just like your mistress seduced you and your daughter is doing now."
"How dare you talk about my mother like that?" Briena stood up, anger visible on her and everyone's faces.
"You seem to have not heard, but I mentioned you as well," Natalie retorted. "After all, you are a mistress' daughter. What more can we expect from you?"
Briena marched towards her, hand raised to hit Natalie, but Natalie caught her hand midway. "Not this time, sweetie. I've had enough." With that, Natalie pushed her away, causing Briena to fall to the floor.
Everyone was shocked to see the change in Natalie, who dared to retaliate against Briena. They were used to seeing Natalie give up easily, not knowing she had been enduring their behavior to live peacefully.
While everyone focused on comforting Briena, Natalie went upstairs to her room to gather her things, indifferent to their sudden affection towards her half-sister.
After a while, Natalie returned with a small suitcase and walked towards the door, not glancing at anyone.
"Wait," Sephina called out.
Natalie offered her a lazy look, only to hear her say, "First, sign those papers."
Natalie felt confused, not knowing what they wanted her to sign. "I will sign them if it means that from this moment onwards, I have nothing to do with any of you and we are strangers."
"You want to break your relationship with us? Sure, sign those papers, and I will grant your wish."
Natalie walked towards the table and picked up the file. It was a share transfer agreement. Out of the thirty percent share she held from her mother's company, half of it was to be transferred to Briena's name. Natalie could not believe their audacity and wondered where they got the confidence that she would sign it.
She slammed the file on the table and glared at Sephina. "Not a chance in hell. You can dream on!"