Chapter 619
Stuart showed no sign of a man on his deathbed. In fact, he looked healthier and more vibrant than anyone in the room.
As he sat up in bed, Amanda’s world tilted on its axis. She stared, completely dumbfounded.
Ann, frozen in the doorway, felt her mind go blank.
*Stuart was supposed to be dying. They said there was no hope left. How could he just… wake up p>
Before Amanda and Ann could even process the shock, Keira, who they had believed to be dead on the floor, opened her eyes and rose to her feet.
The sight of Keira standing tall made everything click into place for Amanda. A setup. It was all a setup-a trap laid specifically for her and Ann.
Amanda’s head whipped toward Caitlin, her eyes burning with a venomous hatred. She had underestimated the little bitch.
Just then, Keira strode toward Amanda, her hand lashing out in a vicious slap. “You wretched girl!” she seethed, her voice trembling with fury. “How could you do this? How could you do something so monstrous, so beneath contempt? You have disappointed me beyond words p>
Keira had long suspected the car crash years ago was no accident. She’d suspected business rivals, disgruntled partners-she’d suspected everyone but her own daughter. Even when Caitlin had tried to warn her, Keira had refused to believe her own flesh and blood could be capable of such a thing.
But now, the truth was laid bare before her.
Her daughter. The child she had nearly died giving birth to had orchestrated the ruin of their entire family, tearing her away from her daughter-in-law and granddaughter for years. Hearing Amanda confess to it all, Keira couldn’t believe her own ears, couldn’t trust her own eyes.
No one could comprehend the agony wrenching through Keira’s heart-the pain, the betrayal, the suffocating rage. She could barely breathe, her body trembling so violently she could hardly stand.
With bloodshot eyes, Keira raised her hand and slapped Amanda again across her other cheek.
The sharp crack echoed in the silent room. Amanda’s left cheek swelled instantly, the red imprint a horrifying mark against her pale skin.
“You monster!” Keira cried. “Stuart is your brother! Carey is your sister-in-law, and Freya… Freya is your own niece! She was only three months old! How could you have the heart to harm a baby p>
Keira couldn’t fathom how any human being could bring themselves to hurt a three-month-old infant. What had a child that young ever done to anyone? It was an act of pure evil. Amanda was evil. Keira couldn’t understand how she had given birth to such a heartless creature.
“I’m the monster?!” Amanda
shrieked, her eyes wide and blazing with a dark, cold fury. “Yes, that’s right! I’m the monster! But if I am Keira, then what does that make you? You’re the old monster you talk about me being your daughter, but have you ever once treated me like one? Your heart only has room, for your precious son! You never cared about me. Stuart was your son, so he got to be the head of the Gonzales family. The child he had with that tramp Carey was the rightful heir p>
“And what about me?” she spat. “What about my Ann? In your eyes, my daughter was worth less than dirt p>
“Just because I was born a girl? Because a married daughter is no longer part of the family? Is that why Ann and I deserved nothing p>
“You’ve always favored him! You’re a bitter, sexist old woman p>
The injustice of it all burned in her. Amanda was consumed by it. She was a Gonzales too, so why was her daughter considered an outsider? Why did she have to stand by and watch Stuart take everything?
If Keira was going to favor her son, then Amanda would have to fight for what was hers.
Her only regret was not finishing Stuart off when he was paralyzed in that bed. Why had she bothered playing the part of the loving sister? If she had just killed him then, none of this would be happening.
She could have kicked herself.
*They all deserve to die p>
Keira stared at Amanda, her expression one of utter disbelief.
Sexist? She was accusing her of favoring her son? Keira never imagined a day would come when her own daughter would throw such a baseless accusation at her.
“Amanda,” Keira said, her voice laced
with a profound sorrow, “this will be the last time I ever call you that. Do you have any conscience left, saying such a thing? Your father and always treated you both equally. When you and Gavin started your lives together, I gave both you and Stuart fifty million dollars as seed money for your ventures. Do you remember what the Gonzales family was going through back then p>
At the time, Gonzales Holdings had been hit by a severe financial crisis and was on the brink of bankruptcy. The one hundred million they gave their children was the last of their personal funds.
The memory surfaced in Keira’s mind. “Stuart was only eighteen. He took that money and single-handedly revived Gonzales Holdings, propping up the entire company when it was about to collapse. Now, you ask yourself honestly: would Gonzales Holdings even exist today if it weren’t for your brother p>
Without Stuart, the family legacy would have been dust.
Keira’s gaze hardened as she confronted Amanda. “Stuart saved our family! And what did you and Gavin do? You took that fifty million, and not only did you fail to build anything with it, but within six months, you’d created a mountain of debt and problems that Stuart had to clean up! If you two hadn’t been dragging him down, he could have taken Gonzales Holdings even further p>
“He didn’t just build a company,” Keira’s voice rose, thick with accusation. “He saved you both. If it weren’t for Stuart, do you have any idea what kind of life you’d be living right now p>