The Jilted Heiress' Return To The High Life

Chapter 15 You're Unwelcome Here

Leah's tears cascaded down her cheeks, her voice trembling with emotion. "Everything has turned out this way because of me. I would endure any punishment-being struck, forced to kneel-if it meant returning to Bruce's side. I would do absolutely anything."

Bruce felt his heart constrict painfully at the sight of her tear-stained, exhausted face.

Without hesitation, he drew her into his embrace, his fingers tenderly brushing away her tears. "You mustn't blame yourself. How could you say such things?" Tracy observed the intimate scene with a subtle smile playing across her lips.

She rose silently and slipped from the room. At that precise moment, Rita burst in, one hand pressed against her face, her appearance disheveled and frantic. "Mom!"

Upon seeing her mother, Rita flung herself into her arms as though grasping for salvation. "You must defend

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"What happened to you? Tracy's expression hardened as she noticed the angry swelling on her daughter's

cheek.

She cradled Rita's face in her hands, her voice turning to ice. "Who dared to strike you like this?"

Rita, conveniently forgetting her own cruel words to Corrine, launched into her account of the incident. "Mom, Corrine didn't just hit me; she attempted to murder me! She dragged me to the window on the fifteenth floor! If people hadn't been watching, I wouldn't be alive right now!"

"What possessed you to provoke her?" Bruce's voice carried an edge of censure. His expression darkened as he recalled Corrine's earlier cold demeanor.

"Bruce, I'm your sister!" Rita protested, tears welling in her eyes. "I'm the victim here-struck and nearly thrown from a building. How can you take her side?"

Bruce released a contemptuous snort. "Then why didn't she attack me instead of you?"

"Mom, did you hear what he said?" Rita stamped her foot in childish frustration, clinging to her mother's arm. "I won't find peace until she apologizes!"

The humiliation burned within her, demanding retribution.

Tracy tenderly touched her daughter's swollen cheek, her eyes gradually filling with icy contempt for Corrine.

She had never approved of the woman, finding her background questionable and her demeanor inexplicably proud and ostentatious.noveldrama

She had hoped Corrine's departure from the Ashton family would humble her, but instead, she had grown more audacious, daring to assault Rita as though the Ashton name meant nothing.

"Come with me! Let's see what emboldens her to lay hands on you!" Tracy seized Rita's hand and marched determinedly toward Corrine's ward.

Karina had departed moments earlier after receiving a phone call, leaving Corrine alone.

The sudden commotion at her door drew her attention.

She turned to find Tracy and Rita standing in the doorway.

Her delicate features frosted over as her eyes narrowed. "You're unwelcome here. Leave immediately."

"Corrine, who do you imagine you are to address me in such a manner?" Tracy swept into the ward, her designer bag swaying, as she regarded Corrine with undisguised disdain. "Did you strike my daughter?"