Chapter 136

Susan Thompson stared coldly at Nicole Capra's hypocritical face, her every breath laced with revulsion.

Nicole only smiled brighter, fingertips tracing her flawless makeup.

"Did you know, sister?" She suddenly leaned close, her sickly sweet voice whispering in Susan's ear. "Andrew Lucas told me last night while holding me that your face makes him sick."

Susan's nails dug deep into her palms.

"But..." Nicole produced a silver syringe from her bag, its surface glinting coldly under the light. "He cares more about my suffering."

The liquid inside glowed an eerie blue.

"Know what this is?" Nicole shook the syringe. "It'll make your nerves rot bit by bit until..." She mimed a limp collapse. "You'll lie there like sludge waiting to die."

Susan's pupils contracted violently.

"Scared?" Nicole yanked the blanket away and plunged the needle into Susan's thigh. "This is just the beginning!"

Pain crashed over Susan like a tidal wave. She bit through her lower lip.

"Oh..." Nicole's expression twisted with sudden recollection. "There's something you should know."

She bent down until her crimson lips nearly touched Susan's ear:

"Catherine Capra was never my mother."

Susan's entire body went rigid.

"That baby girl stolen from the Thompson family twenty years ago..." Nicole's nails scraped Susan's pale cheek. "Was you, my dear sister."

The words detonated in Susan's mind like a bomb.

"No..."

"Why not?" Nicole laughed wildly. "Why do you think those thugs took your hair? To run a DNA test under my name!"

Susan's vision filled with Catherine's gentle smile.

"That's why I had to kill her." Nicole's eyes gleamed with venom. "She shouldn't have eavesdropped on our secret."

"You monster!" Susan thrashed violently, only to be crushed by fresh agony.

Nicole watched her suffering with relish, leisurely adjusting her sleeves.

"Don't worry. You'll reunite with your mother underground soon enough." She turned toward the door, then glanced back with a radiant smile. "Oh, the drug takes three hours to fully activate. Plenty of time for you to... savor every moment."

The door slammed shut.

Susan stared at the ceiling as tears finally broke free.

So she hadn't been abandoned by the entire world.

Someone had loved her all along.

But was it too late to matter now?