Chapter 4

I fiddled with the ivory bangle on my wrist, my smile growing more and more pleasant as I said to Marie, "Back then, wasn't it Samson's father who fooled you like a child, until you grudgingly agreed to accept those three illegitimate children?"

The smile vanished from Marie's face. When she saw I was about to leave, she suddenly dropped to her knees right in front of me and clung to my legs, refusing to let go.

"I'm begging you! You can't have children anymore, anyway. If you keep this boy by your side, at least you'll get to experience being a mother!"

But Marie wasn't really begging me. For all those socialites at the top, reputation was everything. No matter how rotten things got behind closed doors, they always kept up the most basic of appearances. If this scandal didn't subside, Marie wouldn't even be able to get a seat at the table in our circle.

Besides, even if the Fosters had the best legal team in the business, the Shaw family wasn't exactly a pushover either.

There was no way this divorce would come cheaply. They would have to pay, and she was looking for an amount far more than just five hundred kilos of gold.

I didn't want to waste another second. I was ready to leave.

Suddenly, someone shoved me hard. My lower back slammed into the corner of the wall so badly I couldn't get up for a while.

Samson stood over me, glaring down with a face full of resentment and rage. "You made my mom kneel, Kelda? You've got some nerve!"

After that, Samson only got bolder.

The Fosters didn't just plan a grand party for the baby in a month. They started bragging about transferring the entire Foster Group to that illegitimate child.

Did they really think I was done with them?

I was just about to send someone to crash their party when my assistant called, stammering that my mom had been kidnapped and forced into a car.

Thinking back to what happened in the parking lot, my heart sank. I marched straight to the Fosters' celebration, but security stopped me at the entrance.

"Mr. Foster said the mistress isn't allowed in. They don't want to ruin the mood."

Unbelievable.

I clenched my teeth and forced the words out, "Tell Samson Foster to come out here, or I'll…"

"Or you'll do what?"

Suddenly, a bucket of slop was dumped all over me. The smell was so strong I nearly threw up.

Samson strolled out, looking disgusted. He waved his hand in front of his nose. "This was prepared just for you. To clean you up a little."

I clenched my fists and glared at him. "If you lay even a finger on my mom, I'll make sure the entire Foster family pays!"

Samson crossed his arms, laughing with the others, looking at me like I was nothing.

"You think the Shaw family is what it used to be? You're just a stray living off me, yet you dare to bare your fangs at me?"

No wonder he was emboldened to flaunt his affair with Jessica.

In recent years, the Shaw family had shifted from traditional industries into finance and kept a low profile. Most people thought we had lost our power.

But no one realized our assets had actually grown thirtyfold.

Even the investors scrambling to curry favor with Samson were only there because the Shaw family secretly handed the Fosters the best high-return projects, attracting a crowd of clueless opportunists.

I used to hide this to protect his ego.

Now, it had only given him the confidence to treat me however he liked.

"Let my mother go," I said coldly, "or I'll bankrupt the Foster Group today."

Samson swirled his wine in his glass and walked over, his eyes turning icy. He slapped me hard across the face. "Who are you trying to fool? You made my mom kneel. You should have known there'd be consequences."

A group of bodyguards forced me to my knees, holding my shoulders in the most humiliating position possible.

Samson shoved his phone in my face, a cruel, gloating smile on his lips. The moment I saw the screen, every drop of blood in my body seemed to freeze.

My mother, who had loved me more than anything, was tied to a wooden frame, while several bulky men raised iron rods and smashed them down onto her legs. Her painful screams echoed through the abandoned warehouse. They ignored her desperate pleas. Then, those disgusting men moved in to tear off her clothes.

Samson waved his phone, smiling as if it were nothing. "What now? Still want to act tough?"

He poured a glass of red wine over his shoes. "Either lick it clean, or I'll let everyone watch your mother and those men live on camera."

A wave of mocking laughter broke out as people started to sneer.

"Come on, lick it!" Samson said.

Rage blazed in my chest, threatening to make me explode from the inside out.

It was all my fault!

I had treated him too well, so much so that he had forgotten that the Fosters were just a pack of strays I had once rescued.

When I finally bowed my head in disgrace, a shout suddenly rang out nearby.

"Ms. Shaw! We found your mother!"

The crushing weight on my chest vanished in an instant.

I stared coldly at Samson's stunned and panicked face, and uttered each word clearly, "I want the Foster family wiped off the map in this city in three days."