Chapter 4

Ruby let out a long, satisfied sigh. Her ego had been greatly fed today.

My eyes turned red as I trembled. Back in high school, she used to make me her imaginary enemy, turning her group against me. However, their bullying had been limited to avoiding me and saying nasty things about me to everyone they knew, which did not affect me that much.

I did not expect her to become even worse after finding out she would be marrying into the richest family in Lark City. My teeth almost broke from how furiously I was clenching my jaw, and I tightened my fists.

Ruby Saunders! Now that I was going to become her mother-in-law, I could not let her bully me anymore, or I would be unworthy of the Henderson name. Her lackeys started to surround me.

I knew that there were too many people against me. All I could do was listen carefully to whatever was happening outside the hall. Once a bodyguard passed by, I would immediately call for help.

That was when Ruby suddenly crouched to the ground to pick up the shards of the smashed alcohol bottles. She played with the shards in her hand and pressed them onto my face hard. The shards sank deep into my cheek.

"Argh!"

Excitement appeared in her eyes when she heard me screaming, and she picked up another shard. Everyone started to heap praises on her. Some of them even applauded.

"Chloe has always copied Ruby! This punishment is too lenient for her. And I can’t believe our Mrs. Milford is dealing out the punishment personally."

"Be grateful. You won't be lucky enough to meet a rich wife like Ruby in the future, but it's different for us. We're Mrs. Milford's best friends!"

"If you plan on copying Ruby again, just look at yourself in the mirror to ask if you're worthy enough! You should be grateful that she's willing to personally deal out your punishment. How can you glare at us?"

Ruby was on cloud nine with everyone's enthusiastic bootlicking. I took the opportunity to use every ounce of strength I had left to announce my true identity. "I'm Connor Milford's mother. If he finds out how I was treated today, you'll all suffer the consequences!"

They were busy trying to get on Ruby's good side because of how powerful Connor was.

Connor controlled Lark City with a firm hand. He was the one who executed his parents' murderers swiftly and ruthlessly. They were part of a rival business. They were once the richest family in Lark City, but Connor destroyed them overnight.

He created a storm in the business world. Anyone who knew of him would tremble at the mention of his name.

Connor's personality mellowed a little after I taught him not to handle things so extremely. Otherwise, the women who tried to approach him over the years would not have had happy endings, and Ruby would never have had the chance to marry him.

Everyone was taken aback by my words before they laughed even louder. "Have you been beaten silly, Chloe? How dare you claim to be his mother! I wouldn't even dare to dream of something so ridiculous."

Ruby's expression turned cold as she figured I was just trying to taunt her. "How badly do you want to be my mother-in-law? Fine. We don't have many guests right now. Take her to my room! If she enjoys role-playing so much, I'll go along with her this time."

Two of her lackeys came up to me. I had a bad feeling about this and quickly waved my hands hysterically to stop them. However, Ruby stepped on my mouth, grinding the bottom of her dirty shoe on it.

"Open your mouth and lick it clean. Aren't you great at yelling? You should use that energy to apologize to me. I might let you go if you make me happy enough.”

I shut my mouth tight as I shook my head in rejection, crying. This minor movement enraged Ruby. She screamed curses at me while choking me, and she slapped me dozens of times. I was already bleeding out of my nostrils, yet she was still not satisfied.

Ruby picked up more empty shards to slash my naked body and left messy wounds on me with her long fingernails. "Sigh… You've dirtied my pretty nails when all I wanted was to teach you a simple lesson. You should’ve just apologized."

She continued viciously as she accused me, "It's all because you were stupid enough to impersonate my mother-in-law. How can I tolerate you insulting my family? You deserve to be taught a good lesson.

"Everyone knows how swift and ruthless my husband's foster mother is when it comes to making decisions. She's also a graduate of an Ivy League university. How can a cheap whore like you compare to a woman like that?"

Someone started thinking about this and said, "Rumor has it that Connor Milford's foster mother is only three years older than he is. Could she really be…"

Ruby interrupted the person with a sneer and pushed the glass shard in her hand into my mouth. "How is that possible? Shouldn’t I know what kind of person Chloe Henderson is? Being a cheap whore is in her DNA.

"She was born this way, but has always been deluded into thinking she’s someone else. Why else would she copy me back in high school? She probably told people that she was the Saunders heiress rather than me!"

She stuffed my mouth with a piece of my torn dress to stop me from calling for help. "This is the way things should be."

Ruby sat prettily on the sofa while she watched the others kick me intermittently. She smiled happily at the sight. After a while, she got bored and picked up my phone, which I left at the side. She used my bloody fingers to unlock my phone.

While going through my photographs, she found a picture of me with Connor. It enraged her, and she came running up to me to give me several hard kicks.

"You vixen! I wondered what you were doing at my wedding. You're trying to seduce Connor because you're jealous of me marrying into a rich family!"

She carefully picked out the sharpest piece of glass and started slicing my face with it. "You love to be slutty, don't you? Let's see how you’ll seduce men once your face turns to shreds."

Ruby sliced up my face again and again. The sharp pain nearly reached my bones as my skin was cut up. I was about to suffocate from all the crying. All I could do was shake my head continuously as I begged her to let me go.