chapter167

Rose dropped to her knees, bowing over and over until her forehead turned red and started to bleed.

In Kylie's eyes, Rose just fell back on her old act, putting on a pitiful show for sympathy. She scoffed. "Seriously? You think that's still going to work on me?"

Kylie, I... I asked you about Lydia. I asked what she meant to you, but you never told me she was your real daughter. If you'd told me the truth, we never would've touched her."

"Oh, so now this is my fault?"

"No, no, that's not what I mean, Kylie. I thought she was just your goddaughter. I was scared she'd kick Henry out, scared she'd find out about the dumb things we did at the company, so I just... I lost my head. I'm sorry, Kylie. I really am. I've let you down."

In the past, all Rose had to do was cry in front of Kylie, and Kylie would always cave, no matter what it was about.

Kylie frowned. "When did I ever say Lydia was my goddaughter?"

Rose froze on the spot.

She stared at Kylie and Lydia for what felt like forever. Suddenly, it clicked. She and Parker had totally fallen for Lucinda's trap.

No one on the outside knew Lucinda wasn't actually the Norwoods' biological daughter. Even earlier at the Norwood house, Lucinda never mentioned it, not even

once.

Lucinda did it on purpose. She set them up. But why?

"It was Lucinda, Kylie! She told me Lydia was your goddaughter and made me promise not to tell anyone. She misled us, and that's why we panicked and did what we did. If I'd known Lydia was really your daughter, I never would've done that."

But none of that mattered now. It was too late.

They had been so reckless, just believing whatever Lucinda said, thinking Lydia was some poor girl from the countryside who only got close to the Norwoods because she saved Mr. Norwood.

Lucinda. It was all her fault! She must have felt threatened, worried she'd lose her place as the heiress, so she used them to try to get rid of Lydia.

Yeah, that had to be it.

"What did you just say? Kylie stared at her in shock.

"Kylie, it was Lucinda! She wanted to use us to hurt Lydia!"

"Enough!" Kylie's voice was sharp and full of anger. "You already hurt Lydia, and now you're trying to drag Lucinda into this? Lucinda is a sweet, kind girl. She would never do something so cruel."

She turned quickly to Lydia. "Lydia, I swear I'll talk to Lucinda and find out what really happened. But I just know she would never do something like that."

Kylie simply couldn't believe that Lucinda, the daughter she'd raised so well, would ever say anything so awful.

"No, Kylie, I swear I'm not lying!" Rose was desperate to prove she was telling the truth.

"That's enough, Rose. Whether

Lucinda said it or not, it doesn't change the fact that you tried to hurt Lydia. And don't think I've forgotten everything you did at the company. I trusted you completely, and all along you were plotting to take advantage of me and steal from the company. Why? Wasn't what I gave you enough?"

Kylie was heartbroken and furious. She'd always treated Rose like a real friend, but Rose just saw her as a way to get what she wanted, playing her for a fool at every turn.

And now she'd even tried to hurt her daughter.

Rose realized that her crying and begging wasn't working anymore. Kylie was done giving them chances. The anger she'd been holding back finally exploded, She scrambled up from the floor and screamed at Kylie, "What exactly did you ever give us?"

"All you ever gave us were things you didn't even care about. You just loved to show off everything you had. You bragged about your perfect husband, your amazing sons, your sweet daughter. You flashed your big house, your designer clothes, your fancy food... Everything you had was something I could only dream of, no matter how hard I tried or how long I worked. Why do you get it all?"