Chapter 201 Internal Strife

Chapter 201 Internal Strife

Anastasia let out a soft snort, but the smile never reached her eyes.

"Atonement?" She looked down at him. "Patrick, do you really think money can measure what I went through?"

"The blood they drained from me, the bone marrow they took, the life they stole—how exactly do you plan to repay all that?"

Every word cut deep.

Patrick's body jerked as if struck, his face draining of color.

She was right. He couldn't repay it.

The Stafford Family could never repay it.

Anastasia walked past him, heading straight for the water station.

The bank card he'd treasured so carefully—she never once touched it.

Patrick stood frozen in place, like a statue stripped of its soul.

When Anastasia returned from filling her water bottle, Saskia was waiting outside the hospital room, holding a yellowed file.

"Anastasia, I had someone pull this from the orphanage where you grew up."

Saskia handed her the file.

Anastasia opened it to find a formal adoption agreement.

It stated that Keith and Yvette's relationship with the adoptee, Anastasia, was purely legal in nature—adoptive parents and adoptive daughter, with no blood relation whatsoever.

At the bottom, a small notation read:

[This adoption is contingent upon the adoptee's voluntary consent and may be unilaterally dissolved at any time.]

"Anastasia, remember this—you never belonged to the Stafford Family. What they did to you wasn't raising you with kindness. It was eighteen years of illegal imprisonment and abuse."

"From now on, you and they have nothing to do with each other. Not legally, not morally. Nothing."

This file completely severed the chains of false family ties that had bound Anastasia through two lifetimes.

Anastasia exhaled deeply.

Starting today, she was just Anastasia.

No longer the Stafford Family's adopted daughter.

At that same moment, Nolan's life had become that of a sewer rat.

He didn't dare stay in hotels or use his ID. Every day, he could only hide out in shady internet cafes and cheap motels that didn't require identification.

His money ran out quickly. Starving and desperate, he thought of Renee.

Even though Renee had lost her mind, she must still have money on her.

He found out which sanatorium Renee had been sent to and snuck over under cover of darkness.

The facility's security was lax. He easily scaled the wall and found Renee's room.

Renee sat alone by the window, staring blankly at the moonlight.

Her mental state fluctuated, but right now she seemed calm.

"Renee." Nolan pushed the door open, keeping his voice low.

Renee turned her head. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm out of money. Give me some cash." Nolan cut straight to the point.

"I don't have any money." Renee's reply was cold.

Nolan panicked and lunged forward, grabbing her wrist. "Those designer bags your rich friends bought you—sell just one and I'd be set for a while! Give me the money!"

Renee winced at his grip and yanked her hand away.

"Why should I give you anything? The Stafford Family fell apart because of you!"

"If you hadn't been stupid enough to commit arson, how would things have gotten this bad? You're nothing but a useless screwup!"

Renee's accusations instantly ignited Nolan's rage.

"I'm useless? Renee, you've got some nerve!" He grabbed her by the collar, his face twisted with fury. "If you hadn't been so greedy and vain, chasing after Bradley, picking fights with Anastasia, would the Stafford Family have gone bankrupt?"

"You stole someone else's designs and then faked being sick. Now everyone knows exactly what kind of person you are! You think you're still the high-and-mighty Miss Renee Stafford? You're nothing but a crazy woman nobody wants!"

"Shut up!" Renee screamed and clawed at Nolan's face.

The two immediately began fighting in the hospital room.

Nolan was a man, after all—much stronger than Renee.

He slapped her hard across the face, knocking her to the floor.

"You dare fight back?" He straddled her, raining slaps down on both sides of her face.

"This is all your fault! You troublemaker! You destroyed our whole family!"

Just then, the door burst open.

Yvette walked in.

Seeing her precious daughter being beaten, she immediately threw herself at Nolan, grabbing his arm.

"Nolan! Have you lost your mind? She's your own sister! You used to adore Renee!"

"Let go of me!" Nolan's eyes were bloodshot as he tried to shake her off.

"You animal! How dare you hit Renee!" Yvette bit down hard on Nolan's arm.

Nolan cried out in pain and kicked Yvette away.

Yvette crashed into the bed frame, unable to get up for several moments.

She looked at this crazed son of hers, her heart turning to ice.

"How did I give birth to such a useless thing? All you can do is bully your own family! If you've got the guts, go get revenge on Anastasia! What kind of man beats his own sister?"

"Get revenge with what?" Nolan shrieked hysterically. "You think I don't want to? I can't even afford to eat right now! And whose fault is that?"

He pointed at Renee, cowering and crying in the corner, then at Yvette on the floor, and began spewing everything he'd kept bottled up.

"My whole life, you've favored her! Whatever she wanted, she got! What about me? I was just there to serve her! When she got sick, you made Anastasia give blood! When she wanted money, you sold off Anastasia and gave it all to her!"

"And you!" He jabbed a finger at Yvette. "You think you're so righteous? When Dad cheated and kept a mistress, you didn't do anything to protect your position! You were just afraid that if you divorced him, you wouldn't get any money!"

"Every single one of you is selfish to the core! Now that everything's fallen apart, you all blame me? Why should I take the fall?"

This chaotic brawl and stream of curses drew the sanatorium's security guards and other patients.

They stood in the doorway, pointing and whispering.

The once-glamorous Stafford Family members now resembled three rabid dogs, tearing into each other in front of everyone, exposing every dirty, shameful secret from their past.

Dignity and decorum—in that moment, completely gone.

On the other side of the city, the Stafford Family's relatives watched videos of the incident circulating online and looked on with contempt.

They all made the same decision without consulting each other—block every Stafford Family member's contact information.

From now on, they wanted nothing to do with them.

The fiasco finally ended when police arrived and arrested Nolan on the spot.

Even as they cuffed him, he continued screaming obscenities.

Cursing Yvette. Renee.

And Anastasia.

But no one paid attention to his ravings anymore.

What awaited him was the most impartial judgment the law could deliver.