Chapter 229

Chapter 229

It was Rhea—but not the Rhea Victoria remembered.

In her memory, Rhea was always polished and poised, looking at Victoria the way someone might look at trash. But now, this once-immaculate society matron stood before her with a sallow face, haggard features, and disheveled hair. Her eyes burned with venom.

"You have the nerve to ask what I'm doing here?"

"The Smith family is ruined because of you!"

The hatred in Rhea's glare could have flayed Victoria alive.

Victoria's expression hardened. "Am I the one running the Smith family? If there's a problem, take it up with Charles. Why are you coming after me?"

What an honor—truly.

She'd divorced Charles. She'd taken the child. And somehow, when things went wrong for the Smiths, it was still her fault?

At the mention of Charles's name, a flash of pain crossed Rhea's eyes.

She simply couldn't understand what was so special about this woman.

Ever since the divorce, Charles had been a hollow shell of himself.

He'd practically stopped going to the office.

The Smith Group could still run on its own, more or less. Charles only needed to handle key documents.

But in the last couple of days, something had gone terribly wrong.

One crisis after another hit the Smith Group—major operational failures and a spiraling PR disaster. The stock price was in free fall.

Rhea was frantic. And Charles just sat there, shell-shocked and vacant.

After racking her brain, she'd decided the problem had to be Victoria.

"You must have said something to Charles on purpose—messed with his head so you could destroy the Smith family while he wasn't paying attention!"

Rhea jabbed a finger in Victoria's face. "You're vicious, Victoria! You and Charles were husband and wife. He agreed to the divorce. And the second it's final, you stab him in the back?"

"Don't you have a conscience? How can anyone be this heartless?"

Every accusation rang with self-righteous fury.

Victoria nearly laughed.

She looked Rhea up and down—this furious, unhinged version of her—and let out a soft scoff. "A conscience? For you people? When I married into the Smith family, how exactly did you treat me?"

Guilt flickered in Rhea's eyes, quickly swallowed by rage. "Don't you dare change the subject. I'm ordering you to stop targeting the Smith family!"

Victoria would never agree to that, of course.

She stared at Rhea like she'd lost her mind. "Setting aside whether I'm even responsible—is this really how you ask someone for a favor?"

Rhea choked. Her mouth opened and closed, but not a single conciliatory word came out.

Saying something nice to Victoria would have been worse than death.

Victoria understood Rhea's thoughts with a single glance.

A bitter, ironic smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. She turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Rhea lunged to block her path. "You can't leave!"

"I have zero interest in listening to your nonsense."

Victoria's voice was ice. "Talking to you makes my skin crawl."

Back in the day, Rhea had never missed a chance to lord her position as mother-in-law over Victoria and grind her down.

Rhea was impossibly picky about food. She'd only eat the tenderest heart of any vegetable.

If the produce wasn't fresh enough, she'd hurl the plate at Victoria and order her to go back and start over.

Victoria had endured more humiliation than she could count.

Sometimes, when it became too much, she'd tell Charles. He'd shut her down every time, dismissing her as being dramatic.

After a while, Victoria stopped saying anything at all.

And Charles's cold indifference became the foundation on which Rhea built her cruelty.

Looking back now, all Victoria felt was contempt.

Rhea seemed to recall her own behavior too.

She pressed her lips together and forced out the words with visible reluctance. "I admit I was wrong before. I'm apologizing now. Can you forgive me?"

"Why should I?"

Victoria shot back.

"I already apologized! What more do you want?"

Impatience was etched across Rhea's face, as if she hadn't just apologized but had made some monumental, earth-shattering concession.

"I want you and your precious Smith family to drop dead."

Victoria smiled.

She knew perfectly well it was impossible. The words were nothing more than anger talking.

Seeing Rhea on the verge of erupting, Hugh gently placed Percival in Victoria's arms and stepped forward, positioning himself between the two women.

His gaze was cool and detached. "You can leave now."

Rhea was somewhat intimidated by Hugh, but the Smith family's crisis steeled her nerve. "Then make Victoria promise to stop going after the Smith family."

"Done."

Hugh nodded, agreeing without hesitation.

Rhea hadn't expected it to be that easy.

She blinked, stunned, then scrambled to confirm. "You mean it? She'll actually listen to you?"

Hugh turned back, his gaze falling on Victoria with a warm, tender smile. "If we talk it over, I'm sure she'll agree."

Rhea's suspicious eyes darted between them.

But she had no better options. She nodded, half-believing. "Fine."

Hugh took Victoria's hand and led her a few steps away.

Victoria blinked slowly, curiosity bright in her eyes.

Hugh suddenly dipped his head and pressed the lightest of kisses to her cheek.

"Hey—what are you doing?"

Heat flooded Victoria's face. She whispered urgently, "Rhea's right there!"

"I haven't even complained about her interrupting our quality time."

Hugh raised an eyebrow. "Just say yes to her and be done with it."

Victoria pressed her lips together and said nothing.

She was no saint. She couldn't simply let go of everything people had done to hurt her.

Neither Rhea nor Charles. She didn't want to forgive either of them.

Hugh read her thoughts instantly. He reached over and ruffled her hair. "Are you the one going after the Smith family?"

Victoria paused. Slowly, she shook her head.

Hugh continued. "So even if you agree, can you actually do anything about it?"

Victoria hesitated, then shook her head again.

The amusement in Hugh's eyes deepened. "So what you promise and what I do to the Smith family—is there any actual connection?"

It clicked. Victoria's eyes lit up.

She looked at Hugh and couldn't help herself. "How did I never notice you were this devious?"

"Just making smart use of the rules. Perfectly normal."

Once Victoria was on board, they walked back to Rhea.

Rhea looked at Victoria expectantly, a trace of anxiety she didn't even recognize flickering beneath the surface.

"Since you asked so sincerely, I suppose I can stop going after the Smith family."

Victoria put on a convincing show of reluctance.

A knowing look crossed Rhea's face—an 'I knew it' expression.

She nodded, satisfied.

Just as she'd thought. Victoria could never actually do anything to the Smith family.

This woman had schemed her way into Charles's bed, gotten herself pregnant with his child, and stirred up all this drama—just to make them pay attention to her.

The thought brought a hint of smugness to Rhea's expression.

"That's more like it. But you've had Percival long enough now, don't you think? It's time to give him back."

"He's a Smith family child. Letting you keep him this long was already generous."

As she spoke, she reached toward Percival in Victoria's arms.

Victoria hadn't even opened her mouth when Percival's lower lip jutted out. His eyes rimmed red, and he burst into wailing sobs.

Rhea's hand froze in midair. "What are you crying for? I'm here to take you home. You're acting like I'm going to hurt you."