Chapter 143:You and your precious son are doomed by my hands

Chapter 143: 143:You and your precious son are doomed by my hands

Mrs. Elena stared at the phone screen, the color draining from her face in an instant. The glaring video evidence played in a continuous loop—Stella, her supposed perfect mafia heiress, grinding seductively against multiple men in a neon-lit nightclub, eagerly accepting their groping hands and drunken embraces without a shred of hesitation.

?Stella’s brows knitted together as she noticed Mrs. Elena’s sudden pallor. "Aunty..." she began tentatively, wondering what could have sparked such intense fury.

?Mrs. Elena snapped her head up, leveling a glacial glare at the girl. She shoved the phone screen directly into Stella’s face. "What is the meaning of this?" she hissed.

?Internally, Stella didn’t miss a beat. "Why is she asking me? Didn’t she claim she had arranged everything and wiped my background clean? It seems she isn’t as powerful as she boasted," Stella thought with a sneer. Outwardly, however, she forced her eyes wide, fabricating a mask of absolute, trembling horror.

?"What... that isn’t me! How could I ever do such disgraceful things? That isn’t me at all!" she stuttered, turning a betrayed look toward Liora. "Liora, I know you oppose my marriage to your brother, but you can’t just edit a video to ruin my reputation!"

?From her seat, Nova watched the pathetic drama unfold with a dark smirk, thoroughly entertained, as if she were watching a predictable theater play.

?Mrs. Elena turned sharply to her daughter. "Did you edit this video just to frame her?"

?Liora stared at her mother in sheer, unadulterated disbelief. "You sound as if you already knew she was involved in this nonsense, yet you are still trying to cover for her," she retorted, her voice slicing through the heavy air.

?"How could you say that, Liora?" Mrs. Elena gasped, clutching her chest as if wounded.

?"Because you are my mother!" Liora shot back, her temper flaring. "Have you ever seen me act unreasonably regarding matters like this? Yet, one pathetic lie from a complete outsider is all it takes for you to question your own biological daughter!"

?"I..." Mrs. Elena was rendered entirely speechless.

?"I don’t have the time or the patience to edit stupid videos," Liora cut her off ruthlessly. "You brought her into this house, claiming she was the perfect wife for my brother. I despised her the second I laid eyes on her, so I had someone investigate her. Who would have thought she was such filthy trash?" Liora glared at Stella with unfiltered disgust. "I am still digging into your background, sweetheart. You had better pray I don’t discover your identity is completely fabricated, or you are a dead woman."

?Stella trembled violently. A cold sweat broke out across her palms as she clenched her fists, casting a desperate, pleading look at Mrs. Elena.

?Prince gave his sister an approving thumbs-up before turning a dark, expectant frown toward his father. "Are you not going to say anything here, Dad?" he demanded.

?At the sound of his name, Mr. Benson flinched as if struck. He clutched the decorative throw pillow to his chest with white-knuckled terror, darting a deeply nervous glance at Mrs. Elena.

?"I... everyone... please... don’t be upset," he managed to squeak out weakly.

?Nova rolled her eyes in profound disappointment.

?Prince’s brow furrowed even tighter in absolute disgust. His father couldn’t even muster the courage to string together a single meaningful sentence in his own home.

?Reading the volatile shift in the room, Mrs. Elena forced an incredibly awkward, stiff smile. "Look at this... this is all just a terrible misunderstanding. Since you are not satisfied with the girl I chose for you, Prince, we... we can just forget the whole thing. Everyone’s happiness is what truly matters," she stammered, though her eyes shot a venomous glare at Nova.

?Nova felt the heat of that glare and merely smiled. "She really seems to dislike me," she remarked casually to Prince in Mandarin, pointing directly at Mrs. Elena.

?Prince chuckled softly, entirely unbothered. "Do not mind her. She isn’t family—just an irrelevant outsider."

?"What are you two whispering about?!" Mrs. Elena demanded, the language barrier isolating her further and fueling her immense frustration.

?Prince ignored his stepmother completely, turning his commanding gaze back to Liora. "Once your investigation concludes, if her identity is indeed fake, hand her over to the police. Ensure she spends at least a decade rotting in a cell."

?"With pleasure, Brother," Liora giggled viciously.

?Panic seized Stella, and she opened her mouth to beg, but a lethal, warning glare from Mrs. Elena forced her jaws shut. She sat frozen in place.

?"Brother, why don’t you take Sister-in-law upstairs to rest? I will handle this piece of trash," Liora suggested with a dismissive wave toward Stella.

?Prince looked down at Nova. "Let’s go."

?Nova didn’t move immediately. "I have something important to handle tonight, so I cannot stay long. Furthermore, Cassian and Alan will track me down soon—by tomorrow noon at the absolute latest," she murmured back in Mandarin.

?Prince’s confident smile froze instantly. A spike of pure panic shot through him, and his grip on her hand tightened desperately. "You agreed to date me, Nova," he whispered fiercely.

?Nova let out a low, breathless laugh. "I didn’t say I was backing out of my word. But I still haven’t figured out how to explain this to Cassian, so for now... this is a secret date," she murmured back, her eyes dancing with amusement.

?Prince nodded, a wave of relief washing over him. "I have no problem with a secret, as long as you understand we are dating for marriage. You will marry me. You cannot dump me now."

?Nova laughed out loud as Prince effortlessly scooped her into his arms, carrying her off the sofa and striding up the grand staircase toward his bedroom.

?Watching them leave, Liora couldn’t help but beam. "It seems I really need to start taking Chinese lessons. My new sister-in-law is just too sweet!" she thought happily.

?Down in the living room, Mrs. Elena ground her teeth, her knuckles turning white. "Damn that foreign bitch. Her mere appearance has ruined my entire perfectly crafted plan. Just wait and see how I deal with you," she seethed internally. Taking a deep breath to mask her fury, she turned to Liora with a sickly-sweet smile.

?"My dear princess—"

?"Mum," Liora interrupted, her voice dropping to a freezing, dangerous tone. "If it weren’t for the fact that I secretly ran several DNA tests just to confirm you are actually my biological mother, I would have assumed I was adopted. You were never like this before."

?Mrs. Elena physically recoiled, stunned. "How... how could you say such a thing?"

?"No matter what you scheme, I will never let you lay a single finger on my brother or my sister-in-law. You should dismiss this filthy imposter right now, before I throw her out myself," Liora warned coldly. Without waiting for a response, she spun on her heel and marched off toward her own wing of the estate.

?Left alone with her trembling husband and the exposed fraud, Mrs. Elena’s fury finally boiled over. She pointed a shaking finger at Stella. "Get out of my house this instant! And do not ever let me see your face again!"

?"But..." Stella started, desperate for her promised payment but Mrs. Elena’s eyes promised murder. She swallowed her words, scrambled to her feet, and sprinted out the front door without looking back.

?The heavy silence returned, broken only by the sound of Mr. Benson whimpering as he clutched his pillow even tighter, realizing they were the only two left in the room.

?Mrs. Elena slowly turned her gaze to him. The polite, aristocratic mask was completely gone, replaced by pure malice. "You are incredibly lucky your son is here today. But the fact that he actually dared to bring that girl into this house... You and your precious son are doomed by my hands. Just wait until they leave," she hissed in a low, venomous voice, before turning and storming away.