Chapter 210

Leaning in close, Renata's voice dropped to a venomous whisper. "When you dream at night, do you see your two shattered children? Don't they come back to haunt you for what you did?"

Slap!

The sharp, crisp sound echoed through the living room, instantly silencing the air. Latisha's hand, now hanging at her side, trembled slightly, her palm stinging.

A red handprint bloomed on Renata's cheek. She stared at Latisha in disbelief, a furious fire igniting in her eyes. "You... you hit me?" she hissed through clenched teeth.

Latisha's fingers curled into a tight fist. She shot to her feet, her eyes locked on Renata.

The smile was gone from Renata's face, replaced by a dark, vicious glare that looked as if it could tear Latisha apart. No one had ever dared to lay a hand on her, especially not this mute who she had always tormented.

Renata placed the baby in his bassinet and rose to her feet, a cold sneer twisting her lips. “Did I hit a nerve? Latisha, you deserve to be barren for the rest of your life. And let me tell you, even if you did manage to get pregnant, it would just be another dead baby. It would die right inside your womb. Since you know you can't carry a child to term, doesn't trying to have one make you the culprit? Doesn't that make you a murderer?"

"Latisha, you're going to hell, you know that? Your two children are waiting for you there..."

Before Renata could finish, Latisha lunged forward and shoved her with all her might.

"Ah!"

Luckily, the sofa was behind her, and Renata tumbled onto the cushions, her hair falling into disarray.

"You damn mute, are you tired of living?" a sharp voice snapped from behind. It was Clifford's mother, Polly.

Latisha froze. She had barely turned around when a stinging slap landed across her face. Her head swam, and she stumbled backward, her legs giving out.

She collapsed, her knees hitting the floor and her upper body slumping against the sofa. Her hair fell across her face obscuring her vision. The world spur violently, the familiar dizziness returning with a vengeance. Polly had hit her hard, and her long, sharp nails had left a deep scratch across her cheek, from which beads of blood began to well.

Renata, seeing this, stood up triumphantly and rushed to Polly's side. "Mom," she cried, feigning distress. "Now that she has Clifford backing her, this mute has gotten completely out of control. All did was ask her if Jaden was cute, and she slapped me! Then she pushed me!"

Polly glanced at the red mark on Renata's face. She knew full well that Renata had been provoking Latisha, but she had never imagined Latisha would actually retaliate.

"It seems some time away has made her forget her place," Polly said coldly. "She's forgotten all her manners."

She turned to a nearby maid. "Take her away and teach her a lesson in proper etiquette!"

Wilma, the head maid, nodded and gestured for two other servants to grab Latisha.

Dazed from the blow, with a loud ringing in her ears, Latisha offered little resistance as they hauled her away.

She was still disoriented when a searing pain shot through her knees, snapping her back to reality. Latisha looked down and saw that she was kneeling on a pile of shattered glass. Sharp fragments pierced throug! her jeans, embedding themselves in her flesh. Blood slowly began to seep through the denim.

She tried to stand, but two heavy hands pressed down on her shoulders, forcing her

back down onto the shards. The glass dug in deeper.

When Clifford came out of the study and found the living room empty, his expression turned dark.

"Where is she?" he demanded.