Chapter 142

"You're petty and consumed by jealousy!" Rebecca screamed. "So you're getting back at us, trying to make us all grovel at your feet. That's what you want, isn't it? To feel powerful!"

"Rebecca, how can you say that about me?"

"Just drop the act, Penelope! I see you for who you really are!"

"And who is that?"

"You claimed I was your best friend, but you never once respected me! Back in school, whatever competition I entered, you had to enter too, just to make sure you beat me! You got into Stone Group and pretended to help me by getting me a job there too, but you stuck me as an assistant in the design department while you were a manager in project development! I was making peanuts while you were raking in five-figure commissions on a single project!"

Penelope laughed. "So I was wrong to help you?"

"When we went shopping, you'd just swipe your card for anything you wanted, while I didn't even have the courage to look at a price tag! When we went out to eat, you always made a show of paying the bill and wouldn't even let me split it! When we went on trips, I was just trailing behind you, only able to do whatever you were doing! To everyone else, I was just your shadow, your sidekick... your charity case!" Rebecca finally unleashed all her pent-up resentment.

Penelope listened, a sad smile on her face. So this was the reason for her betrayal. And here she'd been, naively believing that true friends helped each other without keeping score.

How pathetic. Not just Rebecca, but her, too.

"You're laughing at me, aren't you?" Rebecca snarled.

"Yes."

As if a switch had been flipped, Rebecca lunged at her.

Penelope hadn't expected such a violent reaction. She instinctively stepped back, raising her hands to defend herself.

"Penelope, from this moment on, we are no longer friends!" Rebecca shouted.

She charged forward, but just as she was about to make contact, she abruptly stumbled backward and collapsed onto the floor.

"You hit me!" she shrieked.

Penelope stared, bewildered. She hadn't even touched her.

"Ah, my stomach! It hurts so much!" Rebecca clutched her belly, her face contorted in a mask of agony.

"My baby... Penelope, you're trying to kill my baby!"

What was happening?

While Penelope was still trying to process the bizarre scene, Mrs. Winters rushed

over.

"Penelope! My daughter is pregnant! How could you hit her?"

Mrs. Winters knelt beside Rebecca, placing a hand behind her back. A moment later, she let out a piercing scream.

"Oh my god, Rebecca, you're bleeding!"

Penelope's eyes darted down and saw a dark stain spreading on Rebecca's pants.

"Something's wrong! Something's terribly wrong!" Mrs. Winters cried, scrambling to her feet. Ignoring

Rebecca, she bolted out the det

and ran across to the Sullivans house. "Mrs. Sullivan! Penelope attacked Rebecca! She's losing the baby!"

Hearing this, Mrs. Sullivan came rushing out her face a mask of panic. She followed Mrs. Winters back and saw Rebecca on the floor. the blood on her pants confirming her worst fears. A wave of fury and terror washed over her.

She shoved Penelope hard. "You just wait! If anything happens to my grandson,

I'll make you pay with your life!"

Penelope's eyes narrowed. This was

clearly a setup orchestrated by

Rebecca and her mother

l.ne

wasn't

She ex going to be intimidated that easily.

And in her panic, Mrs. Sullivan had just made a critical mistake.

"You said the baby in Rebecca's belly," Penelope asked with chilling calm, "is your grandson?"