Chapter 2
The next day, I set up a meeting with the most respected business lawyer in Harbor City.
After I explained my situation, his face grew serious.
"Ms. Summers, if I may speak frankly, we can't take on this case," he said.
"You know better than anyone how much influence Mr. Kingston has in Harbor City.
"If we cross him, our firm could be shut down by tomorrow."
I'd already expected this.
Charles had been running the Summers Group for ten years. He's got contacts on both sides of the law in Harbor City; nobody would ever dream of taking him on.
Trying to sue him? You'd be digging your own grave.
I nodded politely and walked out of the law firm.
As soon as I got in my car, my phone rang. It was Charles.
His voice was filled with contempt and mockery.
"So, hitting a wall everywhere you turn?" Charles sneered.
"Natalie, I've told you before; without me, you're nothing.
"Be a good girl and come back to apologize; I'll act like nothing ever happened."
He spoke to me like he was trying to tame an unruly pet.
I hung up on him and blocked his number.
He seems to have forgotten; the Summers Group has always belonged to the Summers family.
Ten years ago, I was the golden girl of Harbor City's business scene.
But Charles was just an abandoned boy that the Summers family picked up off the street.
I was the one who stuck by him when he was hanging by a thread.
After my father passed, I was the one who handed him the reins and stepped aside to play the role of the dutiful wife.
All of it, because back then, he took my hand and said, "Natalie, my life is yours. I'd never betray you."
I actually believed that bullshit.
Now, he's become the undisputed king of Harbor City's underworld.
And me? I'm just a piece of trash he no longer needs.
That evening, I returned to Kingston Manor to pack up my last belongings.
As soon as I stepped into the living room, I saw Lily sitting in my usual spot.
She was wearing the limited-edition dress I'd bought last year, with my jewelry hanging around her neck.
When she saw me, she didn't even bother to get up, just gave me a cool, indifferent glance.
"Back already?" Lily said.
I shot her a cold glare.
"This isn't your place to call the shots yet," I said.
Lily took her sweet time getting up, sauntered over, and stopped right in front of me.
She smirked, "Come on, don't kid yourself, Natalie. You really think Charles still has any space for you?
"If you know what's good for you, back off now; it's the only way you leave with a shred of dignity."
I looked at her cocky young face and suddenly laughed.
Not bothering to respond, I whipped out my phone and hit play on a recording.
It was the call she made to Charles, right at the exact moment he was signing those divorce papers.
Her smug look vanished in an instant.
"You recorded my call?" she shot back.
I slipped my phone back in my pocket, every word ice-cold and controlled.
"Kid, before you try playing mind games, you'd better learn your place," I said flatly.
Lily wilted under my aura and scurried off, no longer so cocky.
I sat alone in the empty living room, and my father's warnings echoed in my mind.
Early the next morning, Charles stormed in.
With a single angry swipe, he flipped the coffee table, sending the coffee cup crashing into pieces.
"Natalie, how dare you lay a finger on Lily!" he roared.
His eyes burned with rage; his voice was a low, animalistic growl.
He said, "You sent that recording to her school. Now the whole school is saying she's a homewrecker.
"She cried all night and couldn't even show her face at school today!"
I stared at him, completely unfazed.
"So what?" I said.
Charles grabbed my wrist, his grip so tight it felt like he was trying to crush my bones.
Charles spat, "Natalie, when did you turn so cold-hearted?
"Lily's only eighteen! How could you ruin her like this? Is there any humanity left in you at all?
"You're just bitter over her youth, jealous of how naive she is!
"You really think being the Summers family's princess makes you special? Take away your family name, and you're nothing!"
His last words sliced right through me, sharp as a blade.
So to him, everything I am is just the glory of the Summers family.
I tore free from his grip and, without hesitation, slapped him hard across the face.