Alice massaged her sore wrist, smiling with satisfaction before she decided to strut away.
Before long, the servants stripped Irene down to her pelt, leaving only a set of silk underwear to cover her naked body.
Unable to resist, Irene closed her eyes and gave up struggling.
She just let them do whatever they wanted to her.
She knew very well that her survival was now the most important thing.
The servants supported her on each side as they walked towards the door.
After all, Irene was once Lennon's wife.
Even though the servants loathed her, they still didn't want to bear witness to her embarrassment.
Along the way, she didn't see anyone else besides the maids who were escorting her.
Meanwhile, the butler knocked on the door of the study.
"Come in," said Lennon.
The butler entered the room and said to him, "Mr. Marshall, Mrs—Ms. Morgan had been thrown out as you've commanded."
Lennon was currently reading a contract, so he didn't raise his head when he replied, "Did she say anything?"
"No," said the butler.
With a snort, Lennon thought of what Irene had said earlier.
His eyes brimmed with cruelty as he shut the folder and ordered, "Tell them to throw that bitch as far as they can. Don't let that woman disgrace my doorstep."
The butler was shocked to hear that.
"Yes, sir," he answered reluctantly.
Inside a cramped basement somewhere south of the city…
"No!" Irene suddenly woke up, sitting upright and screaming.
She was breathing heavily and looking ahead in horror.
Just then, someone pushed the door open from outside.
Seeing that she was awake, the man set aside the medicine he had prepared and walked to the bed.
"Miss Morgan, you're finally awake," he said with concern.
Irene looked at him vigilantly, calming down at once.
She tried to recall the man's name because he looked familiar.
However, she couldn't remember who he was at the moment.
She looked down at her body and remembered that she had been thrown out of Lennon's house — half-naked and almost dying.
But now, she was still alive, sitting here in a tacky yet neat floral shirt with matching pants.
"Who are you?" Irene's voice was hoarse, and it seemed like she was wary of him.
"We've met before, but you were still a child back then. It's normal that you don't remember me. I'm Andy Torres, your mother's private lawyer," the man smiled at her.
'Andy? Mom's lawyer?'
Irene remembered that her mother did have a lawyer.
"Did you save me?"
"I did. When I called you, a passerby answered the phone and said that you had fainted. But don't worry, I didn't see anything. The man who found you covered you with a coat, and then I carried you to my car and drove you back here," Andy explained.
"Then, why am I wearing these clothes?"
"Oh, I asked an old lady who lives next door to change it for you."
Irene breathed a sigh of relief, but she still frowned.
"You mentioned that you called me. What for?"
Her mother died when she was 13. Andy said that he was her mother's lawyer, but Irene hadn't seen him for so many years. It was suspicious that he suddenly showed up this time.
Andy got up and walked out of the room. Moments later, he returned with a document and gave it to Irene.
"This is your mother's last will and testament," he said.
"My mother's will?" Doubt filled Irene's eyes.
If she remembered correctly, her mother departed this world so suddenly that she didn't have the time to make a will. Otherwise, Irene's useless father and his mistress wouldn't have been so reckless and high-profile.
"Yes, she entrusted me to be the witness of her will when she was still alive. She told me to make this will public and give it to you on your 24th birthday."
Now that Andy had mentioned that, Irene remembered that her birthday was the same day as her divorce from Lennon.
"It's clearly stated in this will that you will inherit all of your mother's assets, including fifteen percent of the Morgan Group's shares and the villa she lived in before she died," Andy continued.
Irene turned to the last page and saw the name "Elisa Morgan" on the bottom right corner of the paper.
"Mr. Torres, how many days have I been unconscious?" asked Irene.
"Three days."
She then put away the document and got out of bed.
"In that case, they've been living comfortably for three more days. That's enough for them."
After saying that, Irene walked towards the door.
"Miss Morgan, where are you going?" asked Andy.
Irene stopped at the door, glancing at the will in her hand. She raised her eyebrows and smiled.
"Where else? I'm going back home and kicking out my father, his bitch of a mistress, and their daughter!"
With that, Irene opened the door and strode out.
Andy was taken aback by what she said for a moment. Somehow, he saw a glimpse of Elisa during her youth.
As he watched Irene walk away, Andy put on his suit jacket and followed her quickly.
In the Morgan family's house, in the Riverside Villa District north of the city.
Irene and Andy stood in front of the door. They had been ringing the doorbell dozens of times, and yet nobody was answering.
Annoyed by the constant ringing, the housekeeper finally trotted outside and shouted, "Stop it! Who is there? A debt collector or something? Stop ringing it! You're driving me crazy!"
Right after she stopped talking, the housekeeper opened the side door and looked at the visitors with a frown.
She was stunned to see who they were.
Irene put on a sardonic smile.
"Well, we do have a debt to collect."
"You… it's you!" The housekeeper's face turned pale, and a chill ran down her spine because of how intimidating Irene looked.
"What's wrong, Viola? Have you forgotten about me because you haven't seen me for a long time?" Irene asked.
Viola Lyons swallowed hard nervously. For some reason, her feet felt cold.
"Mi-Miss Irene, you're back," she stammered.
Irene took a step forward.
"That's right. I'm back, and I'm staying this time. Viola, go clean up my bedroom."
Viola lowered her gaze and pursed her lips, unable to respond.
'Her bedroom?' Irene didn't have a bedroom in this house anymore. Alice had already occupied her old bedroom.
However, Viola didn't want to say that out loud. If this had happened in the past, she wouldn't have hesitated to say it.
However, it looked like Irene had changed so much.
She had become a terrifying woman, and Viola was so scared of her that it felt difficult to breathe.
"Who's home right now?" Irene looked around and saw that the garden's layout hadn't changed in the past two years. Everything was the same as before.
"Your father, his wife, and Miss Alice are all here," Viola replied.
"Great! That saves me the effort of looking for them," Irene said as she walked through the front yard and entered the house.
Inside the living room:
"Mom, which one looks better on me? This one or the previous one?" Alice asked, fiddling with the diamond necklace around her neck.
"Silly girl, the other one is more expensive. You're going to attend Mr. Marshall's banquet, so you should wear something more expensive."
The middle-aged woman grabbed the necklace on the table. It was embedded with a sapphire, and it looked more expensive and exquisite.
Gently, she put it around Alice's neck.
Alice looked at the sapphire necklace and touched the gleaming gem. She couldn't resist the urge to smile at how beautiful it looked.