Chapter 4

With that, Sarah slipped into the kitchen.

Soon after, muffled sounds of Mia scolding Sarah drifted through the swinging door. Sarah didn't say a word back, only offering an occasional indifferent murmur.

It took nearly two full hours before Mia finally brought out dinner.

To be blunt, it was an absolute disaster. The vegetables were limp and brown, the fish was charred black down to the bone, and the chicken was pale, rubbery, and questionable at best.

Yet, purely to spite me, Mrs. Vance picked up her fork, took a massive bite, and showered her with praise.

"Mia, sweetheart, you're the complete package! A woman of intellect and a domestic goddess! You're a thousand times better than people who just pout and act bitter!"

"Nathan would be truly blessed to have a wife like you!"

Nathan hurriedly shoveled a forkful into his mouth and chewed.

His brow twitched violently as he struggled to swallow it down.

He clearly tasted how atrocious it was, but he still hardened his face and joined his mother in berating me.

"Elena, you really need to take notes from Mia. If you keep acting this childish, we might need to seriously reconsider setting a wedding date!"

Looking at Nathan’s face, I felt nothing but pure revulsion.

I couldn't stomach another second of this circus. Leaving my plate untouched, I headed upstairs and ordered takeout on DoorDash.

That night, agonizing groans shattered the silence of the house. Mrs. Vance had been rushed to the emergency room with severe food poisoning. Shortly after, Nathan and Mia began vomiting violently and running to the bathroom with severe stomach cramps.

Woken up by the commotion, I walked down the hall to see what the chaos was about.

Mia, pale as a ghost, grabbed Nathan's arm and shrieked through tears:

"Nathan, it was Elena! She must have ordered Sarah to poison the food! Why else would the three of us be sick while she didn't touch a single bite?"

"She's doing this on purpose to get back at us!"

Honestly, after seven years with Nathan, I thought he’d have enough common sense to see through such an idiotic lie.

I was wrong. He looked up at me with feverish, bloodshot eyes and hissed:

"Elena, did you do this?"

"Over a petty grudge, you tried to poison my mother? How could you be so cruel?!"

I stared at him, my heart frozen solid.

"Nathan, if you had a single working brain cell..."

Before I could finish, Mia lunged toward me, claws out, aiming straight for my face.

"Shut up!"

"You poisoned us and now you're lying about it!"

I stepped back instinctively to dodge her attack.

Nathan thought Mia was about to get hurt. In a panic, he lunged forward, but instead of pulling Mia back, he shoved me hard in the chest to keep me away from her, yelling:

"Don't you touch her!"

He completely forgot we were standing at the top of the staircase.

The shove caught me totally off guard. My foot slipped on the hardwood edge, a gasp caught in my throat, and I tumbled backward down the entire flight of stairs.

My head and ribs slammed brutally against the wooden steps. Everything went black.

When I opened my eyes again, it was late the following afternoon.

Nathan was slumped by my hospital bed. The second he saw me stir, he grabbed the bed railing, his voice cracking with tears.

"Elena! You're awake!"

"I'm so sorry, I was just panicked... I swear I didn't mean to push you..."

I closed my eyes, refusing to look at his face.

I hit the nurse call button. When the nurse walked in, I said calmly:

"Please have security remove this man. I need total rest."

Nathan was escorted out.

For the next several days, the routine repeated.

He came every day, bringing flowers, crying, and begging for forgiveness. I never said a single word. Eventually, Mia showed up too, mumbling a half-hearted "I'm sorry."

I ignored her entirely, treating her like thin air.

Finally, my discharge day arrived.

It was the fifth business day since the legal notice had run; the severance was officially in effect. The broker had also texted me the good news: a cash buyer had closed on the house yesterday, and a crew was currently packing up my remaining personal belongings.

I handled the discharge paperwork on my own and called an Uber straight to the airport.

Before boarding, I sent a brief text to both Nathan and Mia: [Come pick me up from the hospital.]

A few minutes later, hurried footsteps echoed down the hospital hallway.

Nathan’s arrogant voice carried through the door.

"I told you Elena is a pushover. She could never stay mad at me for long!"

Mia chimed in, equally confident.

"Exactly! She always forgives me. For eighteen years, she barks but never bites. At the end of the day, she always spoils me!"

Laughing, they shoved open the private room door.

The bed was completely stripped. The room was empty.

Except for Robert, standing by the window in his sharp tailored suit.

Nathan’s smile froze instantly. He instinctively pulled Mia behind him.

"Who are you? Where's Elena?"

Robert turned, his expression professionally detached.

He flashed his legal credentials.

"Mr. Vance, Miss Scott. I am Elena Scott’s attorney, Robert Miller."

He pulled two manila folders from his briefcase and slapped them onto the bedside table.

Robert looked at Nathan first.

"First, the property on the west side owned by Miss Scott was sold yesterday under a binding cash contract. As current unauthorized occupants, you are required to vacate the premises by five o'clock today. This is your formal Notice to Vacate. Consider yourself served."

Then, he turned to Mia, whose face was rapidly draining of color.

"Second, regarding Miss Mia Scott. Elena Scott has executed a formal legal declaration terminating all familial and financial relations with you. The required legal publication period concluded this morning. As of today, you are legally unrelated."

Robert snapped his briefcase shut and delivered the final blow.

"Lastly, Miss Scott asked me to relay this message: every debt is settled, and every tie is severed. Any future communication must go through my law firm."

"She never wants to see either of you again."