Chapter 451

Isabella took the phone, her expression hardening instantly. “What do you want?”

“What do I want?” Richard’s voice was a low, furious growl. “How dare you use that tone with me? Have you finally decided to grace us with your presence after all your gallivanting? Do you think Montgomery Manor is some cheap motel you can check into whenever it suits you?”

His anger escalated with every word. “Letting your mother bring you home was the biggest mistake of my life!” he spat. “You destroyed your own reputation five years ago, and now you’re trying to drag your sister down with you? You’ve shamed the Montgomery name! I should have ended you the day you arrived. It would have saved us all this disgrace!”

Isabella was blindsided by the tirade. Before she could form a response, Eleanor snatched the phone.

“Whatever Victoria did to you, even if she pushed you down those stairs, she is still your sister!” Eleanor’s voice was sharp, laced with venom. “That bastard child never should have existed! How can you be so vindictive? Holding a grudge for five years and now trying to ruin our family’s standing? You are utterly ungrateful!”

Isabella’s face went cold. So they knew. Victoria had gotten to them first, spinning her web of lies.

“You need to take a long, hard look at yourself, Isabella,” Eleanor continued, her words like shards of glass. “Stop spreading your legs for every stranger you meet. You’re an embarrassment. If you ever want to set foot in this house again, you will apologize to your sister. Properly. Then, and only then, might you be allowed to move your things back in. But if you think you can treat this estate like your personal flophouse, you can forget it. I wish we’d never taken you in. To me, you’re already dead!”

Each syllable was a deliberate blow. Apologize to Victoria? Sleeping around? They were swallowing every lie Victoria fed them, even after her own scandals. How could they be so blind? Did tears and dramatics always win over the truth?

Eleanor didn’t give her a chance to defend herself. She barked orders to the security team. “Make her leave. If any one of you lets her past the gates, you’re all fired. Every last one of you!” The line went dead.

The guards looked at Isabella with palpable anxiety. “Ms. Montgomery, please… don’t make this difficult for us.”

Isabella stared at the imposing Montgomery Manor. The grand, picturesque facade now felt like a cruel joke. This was her birthright, stolen from her for twenty-three years by Victoria.

Now, even returning was a battle.

A dark, cold smirk touched her lips. Soon. Very soon, they would all be on their knees, begging for her return.

She tossed the phone back to the guard and turned on her heel.

Saving Benjamin was the priority. As for Grandfather…

She slid into her car and quickly typed a message to Theodore Montgomery. [I don’t know what lies Victoria has told you, but trust nothing from her mouth. I will explain everything when I return.]

She powered off her phone and sped toward the private airfield. None of them had any idea. The adopted daughter they despised was their true heir.

At the private airport…

As Isabella’s car screeched to a halt, Maxwell was already waiting, flanked by ten of his most elite agents. They stood at rigid attention, bowing in unison as she stepped out. “Ms. Montgomery!”

Their respect was absolute. Their orders had come from the very top: protect this woman at all costs. Maxwell had told them only she could get to Takashi Yamamoto’s mountain stronghold. Where they would fail, she would succeed. Her capability was beyond question.

Isabella’s brow furrowed slightly at the sight of the large contingent. Too many.