Chapter 483
Richard Montgomery’s expression darkened at his son’s words. “Why?”
“I… We believed Isabella was responsible for the destruction at the Kensington Estate yesterday. So we invoked your authority to revoke her shares and formally disowned her. We even gathered men to storm the Rosewood Manor and insulted her publicly. She… She may refuse to assist us now…” Richard hung his head, the shame of facing Isabella overwhelming him.
The elder Montgomery’s face flushed with rage. “You fools! How could you be so reckless? Did I not explicitly say we wait for Benjamin to regain consciousness? How dare you defy me—cough, cough!”
His coughing intensified with each furious word.
Adrian Sinclair rushed to his side. “Please, sir, remain calm. Let them rectify their errors—don’t sacrifice your health over their foolishness.”
“My health is irrelevant… Isabella is what matters. My true granddaughter all along! Richard, you will go to her and apologize immediately! I don’t care how you do it, but you will bring her back into this family. If you fail, I will disown you as my son!” Senior Montgomery’s voice trembled with fury.
Richard nodded grimly. “I understand, Father. Once Eleanor is conscious, we will go together. Please, try to calm yourself.”
He needed to steady his own emotions. The daughter he cherished for twenty-three years was not his biological child, while the one he rejected and mistreated was his actual flesh and blood.
The daughter he adored had been secretly scheming against the family all along.
The revelation felt like the ground had shattered beneath him.
Eleanor Kensington drifted in a troubled sleep, trapped in a lengthy nightmare. She dreamt of rescuing Isabella from a dumpster and raising her with affection until she turned eight, when the girl became defiant and unruly. Isabella repeatedly humiliated the Montgomery name. Eleanor’s scornful words echoed in the dream: “Get out of this family! I regret ever taking in a stray like you!” “Why are you so ungrateful? You’re just an adopted child! Nothing more!”
Young Isabella stared back with tear-filled eyes. “If you hate me so much, then cast me out!”
She turned and fled, sprinting toward a jagged cliff edge—a gaping chasm with no bottom.
Eleanor tried to chase her, but Isabella leaped into the void, her small form disappearing into the abyss.
“No!”
Eleanor jolted awake, her face wet with tears. Richard gripped her shoulders. “What’s wrong, Eleanor?”
“I… I dreamed of Isabella. She was running away…” Her voice shook with terror.
Her mind foggy, she clutched Richard’s arm. “Tell me it was just a dream. The lawyer hasn’t come, right? Victoria is still our real daughter, isn’t she?”
Richard frowned and sighed heavily after a long pause. He said nothing.
The hospital room grew thick with tension.
Eleanor’s grip on his arm slackened, her hand falling away.
His silence confirmed the truth. It was no nightmare. Victoria was not her biological daughter. Her real daughter was Isabella…