“Nora, let’s just call it quits.”

The whole Payne family went dead silent the second Jonathan dropped that bomb.

No one saw it coming—these two were the power couple since college, built NorthSouth Pharma from the ground up, and their engagement party was literally tomorrow. The invites had barely cooled down.

Even the housekeepers kept their heads down, hoping not to get dragged into the drama.

“It’s all my fault... Please don’t blame Jon,” Lila sobbed as she sat beside Nora, grabbing her hand and pressing it onto her stomach, stealing glances at Jonathan like she was acting in some teen drama. It was nauseating to watch.

Nora stared coldly at the couple’s ridiculous performance, her lips twitching with a sarcastic smile. “Cheating with your bestie’s fiancé? That’s not just wrong—it’s disgusting.”

Cue Lila’s waterworks. "Nora, you’ve always been like a sister to me. You wouldn’t want this baby growing up without a dad, right?”

Ever since Lila joined NorthSouth, she’d been faking the whole BFF act. Turned out, “bestie” was just lingo for “the girl sleeping with your man.”

Nora stayed quiet, so Lila cranked up the drama. “It wasn’t Jon’s fault! I was just... too easy to move, okay? The vibe that night was just... so right. You wouldn’t understand even if I told you!”

“Jon’s just so good at all that romantic stuff—not your thing, you know?”

Lila had always trashed Nora behind her back as some ice-cold, unromantic robot.

Well, guess Lila’s definition of “romantic” includes dropping your pants.

Nora yanked her hand back and stood up, clearly done with the show. “If you two are really in love, then great. Hope it works out.”

With that, she slipped off the ring and casually tossed it into a bowl nearby.

Jonathan flinched—her detached tone oddly stung. “Nora, look... I know you’re mad, but do you have to be so heartless?”

“Oh, you mean your three-dollar fake ring from Pinxixi? Thought I wouldn’t notice? You planning to pass it down as a family heirloom?”

“...”

Jonathan froze. How did she know it was from Pinxixi?

She must’ve snooped on his phone!

Right now, all he could see was Lila—sweet, innocent, and hey, now the proud daughter of the Smith Group.

And then there’s Nora. Sure, she’s pretty, but besides that? Trouble. From a normal family, always working late, more obsessed with spreadsheets than romantic dates. Dated forever and wouldn’t even let him kiss her!

“You’re impossible! From now on, don’t bother coming to work. You’re fired!” Jonathan snapped.

“But Nora, please don’t worry about the company,” Lila jumped in, her voice sickeningly sweet as she reached out again. “Jon’s about to score a deal with Lab D. The future’s looking real bright. Plus...”

“Plus Dreamy Sister Lila is here to help!” Isabella cut in with a smug grin. “Who needs you anyway?”Back when Nora said no to getting Isabella an internship, she gave some excuse about how high school should be all about studying. But then Lila stepped in and magically made it happen, which only made Isabella dislike Nora even more.

"You should really just leave already. Lila’s a million times better than you! And that D Lab project? You’ve got zero to do with it."

D Lab, after all, was one of the top-notch research centers in the country. They’d racked up a bunch of major awards and even got nominated for the highest honor in the pharmaceutical world. SouthNorth Pharma took off mainly thanks to their formula, which got them approved to go public and drew in tons of investors.

Nora couldn’t be bothered arguing with this circus of a family. She was just glad she saw through their BS in time. "Cool, I don’t wanna stay in this garbage company anyway. Hand me the cash for my shares, or I’ll see you in court!"

At the mention of money, Margaret lost it. "So that's what you're after! Dream on!"

"Look at you! Probably can’t even have kids and still think you can marry into our family? Know your damn worth."

Nora smirked coldly. "Was that you bragging about yourself just now? I weigh 95 pounds, thanks. Better than some people who can’t stop pretending even with all that flab."

Jonathan’s face turned red with anger. "Apologize to my mom! Can’t believe I didn’t see how trashy you really are. You don’t hold a candle to Lila!"

Right on cue, Lila put on her pitiful act. "Jonathan... don’t be mad at her..."

Watching the two of them made Nora want to puke. She stood up, rolling her wrists.

"Think I’m trashy? Let me show you what real trashy looks like."

Without another word, she grabbed the steaming hot soup from the table and dumped it straight onto Jonathan.

"All these years playing the gentleman, huh? You must’ve broken the world record for faking it. I swear, you need a psych eval."

Then she yanked his collar and slapped him hard, over and over again.

"You hit my son?! I’ll kill you!" Margaret screeched.

But Nora was too quick—she yanked the tablecloth off and tied Margaret up before she could even blink.

"Oh right, almost forgot about you, you ancient witch. Did nobody tell you it's the 21st century? Might wanna leave your feudal fantasy world."

Margaret thrashed on the floor, clothes all messed up, pale skin flashing everywhere as she flailed around and screamed like a banshee. "I’ll ruin your life! Trash like you will always get dumped, no man will ever want you!"

Lila turned white as a sheet watching Jonathan and Margaret on the ground. She ran over, crying, "Nora, please, stop! It’s all my fault…"

Nora didn’t waste a second—she slapped her, hard.

"Don’t think just ‘cause you’re pregnant I won’t lay a hand on you! Let’s hope your kid doesn’t end up like you, latching onto every guy in sight."

Lila clutched her nose, shrieking, "My nose! Oh my God!"

All that money she spent on plastic surgery—now her designer nose was completely crooked.

"I spent so much on this nose!"

--*******--