Chapter 4
Our clothes were already ripped.
While we waited for George, we planned to change.
Johnny unlocked the doors. Peggy and Lily walked in first, like they owned the place.
The second I stepped inside, my chest dropped.
The living room was unrecognizable.
The pricey art Lydia bought at auction was gone, replaced with tacky gold décor. The sleek smart system? Ripped out. In its place—bulky, gold-trimmed furniture.
What used to feel clean and sharp now screamed cheap new money, like a mall jewelry store stuffed with glitter.
A vein throbbed at my temple. I didn't even need to look at Lydia.
Peggy stood off to the side, sneering. "This place had zero taste before. Plain, try-hard, like it was scared to look expensive. I fixed it. Now it actually looks rich."
That's when it clicked for Lydia—the renovation bill.
Her fists tightened. She held it in.
She headed upstairs to her room to change.
Peggy cut her off, pointing lazily at a maid's room in the corner. "Your stuff's in there. Just a pile of junk. Grab it and go."
The door swung open.
Our clothes were dumped on the floor like trash—covered in footprints, stained with who-knows-what.
Heat rushed to my face. I turned on Johnny. "What is this? You kicking your own mom and me out for them? I'm telling you, we're not divorced. She's just a side chick!"
Lily instantly threw herself into his arms, shaking. "Johnny, why is that tramp calling me a side chick? That hurts. I feel awful."
Johnny pulled her in and snapped at me, "Sienna Sterndale, it's just clothes. Buy new ones. Are you done? I already told you—this is for Lily's condition. Do you have zero compassion? Enough. You and Mom change, pack up, and go stay somewhere else."
Cold crept into my bones.
I met Lydia's eyes. The last bit of trust she had in George was cracking.
Without his approval, Johnny wouldn't have gone this far.
She looked at her son, done with him. "What if I don't leave? Let's see how you plan to throw your own mother out."
Johnny frowned, impatient. "Mom, be reasonable. Don't push me. You're always working, always traveling. It doesn't matter where you stay. Lily's different. She needs me—and Peggy."
Peggy lifted a brow at Lydia, smug. "Lydia Leighton, let's be clear. George already signed this house over to me. Be smart and get out, or I'll have you dragged out. Don't test me.
"And wow, that whole powerful career woman thing? Cute. No wonder George stopped seeing you as a woman.
"If you hadn't used the Leighton family to trap him, he would've ditched you and come back to me a long time ago."
Lydia's gaze went ice-cold. "Shut up. I want George to say that to my face."
She dialed him again.
The ringtone came from upstairs.
George stepped out of the study, slow, phone in hand.
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