Bye-bye Trash! Hello Queen! novel Chapter 201

A wave of panic washed over Jerome as he took in his mother’s serious expression. Had Natalie gotten to her, too?

“Mom, please, can you stop this nonsense?” he pleaded. “I can’t give you the shares, and you know it. Besides, I know you have what it takes to save the company.”

He knew what his mother was capable of, even if others didn’t. She’d been thrown into the cutthroat world of business at eighteen, molded into a powerhouse by his grandfather. She had always been a force to be reckoned with, the one who had carved out a place for the Scott family in Yaro.

Wendy stared at him, her expression unreadable.

Jerome’s brow furrowed as he tried to decipher her thoughts. A sudden tension seized him, making it hard to breathe. Though it was a cool autumn day, he felt as if he were in the dead of winter, a thin sheen of sweat coating his back.

“Mom, why are you looking at me like that?”

Wendy laughed, but it was a sound laced with disappointment and pain. Her voice grew raspy. “Yes, I’m the one making a scene,” she said, her words dripping with sarcasm. “But your reaction was all the answer I needed. I was just testing you, Jerome. Testing to see if you genuinely care for Joanna.”

She paused, her gaze piercing. “If you truly care for her, then I can rest easy.”

But not for me, your own mother, she thought bitterly. That Joanna was really something else. With all her tears and melodrama, she had my foolish son wrapped around her little finger.

Jerome was speechless for a moment, then managed an unnatural laugh. “Mom, that’s not a funny joke.”

Wendy patted his shoulder again. “No, it isn’t funny, Jerome. Don’t betray the bond you two have. In the heat of youth, don’t do anything to hurt your sister. Cherish her. She’s our family’s little princess, after all.”

She straightened up, her tone shifting. “Just forget what I said. I don’t really believe your father would do that to us anyway.”

She softened her tone with mock concern. “Pretend this conversation never happened. And don’t you dare mention it to Joanna, or your dear sister might get upset and try to kill herself again.”

Then, the final, cutting remark. “Oh, and one more thing. We should congratulate Zenobia. Leaving an idiot like you was the smartest thing she’s ever done. Marrying you would have ruined her life.”

Of course he couldn’t tell Joanna, Jerome thought. She really would try to kill herself if she heard any of this.

But if it wasn’t Natalie, who could it be?

And what did his mother mean with that last comment? What did Zenobia leaving have to do with him?