The Billionaire Ex-Wife and the Beggar He Became novel Chapter 485

Winona took the Shepherds to a restaurant with a private room. She ordered food for the four of them but instructed the owner to hold off on serving it.

Inside the spacious room, Winona, Mia, Grandma, Yves Prescott, Tiana, and Zane sat on one side of a large sofa.

The Shepherds sat opposite them.

"Joy, whatever you want to talk about… just say it," Henrietta said first, a flicker of hope in her eyes.

Winona looked at her and smiled faintly. "Ms. Henrietta, do you remember how many times you beat me? How many times you threw me out? Or how many times you hit my daughter, called her a dog, and let your grandchildren tie a rope around her neck and play with her like she was an animal?"

Hrietta stammered, "I didn't know Tiana was my granddaughter! If I had known…"

"You didn't know!" Winona cut her off sharply. "So if she's not your own flesh and blood, it's okay to be that vicious, that twisted, that cruel? Tiana was only five years old. Even if I, her mother, offended you, what did a five-year-old child ever do to you?"

Hrietta had no answer.

"And what about me?" Winona continued. "When you brought Felicity home, I was only sixteen. Suddenly, there was a stranger in our house, and all the love my parents had for me was redirected to her. I threw one tantrum—one single tantrum—and that was all the excuse you needed to finally get rid of me, wasn't it?"

"We… we thought you weren't our child…" Henrietta mumbled.

"You thought? Don't ‘think.' I was never your child! Not ten years ago, not now, and not ever! I am Helga's granddaughter! I just want to ask you one thing, Ms. Henrietta. Just because I wasn't a Shepherd, did that give you, your husband, your son, and your mother-in-law the right to beat me, again and again, nearly to death?"

"Even then, with my chest bandaged, I was still foolish enough to go back to your house, hoping my parents would have a change of heart and take me home."

"Did you ever once wonder if I was alive or dead? Even if I wasn't your biological child, so what? Wouldn't you give a piece of bread to a beggar who came to your door? I had lived in your house for sixteen years. How could you be so heartless as to beat me and starve me?"

"Do you have any idea what that felt like?"