The Paper Wife’s Empire novel Chapter 108

Ramona didn’t go easy on him. The moment Milo tried to bolt after hitting and yelling at people, she lunged forward and twisted his arm behind his back.

“Milo, do you really think nobody can keep you in line? Or that I’m afraid to discipline you? Did you forget what I told you last time? I’m not exactly gentle when it comes to teaching a lesson.”

Milo immediately burst into loud, theatrical wails.

The assistant hurried over to intervene. “Please, ma’am, he’s just a child. Don’t take it to heart. I was just about to take him home. Everyone’s waiting for you upstairs…”

“Perfect. Since he seems to resent me so much, he should be honest about it in front of his family. Milo, since you love Brianna so much, maybe I’ll help you out and let her be your mother.”

Without waiting for the assistant’s protests, Ramona dragged Milo off, ignoring his desperate attempts to squirm away. He kicked and screamed, his heels scraping across the floor, cursing her through his sobs.

Milo knew Ramona’s temper well and was terrified to go upstairs. He was convinced that if he did, the “wicked woman” would ruin him for good.

His wild resistance had some effect. The assistant tried to pull Ramona away from Milo, and seeing her chance, Ramona let go.

Milo, caught off balance, tumbled hard to the ground.

This time, the pain was real. He howled louder, tears streaming down his cheeks.

The assistant, flustered and unsure what to do, glanced at Ramona before kneeling to fuss over Milo, trying to comfort him.

Ramona didn’t waste a second. She pulled out her phone and called Jotham. “Are you at the hospital? Milo’s had an accident. Come down here, now.”

She hung up before he could respond.

Sure enough, Jotham came running moments later.

“Ramona, you’re here… What happened?”

He was surprised to see Ramona—and even more surprised that she’d called him herself. A smile flickered across his face, but it vanished at the sight of Milo bawling on the floor. His brow furrowed in concern.

“He wants Brianna to be his mother. If that’s what he wants, I won’t stand in the way. So you have two choices: either marry Brianna and make her his mother, or sever my adoption of Milo and send him off to live with her for good.”

Ramona’s tone was steady and clipped, but her words cut straight to the bone. She fixed Jotham with a cold, razor-sharp gaze.

He shifted, uneasy, and snapped back, “What are you talking about? You’re my wife. There’s no way I’d marry someone else.”

He quickly pieced together what had happened, then strode over and hauled Milo to his feet, ignoring the boy’s tantrum. He smacked Milo soundly on the backside.

Her gaze drifted to the plain plastic bag Ramona carried—the only gift she’d brought for the patient. Winnie sneered at the cheapness of it.

“Excuse me, and who exactly do you mean by ‘family’? Are you talking about a nitpicking mother-in-law who treats her daughter-in-law like a servant? Or a sister-in-law who’s always making trouble? Because if that’s what passes for family, I can promise you, anyone in my shoes would want to stay away, who wouldn’t?”

Ramona shot back with a cold laugh, shutting Eulalia up so fast her face went pale.

She’d expected Ramona to play nice outside Liliane’s room, and her casual jab had been meant as nothing more than a dig—what had gotten into her?

Eulalia was at a loss for words.

Winnie stepped in, but Ramona strode right up to her, her presence so strong that Winnie instinctively backed away, suddenly flustered.

“And what was that about freeloading, or being barren? Are you talking about me?”

“Ramona, don’t forget you were just an orphan when you married into this family. And your… health—”

“First of all, ninety percent of the Holt family’s profits over the last two years have been my doing, and I haven’t taken a cent from the company or the family this whole time. So ‘freeloading’ doesn’t really apply, does it?”Ramona cut Winnie off coldly, a mocking smile curling at her lips. “And as for being barren…”