The Sleeper's Wrath and His Wife's Strike novel Chapter 143

“But doing this will only make Lester hate you even more,” Tracy sighed, her voice gentle but firm. “If you let some outsider come between you and your own son, isn’t that just too high a price to pay?”

“What choice do I have?” Althea’s whole body trembled with anger, her voice breaking. “Lester acts like he’s under some spell—he can’t see anything or anyone but Naomi. If he’d fallen for Lindsay, I could handle it. But no, he just has to be obsessed with that wretched woman’s daughter. It’s like he’s rubbing salt in my wounds.” She squeezed her eyes shut, drained and furious.

The memories came flooding back as if it were all happening yesterday.

She hadn’t been York’s first wife. That was Olivia—Naomi’s mother.

Back then, York had been hopelessly in love with Olivia. Even when the doctors told them she couldn’t have children naturally and would need IVF, he refused to give up on her.

But in the end, Olivia betrayed their marriage. She was caught cheating by the Quigley family’s staff.

Even after that humiliation, York still refused to divorce her. That was the last straw for Mr. Quigley Sr.. He used every connection he had to force York and Olivia to split.

After the divorce, Olivia still clung to York, desperate to win him back—even when Althea was already his fiancée.

It was only after Althea’s brother threatened Olivia that she finally backed off.

Later, Olivia became someone else’s mistress and bore him a daughter, but she was never accepted by that family. Her daughter didn’t even get to take her father’s last name.

All these years—over two decades—Olivia would still show up, trying to seduce York, reopening old wounds that had never really healed.

Althea hated Olivia more than anyone. And she hated Naomi just as deeply.

One had stolen her husband’s heart. The other, her son’s.

“Auntie, my heart breaks for you,” Tracy murmured, wrapping Althea in a warm hug, her hand gently patting her back. “If there’s anything I can do, just say the word.”

“Sweet girl, this isn’t something you need to dirty your hands with,” Althea replied, a cold, murderous glint in her eyes as a cruel smile played on her lips. “York has so many people working for him—any one of them could take care of Naomi.”

“I’ve been keeping my head down lately—I swear, I haven’t pissed anyone off. I have no idea who’d want to do this to me.”

“That’s what’s so strange,” Lester said, frowning. “Whoever did this was after you specifically—and they weren’t holding back. They were out for blood.” He hesitated, wanting to mention Joseph’s injuries, but couldn’t bring himself to say it. That sort of news would be devastating for any man.

Besides, Joseph was already in rough shape. Maybe it was better to wait.

“Weren’t there only two of them? And you’ve had self-defense training. How did they take you down so easily?” Lester pressed.

Joseph tried to piece together what had happened. The moment he realized something was off, he’d tried to run, but the two women had come at him so fast he hadn’t had time to react.

A fist, a kick—he’d never even had a chance to fight back.

“They had to be professionals—mercenaries, maybe. They were fast, ruthless, and knew exactly what they were doing. The last woman with them was different, though. Not as skilled. And something about her looked… familiar.”