Filed To Story: The Broken-Hearted She and The Icy He Book PDF Free
Even Susan, normally composed, felt her stomach clench. If the footage was shown, the truth could spill out. Still, she had decades of polish. She kept her face serene, even while her fingers twitched.
“James,” she said smoothly, “if the footage is there, let’s see it at once. Ivan nearly lost his life today. We must find the culprit and give both him and Lily justice.”
“Mm.”
Ashton had already reviewed the clip on his way over, but none of the family had seen it yet. He entered the room briskly, carrying a tablet, and nodded politely before pressing play.
Renee clamped a trembling hand over her mouth, terrified a scream would escape.
The video was crisp, with audio as well. They saw Renee walk into the kitchen and heard her voice:
“Lily’s a little hungry. Mom asked me to check if the fish maw soup is ready.”
This kitchen was reserved for Lily and Grace’s tonic soups. The others were elsewhere, so only
Spring was here.
Knowing the family favored Rence and that she was Nancy’s goddaughter, Spring had no reason to distrust her.
“Another twenty minutes or so,” Spring replied, bending to fetch more ingredients.
In that moment, Renee pulled a small porcelain vial from her purse and emptied its contents into the simmering pot. The substance dissolved instantly, leaving no trace.
She tucked the vial away and smiled sweetly. “No rush, Aunt Zhao. I’ll let Mom know Lily should wait a bit longer.”
The clip ended there-but the truth was clear.
Even having suspected Renee, Grace and Nancy still paled as the evidence played out before them.
Grace’s normally gentle face hardened with icy loathing. “Renee, what has our family ever done to you, that you would try to harm my granddaughter-in-law and great-grandchild?”
“So it really was you!” Nancy’s eyes blazed with disappointment and disgust. “James and Lily are together. Even if you fancied him, you had no right to degrade yourself as a mistress, trying to tear them apart. And worse-worse!-to plot against Lily and the innocent life she carries!”
Lily instinctively brushed her hand over her still-flat belly.
These past weeks, she had taken that bowl of fish maw soup every single morning. If today had been the same as usual, her twins would already be gone.
Even without that-just one bowl nearly cost Ivan his life.
The cruelty was beyond forgiveness. Even knowing Susan had once done James a favor, Lily longed to strike Renee across the face.
“Renee, how could you? You’ve disappointed me beyond words!”
She stepped forward, her hand raised-only for Susan to snap her own palm across Renee’s cheek, snapping her head aside.
Since Susan had already struck her, Lily held herself back, icy eyes sweeping over mother and daughter before she stood aside.
“It wasn’t me! Please believe me-I never wanted to hurt Lily!” Renee clutched her face and wailed.
She knew full well her mother’s slap wasn’t out of outrage, but strategy-showing the Lukes she was willing to punish her daughter, hoping her old debt to James might earn leniency. Renee certainly wouldn’t admit Susan knew of the plan.
Through tears she cried, “Mom, you hit me? For Lily? Am I your daughter, or is she? I didn’t put poison in that pot! That porcelain vial was prenatal tonic-I never meant to hurt anyone!”
“Prenatal tonic?”
Susan’s second slap cracked harder than the first.
“Do you think I’d believe that nonsense? Blanc had the soup tested-it came back laced with abortifacient! If it were really a tonic, Ivan wouldn’t have nearly died from it. Nancy is my dearest friend; to me, her sons are no different than my own. And you-you tried to destroy James’s child! Renee, how could I have given birth to such a beast?”
“I didn’t, I didn’t!” Renee sobbed, refusing to yield. “It was tonic! Lily usually drinks the soup every morning-why did she refuse today of all days? She must have known something! Maybe she poisoned it herself, to frame me!”
“Wretch!”
Susan shook with fury, striking her daughter again and again.
“Rence, what have I always taught you? To live with integrity, to stand tall without trampling others. When mistakes happen, you take responsibility, not shove it onto someone else! I wanted you to be honest, kind, without shame. And yet I’ve raised a monster!”
She spun toward Nancy, her voice breaking. “Nancy, forgive me. I’ve failed as a mother. I’ve wronged you.”
Her knees buckled, and she collapsed heavily to the floor.
Tears spilling, she turned her face toward Lily. “Lily, I’m ashamed. I never dreamed my own daughter would try to harm the life inside you. I’ve wronged you, James, Ivan… They say if a child goes astray, it’s the parent’s fault. Renee grew up without a father, and I raised her poorly. It’s my sin. I can’t accept what she’s become, but she’s still my child. I beg you, don’t send her to prison. Let me take her punishment. Let me die to atone-just give her a chance to change.”
With that, she lurched to her feet and suddenly hurled herself toward the wall.
James and Victor, caught off guard, didn’t react in time.
Blanc saw it coming, but did not move to catch her. Male propriety forbade it-and besides, he had never forgotten that day years ago when Nancy asked him to drive Susan home. At the doorstep, Susan had thrown herself into his arms, gaze thick with seduction.
The memory still made his skin crawl.
He had shoved her away with a stern warning then-and he certainly wasn’t about to hold her now.
Susan later claimed she had only been feverish and confused that night, that she hadn’t meant anything improper. Soon after, she left the country, and Blanc assumed they would never cross paths again. He let it go-and never breathed a word to Nancy, fearing she would accuse him of being conceited.
Even so, propriety between men and women was no small matter. Whether Susan’s embrace that night had been muddled impulse or something more, Blanc had avoided suspicion from then on.
So when she suddenly dashed toward the wall, he did not move to catch her. Instead, he squeezed Nancy’s hand tighter and even stepped back a pace.
“Mom!”
Renee’s shrill cry split the air. Blanc’s guilty fingers brushed his nose-he hadn’t deliberately let her get hurt. He had simply… seen nothing.
“Grace!”
“Nancy!”
Only then did Nancy, James, and the others realize Susan had actually struck the wall. “Mom, please wake up! Don’t scare me… I swear I’ll never hurt anyone again, never think about James that way again, I’ll get along with Lily-I’ll do anything, just don’t leave me!”
Susan looked ghastly. Blood streamed from her temple, painting half her face crimson. Her body trembled faintly, lips quivering, her voice a broken rasp.
She knew all too well-if a performance was to succeed, it had to look real. That was why she’d hurled herself into the wall with her full strength.
But she hadn’t expected that in a room full of people, people she’d helped before, not a single one would try to stop her.
Still, the severity of her injury served her purpose. Men thrived on chivalry; seeing her so broken, surely Blanc would pity her. And James-raised under her roof for three years-surely he would remember her sacrifice and spare Renee.
Her mind whirled. She had already made other preparations. Just days ago, she’d given Nancy two bottles of “supplements” she’d brought from abroad-costly, custom-made. The label promised beauty and health. In truth, it was slow-acting poison.
At first, Nancy would merely feel weak, lightheaded. By the time the bottles were empty, the toxin would reach a lethal dose, and her organs would fail. It would look natural-no one would suspect foul play.
Susan smiled inside her pain. She was elegant, refined, striking. Years ago, Blanc’s rejection had been about Nancy’s status, not about Susan herself. Once Nancy was gone, both she and Blanc would be free-and what man could resist her then?
She and Renee would live in the Luke estate. If Lily had another “accident” and lost her ability to bear children, who else would James turn to but Renee?
The thought fed her resolve. Her body trembled weakly, her voice a ghost of itself: “James, Lily… I am so sorry. I never thought Renee would do such a thing. I don’t want to trade favors for forgiveness, but my health is failing. If she goes to prison, I might not live to see her again when she comes out. I beg you… for the three years I cared for James, don’t call the police.”
“Grace…”
James wasn’t sure whether Susan knew about Renee’s crime. She had, after all, taken him in and cared for him. A part of him still held gratitude. Seeing her broken and bleeding, even he felt a twinge of pity.
But the victims weren’t him-they were Lily and Ivan. He had no right to forgive on their behalf.
He told Ashton to fetch a doctor, then said evenly, “Yes, you did help me, and I’ll never forget that. But the one Renee tried to harm wasn’t me. We regret that you’re hurt, but whether Lily and Ivan call the police is their choice. Grace, I know you’re only worried about Renee, not trying to bind them with guilt. Please don’t make things harder for them.”
Susan’s eyes widened in shock.
By every rule she knew, her blood and her sacrifice should have moved him. But James- James did not play by those rules.
Beside him, Lily’s fingers slipped into his hand, gripping tight.
He truly never let her down. Renee had tried to destroy her, but even with Susan waving the banner of old debts, James had refused to yield.
Lily wanted Renee to go to prison.
This time, Renee had tried to take the lives of her children.
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