Chapter 533

Sanford called, “Mom.”

Liora insisted, “Apologize. He is your brother, after all.”

Sanford’s knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists. He glared resentfully at Jonathan. Through gritted teeth, he forced out a reluctant, “Sorry.”

Liora said, “Watch your attitude. Say it again.”

Sanford remained silent.

“Say it now,” Liora urged sharply once more.

Sanford took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and forced out, “Sorry, Mr. Lynn.”

Liora raised her hand threateningly.

Jonathan calmly turned to Sanford, his eyes narrowing slightly. He said, “The legal notice has already been issued. Given the serious damage his actions have caused to my company and my family, I will not let this go unpunished.”

Liora bit her lip, her eyes brimming with helplessness as she looked at Jonathan. Staring at his painfully familiar face, she said, “As for the company’s impact, you could just issue a simple clarification, couldn’t you? But when it comes to family, you’re blood relatives. Why must you turn against each other like this?”

Sanford couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed Liora’s arm and snapped, “Mom, just stop. They’ve never treated us like family, so why should we keep pretending they are?”

He fixed Jonathan with a defiant stare and said, “Go ahead and sue me. I’m not afraid.”

Jonathan’s lips curled in a faint, cold smirk. He said, “Very well.” With that, he turned on his heel and left.

Sanford shut the door behind him.

On the bed, Liora was wracked with heartache and fell into a violent coughing fit.

Sanford hurried to pick up the scattered pills from the floor. He said, “Mom, please don’t upset yourself like this. Your health is what matters most.”

Liora frowned at Sanford, her face full of exasperated disappointment. She asked, “Why is it so hard for you to just swallow your pride?”

Sanford stared painfully at Liora. His voice was tight with emotion as he said, “Why should I back down? Tell me honestly, were you the other woman back then?”

Liora looked away, silent.

Sanford said, “I can’t believe you were the other woman. You’re the heiress of Onlyora Group. Why would you ever stoop so low? Why would you wreck someone else’s relationship?”

Liora sniffled and said, “I was the one who fell for Yorick, but he didn’t feel the same way. Back then, I was young and arrogant, thinking money could buy anything. But he valued love above all else. I admired his determination and his dedication to his family. He even told me, ‘First come, first served.’”

Sanford’s breathing grew ragged. He said, “If you couldn’t win him over, you could’ve just moved on. Mom, I always thought you were strong enough to let go, so why did you have to resort to such underhanded means?”

Liora closed her eyes briefly. Then she said, “Enough. I used underhanded means to have you, and I’ve raised you all these years. There’s no undoing it now.”

Sanford’s fists trembled, his disbelief etched across his face. He said, “In my heart, you were always someone who loved and hated fiercely, so was I just the result of your scheming all along? Answer me.”

Liora couldn’t bring herself to meet Sanford’s gaze. Her voice trembling, she whispered, “Sanford, please, just stop. This is all my fault, and I’m so sorry.”

Sanford snapped, “But ‘sorry’ isn’t what I want to hear. I want the truth from you. I know you’re afraid of Irene. When she’s around, you can’t bring yourself to admit certain things. But now it’s just the two of us. I’m your son, after all. Can’t you even be honest with me when we’re alone?”

“What I said in front of Irene was the truth,” Liora spoke, each word clear and deliberate.

Sanford’s eyes burned crimson with fury. He said, “Fine, then.”

Sanford had always been a sensible child. Ever since he found out that Liora had a man she could never forget, he had spent all these years longing to seek justice for her years of suffering, and for himself.

Yet in the end, this was the bitter truth he now faced.

Sanford declared, “I publicly accused Jonathan’s family. Since everything I said was false, it’s only right that he sues me. This is the price of my recklessness.” With that, he stormed out without a backward glance.

He slammed the door shut with a resounding bang. Ignoring Liora’s desperate calls, he never looked back.

After leaving the hospital, Jonathan received a call from Hayden.

Hayden already knew the truth about Sanford’s parentage. He said, “Sanford is indeed your father’s son, Werner already confirmed it to me.”

“How did he find out?” Jonathan asked.

Hayden explained, “Werner also went to Shaville on business. He ran into Donald there, and Donald was the one who told him.”

Jonathan fell silent.

Hayden continued, “I heard your mother is still in the hospital. Is she alright now?”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Jonathan replied, “She had a confrontation with Liora, got overwhelmed with emotion, and passed out. But she’s stable now.”

“That’s good,” Hayden said, not pressing for more details about Irene and instead shifting the conversation back to Sanford.

He said, “Jonathan, just let Sanford off the hook. He’s young and reckless. Just do some damage control. After all, you’re family, and he’s your brother.”

Jonathan’s eyes hardened. The reason he hadn’t told Hayden the results of the DNA test right away was simply because he didn’t want to hear this kind of talk. He had already decided to teach Sanford a lesson.

Jonathan said, “Grandpa, I’ll handle this my way. You don’t need to worry about it.”

Hayden said, “Don’t I know you all too well? You’re such a hardhead. I’m telling you, just drop the case against Sanford. Once your mom is discharged, all of you come back to Nareigh. We’ll talk about the details then.”

Without waiting for Jonathan’s response, Hayden hung up the phone.

Meanwhile, Evelyn also took to her social media to defend Jonathan. She proclaimed that Jonathan was a good man, and his entire family were good people as well.

Jennifer just couldn’t fathom why both Teresa and Evelyn were speaking up for Jonathan and Irene. She went straight to Teresa and berated her for unnecessarily wading into a mess that wasn’t even her business.

Jennifer said, “Sanford didn’t expose anything about Mike, we should be grateful to him. We ought to support Sanford...”

“But what do you do? You turn around and side with Jonathan, and now you’re even defending that old witch Irene.”

Teresa stated flatly, “I’m not defending Irene, I’m just standing up for Jonathan. If I were to kick Irene when she’s down now, by extension, I’d be doing the same to Jonathan.”

Jennifer scoffed, “Do you still love him?”

Teresa didn’t answer directly. Instead, she countered Jennifer, “Jonathan has done so much for our family. Thanks to him, we won Charlie’s case—he was sentenced to twenty-five years. So why shouldn’t I speak up for him?”

Jennifer pressed, “Don’t dodge the question. I’m asking you straight, do you still love him?”