Chapter 847

“What?” Jonathan asked. “You love Jonathan?”

“Yes, I do. I’ve always loved him.”

Teresa’s eyes were red as she stared at Irene and said, “I’ve kept tolerating you because I love Jonathan. I tried to understand, knowing how hard it was to raise him alone. But have you ever treated me in return?”

Unable to hold back any longer, Teresa walked right up to Irene, fighting through the pain in her stomach. She grabbed Irene’s wrist tightly and delivered her accusations word by word.

“You’ve always lashed out at me with the cruelest words, insulted me, and schemed behind my back, hoping I’d live in misery. If it weren’t for Jonathan, I would’ve slapped you long ago. Do you even realize that?”

Irene stared into Teresa’s angry, determined eyes, and sensed that something wasn’t right.

She took a deep breath and tried to pull her hand free from Teresa. “Are you out of your mind? Do you even know what you’re saying?”

“I’m clear-headed. You want me gone? Well, I wish you’d disappear too,” Teresa said, moving right up to Irene, her grip on Irene’s wrist tightening.

Teresa got in Irene’s face, gripping her wrist hard.

“I wish you could feel the pain you put me through, but every time I think of Jonathan and how hard it was for you to raise him, I swallow it, because I can’t bear to see him hurt.”

Irene froze. Few had ever cared, and no one had told her it must have been tough raising Jonathan. She never thought those words would come from Teresa, the one she hated most.

Irene’s mind rejected the thought instantly. ‘She’s pretending,’ Irene told herself.

Irene shook off Teresa’s hand and snapped, “Stop pretending. If you didn’t want to make things hard for Jonathan, why did you go running to him with your complaints?”

“I didn’t complain to him. I never told him a word about what you did to me,” Teresa shot back.

Irene sneered, “You say you love Jonathan, but why didn’t you say that before? Is it only because he’s rich and powerful now? You only care about his money, don’t you?”

“I don’t. That’s not true,” Teresa said.

More cold sweat broke out on Teresa’s forehead. She staggered a little, clutching the table for support as huge beads of sweat rolled down her cheeks.

Irene saw Teresa’s forehead drenched in sweat and her small face so pale, but she didn’t care. Instead, she kept pressing her, relentless as ever.

“Didn’t what? What are you even denying? You want me to believe you? My son treated you like gold, and you still went and divorced him.” Teresa said, “You never liked me, always insulting me and pushing him toward Yvonne. I was tired of the drama, so I lied and said I didn’t love him to make him give up on me.”

All the words she’d kept buried deep in her heart finally spilled out to Irene. Her eyes, clear as crystal and brimming with unshed tears, made Irene fall silent.

Chapter 847

Irene scoffed, shaking her head. “You think I’d buy that? Yvonne is dead, yet you still use her as a scapegoat, blaming someone who can’t defend herself. Have you no shame, Teresa?”

“Everything I said is true, every word of it,” Teresa cried out.

Teresa took a deep breath and replied, “After divorcing your son, I never expected Yvonne’s suicide or his returning to Mareigh. I never planned to use a child as leverage to get back with him.”

Irene was silent for a long time. She wanted to snap back, but for once, she had no idea what to say.

Teresa wiped the sweat from her forehead and added, “That’s all I have to say.”

“If you came here today to humiliate me, then I’m leaving. I have things to take care of,” Teresa said.

She didn’t want to waste another word on Irene. Her belly hurt so badly she could barely stand, but no way was she going to faint in front of Irene.

“Stop right there!” Irene shouted as she blocked Teresa’s path. “If you love Jonathan, then hand over Mike’s custody. Only then will I believe you care about him.”

“I’m never giving Michael to your family. Not now, not ever,” Teresa said, her voice firm and unwavering.

“So everything you said was a lie,” Irene sneered.

Irene pointed at Teresa and added, “You’re such a hypocrite. You won’t even let Jonathan have his child, and you still claim you love him? You’re nothing but a liar.”

“I love Jonathan, but I love Michael too. I don’t have to give up my child to prove how much I love him. You can say whatever you want to push my buttons, but I’m not giving in,” Teresa said, her voice unwavering.

Michael was Teresa’s true weakness. She carried Michael for ten months, and he was a part of her very soul. She would never treat him as a bargaining chip or hand him over because someone demanded it.

Teresa mustered the very last ounce of her strength and pushed Irene’s hand away.

She had to get out of there now. She couldn’t hold on any longer.

“Teresa,” Irene called out, blocking her path once again.

“We were once family, like it or not. Hand over Mike, and I’ll let the past go. But if you insist on keeping him, don’t blame me for what happens next,” Irene warned coldly.

“Not a chance,” Teresa said, her voice firm and resolute. “Absolutely not.”

“Fine, you hypocrite. There’s nothing left to discuss. I won’t let you corrupt my precious grandson. I’m going to…”

Before she could finish, Teresa suddenly collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

“Oh my God! Teresa!” Irene cried out in panic, staring at Teresa who had just collapsed on the floor. At the last second, with her hands trembling, she still managed to call 911.

At the hospital, Irene sat on a chair outside the emergency room, watching anxiously as Teresa was rushed inside.

She restlessly tapped her foot, her eyes darting around in panic. If Teresa died, Jonathan would never let her get away with it.

Chapter 847

Nervous tears lingered in Irene’s eyes, and her fingers twitched.

Ever since she tried to poison Yorick thirty years ago, and he drank it by mistake, she had been refusing to let her guilt go.

She had been trapped in a cycle of pain and regret.

Late at night, when she woke from her dreams, that scene would come flashing back, Yorick collapsed in her arms, every detail crystal clear.

No matter how desperately she wanted to forget, the harder she tried, the more those memories tormented her, making her suffer again.

She hated Teresa, but she never wanted her dead. If Teresa died, she’d be the one carrying all the guilt.

Irene stared at the red light above the emergency room, her heart aching as Teresa’s fate hung in the balance. She whispered, “Yorick, please watch over me. If your son ends up hating me, what will I do?”