Chapter 524 All of This Is Because of Tilda

"I actually came out to take Rebecca for a walk, hoping it might cheer her up a bit—and maybe Kyla could help comfort her.

"But she’s like this now."

Daphne’s eyes went red; she started to tear up.

Blair lowered her voice. “Are the rumors true? Rebecca offended Abram, so they cut off her fingers?"

"It’s true. You know how strict that old man is. When he says something, it’s final. Even his own grandchildren get punished if they break the rules.

"In his eyes, there’s no sentimental blood-tie—only value. People are just things to be measured.

"And it didn’t stop there. Cutting off Rebecca’s fingers ruined her spirit. She spent months in a coma in the hospital.

"He did not visit her. When she woke up, they were going to send her out of the country immediately. I begged and begged until they agreed to let her stay through the holidays before they sent her away."

“Is it that bad?”

Blair’s eyes widened.

Blair had heard Rebecca was hospitalized and called Daphne to confirm.

Daphne had been too distraught to answer properly and hung up.

Later, when the Preston incident happened, Blair texted Daphne again and got no reply.

Today, Daphne brought Rebecca along to invite Blair and Kyla out for some beauty treatments, which surprised Blair when she got the message.

With her own bad mood lately and the heavy atmosphere at home, she happily agreed to go with Kyla.

Before coming, Blair still held onto a bit of hope, thinking maybe she had misunderstood, but reality turned out to be far more tragic.

Kyla, who seemed to know something, sucked in a sharp breath and said, “Oh my God, that’s awful, Mrs. Bell. What can we do? Is there any way to save Rebecca? I feel so bad. I feel sick just thinking about it.”

Daphne shook her head. “There’s nothing we can do. The old man has spoken. Who can overturn him? Even my son was implicated. Jude got something on him and stripped him of branch-company control. He’s a shell of a man now, depressed and listless.”

“Even Jude turned out like that…”

No wonder Kyla had been thinking about Preston lately.

He had not contacted her in a long time.

Even though Kyla’s heart had started stirring again after Tobia appeared, neither Jude nor Tobias compared to Preston in her mind—at least not until she actually had them.

Kyla had tried contacting Preston several times, only to receive perfunctory replies hours later, which infuriated her.

However, with so many problems on her plate—acne, patchy hair loss—she needed treatment and could not risk meeting Preston in that state.

Kyla had heard, not from Preston, that he had been removed from his position. That news sparked small, resentful calculations—a belief that Preston, aside from his legitimate Bell bloodline, did not actually measure up to Jude or Tobias.

He was, at best, a mid-level sympathizer.

“Daphne, you… Take care. I believe this will pass. This hardship is only temporary.” Blair tried to comfort her, unsure what else to say.

“My family used to be fine. My children were the pride of the family—perfect heirs and the apple of our eye. All of this is because of Tilda. If not for that damned Tilda, my family wouldn’t be like this!”

At the mention of Tilda, murderous intent flashed across Daphne’s face. Her knuckles whitened as she dug her nails into her palm—pain that could not bring back reason.

“Tilda? Daphne, what are you talking about?”

Blair was confused. How did this involve Tilda?

“You don’t know? It’s all because of that bitch Tilda…

Daphne caught herself. “Anyway, it’s the holidays. I don’t want to talk about it now. But it’ll be dealt with soon.”

Daphne did not hesitate to air her hatred in front of Blair.

After all, Tilda and the Jensons were totally estranged now, and so much had happened since.

Daphne presumed the family must hate Tilda with a passion.

What she did not know was the Jensons’ current collective attitude toward Tilda.

A few days ago, Skin Organization contacted Daphne, asking her to prepare 150 million to buy Tilda’s life.

One hundred fifty million—a number a normal person could never dream of in ten lifetimes.