?Chapter 1356:


    Kenia’s gaze was stern, unwavering. “You’re saying you don’t know him? Holley, you should realize that I’m asking because we already know the truth about you and him. I’m giving you a chance to confess on your own.”


    Holley’s face paled, her panic impossible to conceal.


    She had no clue how much Kenia and Belinda had uncovered or what evidence they held.


    “Mom, I really don’t know what you mean,” she said, clinging to her denial.


    Kenia’s expression darkened with disappointment. “The hormones in Belinda’s body, the fifty thousand you paid Lamont, the recording of you bribing him…”


    Her voice sharpened, rising. “Do I need to say more?”


    Holley’s face went ghostly white.


    It felt as if she were struck by lightning.


    She stared nkly at Kenia and Belinda, her mouth opening and closing, but no words came out.


    A single thought looped in her mind: they knew! They knew everything!


    When she finally snapped back, she said, “Mom, Belinda, please, let me exin… I had my reasons!”


    Kenia’s fists clenched, her eyes zing with fury. “What could possibly justify such a cruel act against your own daughter?”


    Belinda’s gaze shifted to Holley. She remained silent.


    Holley, her face drained of color, stammered, “I-I did it to protect Belinda.”


    Kenia scoffed, as if she had just heard a bad joke. “Protect her? By secretly giving her hormones to make her gain weight? What kind of absurd excuse is that?”


    Holley bit her lip, scrambling to defend herself. “I was afraid that if Belinda grew up too beautiful, she would be targeted by men and suffer heartbreak. Mom, you know how cursed my love life has been. When I met Baker, I thought I had found true love. But then, he left me for Car, making me a mistress. After Belinda was born, I visited a fortune teller who warned that she would inherit my doomed romantic fate. So… I did that to shield her from that pain. If she were ugly, she would avoid love altogether, and the hurt thates with it!”


    Her eyes reddened as she spoke. She looked at Belinda. “Even with the hormone injections, I was careful, Belinda. I controlled the doses to only cause weight gain, never to harm your health. I swear! Please believe me…”


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    Holley had rehearsed this excuse long before Lamont had resurfaced.


    But deep down, she knew it wouldn’t sway them.


    A low, derisiveugh broke the silence.


    It came from Belinda.


    She fixed Holley with a cold stare. “So, should I be grateful to you for that, Ms. Lewis?”


    The sarcasm in Belinda’s tone was unmistakable.


    Holley quickly said, her voice trembling, “I’m not lying, Belinda. Every word is true! I’m your mother. You—”


    “Enough!” Belinda cut her off, her voice sharp as a de.


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