Her Familial Usurper System Failed On Me Chapter 05

Her Familial Usurper System Failed On Me Chapter 05

Nora held her rapidly swelling face, completely dazed.

She couldn’t understand it. I’d walked into a black–tie auction in pajamas. I’d made the Langley family a laughingstock among high society And yet Mom had hit her, not me.

The system in her head was probably screaming into the void.

Mom didn’t look at Nora again. She shrugged off her expensive jacket and stepped into the knee–deep champagne fountain.

The guests gasped. The event organizers rushed forward to help, but Mom held up a single hand: “Don’t.”

She bent down and lifted the soaking doll from the water.

The toy was old and dirty. One eye was missing. The cloth was heavy and stained with champagne.

But Mom cradled it like it was made of crystal. She dried it with her own jacket, wiping every bit of it with painstaking care She even had someone retrieve the button eye that had fallen into the fountain.

She crouched in front of me and held out the doll. “Here, sweetie. Mommy got it back, just for you.”

I hugged it to my chest. My pajamas got wet immediately.

Cold. Uncomfortable.

I’d had half a glass of soda earlier. I couldn’t help it. burped.

The room went quiet again.

Mom’s hand paused in midair. She stared at me for two seconds, then huffed a quiet laugh.

But Nora broke completely.

“Why?”

Her voice cracked. “She’s like this and you still protect her? She’s slow! She can’t schmooze, she

can’t make you look good, she can’t earn the family any respect! What do I lack compared to her?”

No one stopped her.

The same people who’d fawned over her moments ago were now stepping back.

Nora’s eyes were red. “I attended banquets with you! I was your face in public! I’m more sensible, smarter, more normal than she is! Why is she the only one you want?”

Mom straightened. The trace of warmth she’d just shown me evaporated instantly.

She looked at Nora like she was looking at something filthy.

“Because you’re Richard Whitmore’s illegitimate daughter?”

The room exploded.

Nora’s face went chalk–white. Her lips trembled. “You… you knew all along?”

Mom laughed coldly. “I knew the day you walked into my house. Your mother begged me at the hospital gates to give you a meal. I did. But giving you a meal doesn’t mean I’ll allow you to steal my daughter’s place.”

Nora shook her head, tears streaming. “No, Mom, I just loved you too much. I wanted to be your

daughter. What’s wrong with that?”

“Don’t call me Mom.”

Mom stepped back. “It disgusts me.”

Security moved in. They grabbed Nora by the arms.

She struggled so violently she lost her shoes. None of the socialites spoke up for her. A few pulled

out their phones and started recording.

Mom made an announcement on the spot. “Starting today, Langley Holdings will cut off all support

for Nora Whitmore. School, housing, bank accounts–all revoked. She has no connection to this

family,”

As they dragged Nora toward the exit, she was still screaming. “Vivian Langley, you’ll regret this!

Anna doesn’t love you! She has no heart!”

I hugged my wet doll and tilted my head.

She was wrong.

I had a heart.