Renee froze for a second before anger colored her entire face. "How could you talk to me like that!"
A hard look settled in Cathleen's eyes. Renee had destroyed her parents' marriage. The heartbreak had worsened her mother's kidney disease, leaving her confined to bed and giving the Gordons another way to control Cathleen.
Once Cathleen got married, Renee and Emily began pretending they all got along whenever her father, Harold Gordon, was around. The moment Harold turned his back, however, they never missed a chance to insult her and make her life miserable.
The argument drew Emily from her bedroom. She smiled cruelly. "Well. Looks like you had quite an evening."
Her words made the truth fall into place. Cathleen said coldly, "So that was your doing."
Renee no longer bothered hiding her satisfaction. "We know exactly what you did last night. If you don't want everyone else finding out, you'll start doing what we say. Or we'll tell your husband."
Everything finally made sense to Cathleen.
Too bad their plan was useless now.
Cathleen looked at the two women with open contempt. "You should've checked your facts before trying to threaten me. My marriage is over, and your little scheme can't be used against me anymore."
All the satisfaction disappeared from Renee's and Emily's faces. Only then did they notice the suitcase Cathleen had brought with her.
Renee's voice rose sharply. "You got divorced? Who gave you permission?"
They had planned to use the scandal to make Cathleen demand more money from her husband.
"What are you all shouting about?" Harold demanded as he walked toward them. Then he turned to Cathleen. "Cathleen, did you really get divorced?"
Cathleen met her father's eyes without hesitation. "Yes, I did. Dad, I'm moving back home."
Renee gave her a scornful look from beside him. "That's not happening. We don't have any room for you here."
"That bedroom belongs to me now. I turned it into a dressing room," Emily added in a cold voice.
"What gave you the right to do that? I grew up here. This is still my home!" Cathleen could hardly keep the anger and disbelief from her voice.
Renee looked at her with contempt. "You married into another family years ago, which means you don't belong here anymore. Why would we keep a room waiting for you?"
Before Cathleen could answer, Harold seized her arm so hard that pain spread through it. "I won't allow this divorce. You're coming with me, and we're going straight back to your husband's house."
After Cathleen's wedding, the Gordon and Riley families had barely kept in contact. Even so, the Rileys never failed to send them expensive gifts during every holiday.
Some of those gifts alone were worth tens of millions.
Their generosity had played a major role in the Gordon family's growing success.
There was no chance Harold would let Cathleen end the marriage and take that wealth away from him.
He hauled her outside while her suitcase jolted along the ground, shoved her into the car, and drove straight to Bayshell Villa.
As soon as Harold dragged her out of the vehicle, Cathleen stopped cold. A polished black limo was parked in the driveway.
Had her ex-husband finally come home?
Humiliation burned through her at the thought of entering the house again. She had just been cast aside, and now her father expected her to crawl back and plead for another chance. Cathleen tore her arm from his hold. "I won't go inside. If you're so desperate for something from him, ask him yourself."
"If you refuse to come inside with me," he warned in a low voice, "I'll stop paying every cent of your mother's medical expenses."
Cathleen drew in a shaky breath.
Years ago, Harold had arranged her marriage and promised to pay all her mother's medical expenses in return. Those had been his exact terms.
Now he intended to go back on his word.
Without regular treatment, her mother wouldn't survive. That truth drained every bit of resistance from Cathleen's body.
Once again, Harold clamped his hand around her wrist. "Start walking," he growled. "When we get inside, you will beg your husband to take you back."
