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Winona quickly grabbed a tissue and handed it over, horrified. "Your condition..."

Sylvia had clearly been fighting so hard to maintain some semblance of a normal, dignified life before this intrusion.

But now, her lips were smeared with crimson, and her hands were coated in her own blood.

Mortified, Sylvia scrambled up and rushed to the bathroom.

Winona sat frozen on the couch, listening to the running water and the muffled, agonizing coughs through the thin walls.

The blood was being washed down the drain, much like Sylvia's fleeting life, circling the drain and quietly slipping away.

Overwhelmed with a profound sense of pity, Winona remained completely still.

Her phone violently vibrated with a barrage of push notifications—all new posts from Jeffrey.

*My wife has been bedridden for years, and Winona has never once bothered to visit. I begged her to show some humanity, to just see her dying mother, and she told me she refuses to associate with 'bottom-feeders.' I’ve broken my back working odd jobs just to survive. Now that my wife is dying, the guilt of what we did is eating me alive. The public deserves the truth. We can't let a heartless snake like Winona keep playing the victim! She needs to be canceled permanently!*

The timeline post was barely three minutes old but had already racked up over a hundred thousand likes, turning into a massive social media firestorm.

If she didn't wire the fifty million dollars, Jeffrey was going to act like a rabid dog, tearing at her reputation until there was absolutely nothing left.

Sitting in her luxurious bedroom, Sienna read the exact same post, a vicious smirk pulling at her lips.

The entire Wynn family was downstairs obsessively prepping for her official welcoming gala, and Jeffrey’s explosive timing was the ultimate PR boost.

Her private group chat with the city's elites was blowing up with the drama.

*Did you guys see the posts? Winona's real dad is literal scum. I had someone run a background check—he did time for assault...*

*Wait, seriously?*

*Dead serious. I pulled his criminal record. His wife used to be a high school teacher, and Jeffrey was caught assaulting a young girl. He got two years behind bars, and his wife was fired because of the scandal.*

*Ugh, the wife was probably covering for his sick fantasies. What an absolutely disgusting family!*

*A whole bloodline of criminals. Makes me sick to my stomach just knowing we breathed the same air as their daughter.*

Someone tagged Sienna in the chat.

*Sienna, are you okay? We saw everything Jeffrey posted. We had no idea you went through such hell.*

Vanessa Lockwood was also reading the thread, utterly enraged on Sienna's behalf.

She already despised Winona, but knowing Sienna had been raised by actual felons made her blood boil. What kind of nightmare had her friend survived?

Furious, she aggressively typed out a reply.

*If I see Winona tomorrow night, I'm slapping her across the face! Sienna is an angel, and she’s being dragged through the mud for no reason! Winona is radioactive. Don't let it get to you, Sienna. We've got your back.*

Because Vanessa was a Lockwood, a heavy-hitter in their social hierarchy, her declaration instantly rallied the rest of the group to pile on the support.

Sienna purposefully let them simmer in their outrage for a few minutes before finally chiming in.

*I'm fine, guys. It's in the past. Please don't stir up drama online without solid proof. I really don't want to cause Winona any trouble; it's not like she asked to be born into that.*

Playing the ultimate saint, defending the very woman who was supposedly destroying her life.

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