Don't Mess With The Billionaire Mother

The grand crystal chandelier above swayed, casting fragmented light as the champagne tower crashed, showering the floor with delicate glass shards and golden wine. Emily lay amidst the wreckage, her left cheek burning, a coppery taste blurring her vision. Instinctively, she curled her body, shielding three-year-old Lily even tighter. Her tiny daughter was trembling uncontrollably, her asthma flaring, a faint, mosquito-like wheeze escaping her throat. Her fragile breath sounded like a taut, delicate string, poised to snap at any moment. Sarah, clad in a magnificent gown, stood over them like a specter, her arrogance a palpable shroud. Her crimson lips parted, spitting words laced with venom: "Home-wrecker? What are you even? And this bastard child, this wretched mistake!" Emily felt an icy dread seep into her bones, her ears roaring. Sarah's curses pierced her chest like daggers. She squeezed her eyes shut, a wave of despair washing over her: Is this my destiny? Am I and Lily doomed to be reviled by the world like this? Just then, a familiar voice exploded like thunder, charged with an unprecedented fury: "Stop it! Sarah, shut your mouth!" Emily’s eyes snapped open. David Carter, the husband who should have remained aloof, now surged through the crowd like a enraged lion, placing himself in front of her. His face was distorted under the lights, his eyes holding a brutality she had never witnessed, yet also… a glimmer of almost desperate protectiveness. "Emily isn't some mistress, she's not a home-wrecker!" David's voice was deafening, each word a hammer blow striking the hearts of everyone present. "She is my wife! My only wife!" The entire ballroom fell into a deathly silence, all eyes, like sharp knives, swiveling from Emily and Lily to Sarah. Sarah's face, initially defiant and arrogant, paled, then turned an angry purple. She looked as if her bones had been removed, swaying precariously. "No… impossible…" she murmured, and then, an even fiercer rage erupted from her eyes – the madness of betrayal and deceit. She let out a shriek, lunging at Emily like a runaway horse, her sharp nails aiming directly for Emily's eyes. "You bitch! Liar!" Emily instinctively dodged, but watched in horror as Sarah shoved Ethan, her own son, who stood beside her! "Bang!" Ethan's fragile body slammed into a cold pillar, letting out a terrified scream, then collapsed to the floor, sobbing piteously. In that instant, David's rationality shattered completely. His eyes crimson, he seized Sarah by the throat, pressing her viciously against the wall. His knuckles were white, veins bulging. Sarah's breath instantly constricted, her feet dangling, her face turning a purplish red. She struggled, but no sound escaped her. "You dare hurt my child, Sarah?" David's voice was low and perilous, like a demon risen from hell. "I will make you regret every single breath you take!" A suffocating tension filled the air; everyone was terrified by the scene. Just as the situation teetered on the brink of chaos, a cool, clear voice broke the deadlock. "Mr. Carter, performing a domestic drama in public is rather undignified." Heads turned to see a distinguished lady, Ms. Howard, approaching with her team of private lawyers. In her hand, she held several A4 sheets of paper, which appeared strikingly bright under the banquet hall lights. Ms. Howard's gaze, cold as ice, went straight to Sarah. She disdainfully slapped the documents against Sarah's rigid face. "Ms. Sarah, I believe you have some misconceptions about the Carter family inheritance law. This is a copy of Mr. Carter's and Ms. Emily's marriage certificate, and this is your divorce agreement with Mr. Carter." Her lips curved into a cold, sharp arc. "The truth is, Emily is the true Mrs. Carter. And you… are now merely an ex-wife with no ties to the Carter family." "Crash!" Sarah's world, like a shattered mirror, utterly collapsed. Her eyes became unfocused, the documents slipping limply from her hand. All her pride, all her schemes, dissolved into dust in that moment. Ms. Howard's gaze swept over Sarah's now bloodless face, delivering each word like an icy hammer blow: "Break her wrist. I don't want to see her reach for Emily, or anything belonging to the Carter family, ever again." This casually delivered command, more chilling than any curse, sealed Sarah's complete downfall and plunged the farce into an unprecedented dark abyss. Emily, clutching the still gasping Lily, felt her daughter's tiny body trembling in her arms. She looked up, seeing David's face, still brutal but now also relieved, and Ms. Howard's eyes, holding a deep-seated coldness and calculation. She knew this was just the beginning. Ms. Howard, for her and Lily's sake, for the Carter family's reputation, had torn off the veil of decency. And she, Emily, now had to exact revenge for all the humiliation that had been heaped upon her, little by little. Lily's breathing gradually steadied, yet it ignited an unprecedented strength within Emily's heart. She lowered her head and kissed her daughter's forehead, her eyes no longer holding any fear, only a fathomless, cold determination. **Emily knew she couldn't turn back. And now, she didn't want to.** When Emily Howard, heiress to the most powerful family, storms into her daughter’s preschool, ready to crush the bullies tormenting her girl, she slams headfirst into a secret that blows her world apart: her husband David has been leading a double life, with another woman and their son.Even Emily herself is branded the home-wrecker, set upon by a mob of jeering strangers, and subjected to public humiliation that makes her blood boil. When will her true identity explode?