Tanya was still dazed when Hillary's shout woke her up.
She hadn't slept all night because she was watching over Mia. She had only just started having some shuteye in the morning when she was woken up. After that, she was pushed out of the ward.
It wasn't until she was outside the ward—and when the doctors and nurses, both inside and outside, as well as the patients' family members all cast strange looks at her —that she finally reacted.
Hillary did not go to Mia right away. Instead, she continued to verbally abuse Tanya.
"Are you also going to steal my daughter when you've already stolen my man? Tanya, why are you so shameless?!
"Don't you even think about taking my daughter from me!"
"She's my daughter! Mine!"
Her words made people who didn't know the full story look at them. Everyone looked at Tanya reproachfully.
Some people even pointed at her as they spoke.
"She must be someone's mistress, right?"
"Ugh, people who destroy someone else's family are so shameless!!"
Of course, there were also some reasonable people who spoke up for Tanya.
"... It's not easy to be someone's stepmother these days!"
"Yeah, she watched over that little girl the whole night. I thought they were mother and daughter, but as it turns out, she's actually her stepmother?"
"... It's pretty nice that a stepmother can do as much as she did!"
Be it positive or negative, all the comments made Tanya feel as if her cheeks were burning, and she subconsciously wanted to flee.
But she couldn't.
Mia was still here. Joel had entrusted her with Mia. She didn't know what exactly had happened between Joel and Hillary, but she knew that Mia didn't like Hillary, and was wanted to stay with Joel instead.
She looked into the ward.
Hillary's loud yells had woken Mia up. The little girl rubbed her eyes and sat up. When she saw Hillary, she tensed up.
She was so scared that she turned as pale as a sheet. She called out weakly, "Mommy, don't be angry... My teacher is not a bad person..."
Her eyes were all red. She wanted to explain on behalf of Tanya, but she looked terrified.
However, Hillary ignored her and continued yelling at Tanya. "Do you feel a great sense of accomplishment because you stole someone else's man? Why are you so shameless? You'll die a terrible death! Your whole family will die terrible deaths!"
Her whole family?
The look in Tanya's eyes sharpened. "Don't forget that the person next to you is also part of my 'whole family'."
That's right, the person next to Hillary was none other than Tanya and Hillary's mother, Mrs. Jones.
Mrs. Jones, who was holding Hillary, was also glaring at Tanya. Upon hearing what she said, she snapped, "I don't have a daughter like you!"
Hillary sneered, "Look at how abominable the things you did are, Tanya! Even your mother won't acknowledge you anymore! If you have even the slightest bit of morals and ethics, then leave this place and leave Joel alone! Give him back to me!"
Tanya looked at the terribly anxious Mia on the bed. She didn't want to argue with Hillary here, so she said, "If there's anything you want to say, then say it at home. Let's stop for now."
However, this only made Hillary think that she was scared. She shouted furiously, "Why should we talk about it at home? I didn't do anything shameful that I need to hide. Is it because you also find your own actions shameful? Why didn't you think of how shameful your actions were when you did it? Why didn't you think of how your actions are not fit to be brought up in public when you stole my husband?"
Tanya clenched her fists. "Hillary, who exactly took him away from whom?!"
Her words made Hillary choke.
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