The Scorned Heiress: No More Mercy novel Chapter 538

Despite Danny’s earlier warnings to drop the subject, Bonnie feels untouchable with Katie standing right there. She assumes there is no way he would dare act out in front of his own mother.

She is entirely wrong.

"I have drawn a clear line with Julia, and that engagement was canceled long ago," Danny says, his voice dropping to a lethal, glacial timber. He fixes Bonnie with a predatory gaze that nearly makes her knees buckle. "Keep pushing this, and the Sinclair family will suffer the consequences."

Bonnie shrinks back, terrified. She hadn't expected him to be so brazenly disrespectful in front of Katie, realizing entirely too late that the Sinclair wealth still pales in comparison to the Calhoun empire.

Katie blinks, turning her head as if just noticing the towering man beside her. "Oh, Danny, you're here too?"

Tara suppresses a smile, shooting the man beside her a look of pure pity. It takes a special kind of mother to completely overlook a phenomenally handsome, broad-shouldered billionaire radiating pure intimidation.

Danny looks entirely unfazed, accustomed to this dynamic. "Yeah. I've been standing here the whole time."

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart!" Katie laughs, looking mildly apologetic. "There are just so many gorgeous women around, you entirely blended into the background."

Nikolai's brow furrows sharply. He can tolerate internal family squabbles behind closed doors, but watching outsiders gang up on his younger sister in public is where he draws the line. Before he can step forward to shut Bonnie down, Jade speaks up.

"Please don't be too harsh on her," Jade says, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. "Tara isn't inherently a bad person. It's just that when she went missing from the Dennis family for all those years, she ended up running with a really bad crowd. She’s trying to change now that she’s back, so please don't misunderstand her."

While framing it as a defense, Jade masterfully digs a grave for Tara's reputation. Everyone knows Tara simply vanished years ago, but Jade’s calculated words intentionally twist the narrative, implying Tara was a delinquent who willingly ran away to engage in illicit behavior.