From Sneers to Cheers: Anthea’s Ascent (Anthea ) novel Chapter 533

“Sherman, let’s go! Don’t waste your breath on people like her,” Karen snapped, grabbing Sherman by the arm.

Sherman gave a small nod and followed her, leaving Rebecca scrambling after them.

“No! Grandma, please, don’t go! I’m begging you, please forgive me!” Rebecca pleaded, chasing at their heels.

But Karen didn’t even look back.

Smack.

She slammed the car door in Rebecca’s face.

The driver started the engine, and all Rebecca could do was stand there as a cloud of dust settled around her.

“Ah!”

A guttural cry tore from her throat. Rebecca collapsed, sobbing in utter despair.

……

In the car, Karen glanced at Sherman, worry creasing her brow. “Listen to me, you stubborn boy! Don’t let that manipulative girl Rebecca fool you. I only accept Ann as my granddaughter-in-law, got it?”

She’d seen enough schemers in her day, and she wasn’t about to let Sherman get tangled up with one. Truth be told, her nerves had been especially on edge ever since she’d read that romance novel last week—the one where the male lead was completely duped by a conniving vixen.

That character had pulled every trick in the book to turn the hero against the real heroine, and the poor girl suffered endlessly—betrayed, heartbroken, humiliated. And the worst part? In the end, the heroine actually forgave the idiot who’d wronged her, like some lovesick fool.

Karen had nearly ground her teeth to dust reading that nonsense. If she could, she’d have jumped right into the pages to knock some sense into the heroine and give the male lead a swift kick to the head.

Rebecca was just like that—sweet on the outside, rotten underneath. She lied without blinking and would even throw her own parents under the bus if it meant marrying into the Christensen family. Karen’s biggest fear was that Sherman would end up like Daniel from that book: blind to the truth and hopelessly manipulated.

She would not allow it.

Karen fixed Sherman with a fierce look. “If you ever so much as misunderstand Ann, or treat her badly, I swear—I’ll knock some sense into that thick skull of yours, break both your legs, and cut you off for good! You’ll be out of this family, and I’ll never forgive you. Ever!”

Sherman raised an eyebrow. Grandma love, huh?

“Are you even listening to me?” Karen demanded, punctuating her words with a sharp smack to his arm.

Sherman absentmindedly fingered the cross around his neck. “I heard you.”

Rebecca wandered in a daze to the Morris family’s estate. When she saw the court’s foreclosure notice pasted on the front gate, reality hit her like a punch to the gut. This wasn’t her home anymore.

She hadn’t just lost her engagement; she’d lost her entire identity as Ms. Morris.

She was supposed to soar like a phoenix, not crawl through the ashes.

Anthea.

It was all because of Anthea!

If not for her, Rebecca wouldn’t have ended up like this. She hated Anthea with every fiber of her being.

Soon after, Rebecca trudged to her current place—a shabby rental that reeked of mold and disappointment. The neighborhood was terrible, barely a step up from the basement Carole used to live in.

Rebecca took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Inside, Sandra lounged on the sofa, glued to her phone, oblivious to Rebecca’s arrival. The air was filled with the sounds of some online card game—“one pair,” “east wind,” and other calls echoing from the screen.