Reborn With a Money-Making System: Ruined Actress to Nation's Treasure-Chapter 149: Cornering Addison Davenport (1)

I smiled at her. "Do you want to make a bet?"

Addison clenched her teeth, clearly thinking I was just talking nonsense. Even so, she looked incredibly desperate, like someone who needed an oxygen tank just to stay alive.

"Helcia... stop playing with me right now or—"

"Or what?" I cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

Back then, Addison always cut Helcia off whenever she tried to speak or defend herself. So I was simply returning what she had planted in the past.

"Mother..." I kept my smile, but purposely lowered my voice so it sounded firmer. "With the situation you’re in right now, acting tough won’t help you at all."

I leaned forward slightly and continued, "You’re right, there’s a chance I’m talking nonsense. But there’s also a chance I’m telling the truth."

Addison finally went quiet. She kept staring at her phone, probably trying to reach Jeremy.

However, Jeremy didn’t know anything about this either, so he was just as clueless as Addison.

"What do you want?" Addison asked through gritted teeth.

I clapped my hands once, feeling satisfied that I finally managed to hook the fish that had been slipping away from me this whole time.

"It’s actually very simple. I just want you to come to the hearing tomorrow and admit that you forced me to take the loan at Goldenline Bank." I paused, then added calmly, "If you do that, I’ll keep your affair a secret."

The moment those words left my mouth, Addison’s face turned bright red. In an instant, the anger inside her exploded.

"Are you fucking crazy?!!" she screamed. Her voice was so loud the bodyguards outside peeked in through the glass window on the door.

But since they saw that I was sitting far away from Addison and doing nothing dangerous, they didn’t interfere.

"If I do that in court, it’s the same as sending myself straight to prison!" Addison shouted.

To be honest, going to prison was actually a reasonable outcome. There was also a chance Gideon would still divorce her because he would be too embarrassed to have a criminal wife, and of course... he would do it to gain public sympathy.

He would probably act like he was a caring father to Helcia when, in reality, he was the complete opposite.

"It’s not like you have many options," I said softly. "Besides, which one sounds better to you? A cheating scandal, or prison time for abusing your stepdaughter?"

If I were being honest, neither was a good choice. But the cheating scandal was still worse compared to ending up in prison.

Yeah, rich men cheat all the time, and society still hugs them like nothing happened.

However, that happens because those men usually hold powerful positions, so people intentionally support them in hopes of getting benefits from those rich men someday.

But for women? We always get harsher punishments.

People throw insults at us, shame us, step on our dignity, and if a woman isn’t powerful or only lives off her husband’s money, the consequences become even worse.

Once the affair goes public, Addison will instantly lose support from all her socialite friends because they’ll all jump to Gideon’s side without hesitation.

It was ironic, honestly.

But cheating is disgusting, no matter who does it, whether it’s a man or woman. Therefore, I had no intention of defending any of them.

"You... you useless brat!" Addison screamed again, her voice turning rough and cracked from all the yelling.

I let out a small chuckle, then dropped a line I knew would set her on fire instantly. "If you had entertained your husband properly back then, I probably wouldn’t even exist."

I honestly didn’t want to say something that cruel, but since Addison had always said horrible things to Helcia, all my empathy for her had disappeared.

"YOU SLUT!" Addison shrieked. She jumped off the bed and charged at me, her face twisted with pure rage. "I will kill you! I will fucking kill you!"

It genuinely looked like she wanted to wrap her hands around my neck and choke me to death. But before she could even get close, the door suddenly burst open.

"Addison!"

Both Addison and I turned our heads toward the door, and saw Lando standing in the doorway. He wasn’t using his crutches, but since he was holding onto the doorframe, it looked like he could stand without falling.

Honestly, I was more surprised that he suddenly called Addison by her name instead of "Mrs. Davenport". On top of that, I had never heard Lando sound this angry before, like he was on the verge of killing someone.

"I’m warning you," he spoke in a low voice. "If you touch my wife, even a little, then I will make sure you regret it for the rest of your life."

Lando didn’t even blink when he said that, and his sharp eyes were locked on Addison, like an eagle that had already chosen its prey and wouldn’t look away.

On the other hand, Addison froze in place, and for the first time since I had known her, she actually looked scared.

But that fear didn’t last long.

The moment she remembered that the man standing in front of her was nothing more than Victor Brixton’s useless son, every trace of fear disappeared from her eyes.

Her expression shifted back to arrogance in an instant. Addison lifted her chin as she scoffed. "What even can you do, you cripple shit!"

I widened my eyes, and before I could even process the situation, my body moved on its own. I kicked her legs so hard that she stumbled and fell to the ground.

"Don’t..." I leaned forward, my voice low as I stared at Addison, who was wincing in pain while trying to get back up. "Don’t you dare talk badly about my husband."

Addison let out a sharp gasp as she pushed herself up on her elbows, disbelief flashing across her face.

"You... you hit me?" she hissed, clutching her leg.

"Yes," I said calmly, even though my heart was racing. "And I’ll do it again if you insult him one more time."