My Accidental Husband is a Billionaire?

Chapter 845

845  Chapter 844

Jodie wasn't bound with ropes, nor were there shackles on her feet. She walked in wearing her favorite dress, surrounded by armed guards, her head held high without a trace of panic. She looked less like someone taken hostage and more like someone being escorted to safety.

She had always been this way—calm and composed, even if the world crumbled around her.

Keira's gaze locked on her mother's face.

Her face was clean and her hair impeccably styled. If it weren't for the paleness of her lips, she would look exactly as she had years ago in Oceanion, as if life had treated her well.

But Keira, ever perceptive, caught the unsteadiness in her mother's otherwise graceful steps. Beneath the façade of poise was exhaustion and frailty.

Keira's mind flashed to the lashings her mother endured the night before. Jodie hadn't cried or screamed, yet those around her had howled and wept as if they were the ones suffering.

Keira felt her eyes sting with tears. She blinked hard, refusing to let them fall.

Jodie looked up and caught sight of Keira. A flicker of surprise crossed her face. "Keera?"

Keira immediately understood—her mother was prompting her to play along. Keira gave a small, detached nod.

Keera had never grown up with her mother, so their first meeting was meant to carry a sense of unfamiliarity.

Jodie smiled gently. "I never thought our first real meeting as mother and daughter would be under such circumstances."

Jessica scoffed. "First meeting? What first meeting? Don't pretend we don't know she was in Oceanion when we dragged you out of Crera."

Jodie chuckled softly, the picture of calm. "That day was too chaotic. I only caught a brief glimpse of Keera, and we didn't have the chance to speak."

As she finished, her eyes glistened faintly. She stepped forward, took Keira's hand, and said with a tinge of emotion, "Keera, you look just like your sister, Keira. The resemblance is uncanny. It's such a shame..."

She dabbed at her eyes.

Keira pulled her hand back instinctively.

Her throat felt tight, but she forced herself to ask, "Have you been okay?"

Jodie smiled faintly. "I'm fine."

She sighed. "I used to think escaping the South family would bring me freedom, but life in Oceanion was just another cage. These years have taught me that. Staying with the South family is no worse than anywhere else…"

She lowered her gaze.

Jessica sneered. "Life was fine? Then why wouldn't you take the lovers they sent you? Still clinging to your so-called purity? For who, exactly?"

Jodie turned to her, her demeanor still composed, her tone gentle yet sharp. "It's not about purity. I simply didn't want to be reduced to a tool for reproduction. Just like you don't. We're both failures in this system, so why mock me?"

Jessica laughed coldly. "Failures? You had twenty-odd years of peace and comfort in Oceanion, hiding away. You think that makes us the same?"

Jodie sighed. "Those years were stolen. And now you've stolen my daughter from me, too. What's the point of talking about fairness?"

"Stolen? I think it's worth talking about." Jessica's words dripped with venom. "You lived under the same roof as Keira for twenty-two years and couldn't acknowledge her as your daughter. And as soon as your other daughter met you, she was dragged right back to the South family. Jodie South, how does that feel?"

Her tone was deliberately cruel.

Jodie's voice remained calm as she replied, "If I have to thank you for taking Keera, it's because it meant at least one of my daughters survived. Otherwise… she might've ended up like her sister, killed by Eagle."

Eagle? The successor from Country M, codenamed Eagle?

Keira's pupils contracted sharply.

She immediately realized her mother was passing her a message.

The killings in Oceanion hadn't been the work of the South family but of Eagle.

It all made sense now. The South family, desperate for heirs, wouldn't have eliminated her and her sister. But the infighting among successors? That was another matter entirely.

Eagle…

Keira clenched her fists. That was a rival she could never afford to underestimate.

Erin had told her before...

There were supposedly nine successors left, but four had already joined her side, while three had pledged allegiance to Eagle. The power struggle had narrowed, leaving only her and Eagle locked in a battle to the death.

It was her versus Eagle. No compromise.

Keira took a deep breath, steadying herself.

Jessica snorted. "Good. At least you're grateful. Splitting you and your daughter apart—I owe you nothing."

Jodie shook her head with a faint smile. "I've never said you owed me anything. And thank you for raising Keera to adulthood."

Keira looked at her mother, wanting to say more.

Jessica interrupted with a sneer. "Enough already. You've seen her. What now? Gonna stick around for lunch?"

Jodie's gaze lingered on Keira, filled with unspoken reluctance.

Keira broke the silence. "I've reconnected with Dad. He's been looking for you all this time."

Jodie smiled faintly. "Tell him to stop looking. I can't go back… Maybe it's better this way, never seeing each other again. Keera, take care of yourself. No matter what, winning or losing doesn't matter as much as staying alive."

Keira nodded.

Without hesitation, Jodie turned and walked away.

Once she was gone, Keira headed upstairs to her room.

She opened her palm, revealing a small slip of paper—a note her mother had slipped to her moments before.