Master of his heart (Brielle and Max)

Chapter 1194

Emma took a deep breath, only to hear the usual snide comments from the women who always looked down on her.

"That's right, everyone knows the Odeberg family nearly ended up playing daddy to the kid in your belly. What a huge embarrassment! You owe us big time for this!"

As the insults flew, Peyton, who was inside and equally mortified by the scandal, thought the demand for twenty thousand was way over the top.

She stepped outside, only to find the crowd ready to get physical.

"The Odebergs! What do you think you're doing? Picking on us because we don't have a man in the house, is that it?"

Seeing Peyton emerge, the Odebergs became even more brazen.

"Lock Emma up tonight! Big Mama Moll, if you don't cough up that twenty grand, we're not releasing her!"

Peyton was frantic, instinctively looking around for help, but the Odebergs, with their deep pockets and usual bravado, had intimidated the villagers into silence. Nobody was willing to stand up for the Molls, preferring to watch the drama unfold. So, before Peyton's eyes, Emma was surrounded by men from the Odeberg family and locked in a room.

That room was Peyton's, now off-limits to her.

If Peyton didn't produce the money, the Odebergs weren't going to release Emma and were content to camp out in the Moll family's yard, refusing to leave.

Peyton knew that if she did faint, nobody would care about

thousand; after all, there was the seventeen thousand left from Emma's abortion fund, plus a scholarship of five thousand Peyton had never spent, hidden under her mattress, savings meant for her retirement. The Odebergs had only spent a couple of thousand on the banquet, yet now demanded twenty

not a soul sided with

had been

thankfully, as it was Peyton's, who had spent years bedridden, requiring a

was

appetite having

pregnancy, her stomach constantly

g in protest. Contes

from hunger, she

her

outside, pleading on her

determined to target the

had managed to eat these past days, but the Odebergs forbade her from bringing food to

felt she could eat

there was a moment she nearly

the room, she hoped to find something,

hanging from the rafters, half-eaten by rats, a disgusting sight. Emma wanted