Chapter 378

Everyone’s eyes were glued to Joyce’s belly.

She wasn’t exactly skinny, and today she’d deliberately picked an outfit that made her barely-there bump impossible to miss.

Maggie felt frozen, staring at Joyce’s belly, her mind completely blank.

“Is the pregnant girl Joyce?”

“Joyce, what nonsense are you spouting?” Diane stepped forward in disbelief. She glared at Joyce, clearly annoyed.

“Auntie, I’m pregnant with Tuff’s baby,” Joyce said, one hand on her back, making sure everyone saw how pregnant she looked. “Aren’t you happy for me?”

Diane was stunned. ‘Happy? You’re not even Tuff’s wife!’

Kayla was the last to step forward, her face calm as she looked at Joyce. All eyes were on her, waiting to see if she’d lose her cool. Especially Lily, who was practically thrilled after her earlier humiliation.

Joyce met Kayla’s gaze head-on and added, “You couldn’t get pregnant before, so that’s why I had the chance. But I heard you can now, is that true?”

“Is that really Tuff’s baby you’re carrying?” Kayla asked, her voice so calm that it was impossible to read her emotions.

Maggie instinctively stepped in front of Kayla, afraid she might suddenly lash out and kick Joyce. Even though Maggie found it hard to accept that Joyce was carrying the baby herself, she still didn’t want her to get hurt. After all these years, she really did think of Joyce as her own daughter.

“Yes!” Joyce said, practically glowing with pride. “And I’m not getting rid of this baby. I’m going to keep it!”

“How do you prove it’s Tuff’s?” Kayla asked, her voice still steady.

Joyce smirked. “The night of Amelia’s birthday party, Tuff took me to a hotel. Didn’t you know about that?”

That night, Kayla had gone to the plastic surgery clinic with Giovanna and had no idea about any of this. Her heart sank. ‘Did Tuff really cheat on me?’

“Joyce, are you out of your mind? Even if Tuff was drunk, you shouldn’t have…” Diane scolded, her voice full of heartbreak. She pointedly reminded everyone that Tuff was drunk that night.

That night, Tuff had indeed drunk too much. Kayla had even gone to get him some fruit to help him sober up, but when she came back, Tuff was gone – and Maggie was sitting in his seat. It turned out Joyce who took him away.

One scheme after another, and in the end, it was his own clueless mother left to deal with her son’s mess.

Poor Tuff, Kayla thought.

However, Kayla’s heart still ached uncontrollably. She took a deep breath, kept her voice steady, and said calmly, “Alright then, go ahead and have the baby. As long as it’s Tuff’s, I’m willing to accept it. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure it’s well taken care of.”

Joyce’s expression changed dramatically. ‘What the heck? Why is Kayla acting like this?’

“Joyce, you should go home,” Maggie said, her voice trembling as she tried to urgently pull Joyce away.

Joyce yanked her arm free and said, “Maggie, I’m not here to make a scene.”

“Joyce!” Maggie called out.

“Kayla’s already said I can have the baby. There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Joyce said, giving Maggie a meaningful look.

That look made Maggie give up trying to stop her.

Kayla saw right through it and became even more convinced that Maggie and Joyce had set Tuff up together.

Feeling a twinge of sympathy for Tuff, Kayla replied with perfect composure, “If I could have a baby without any of the pain, I’d jump at the chance. Too bad the law won’t allow it – otherwise, I’d just hire a whole team of surrogates.”

“Wow, Kayla, you’re really something,” Joyce said, her eyes burning with jealousy.

Her original plan was to provoke Kayla into losing her temper, then put on an act – pretending to be frail or sick – so the whole Prescott family would pity her and take her side. But with Kayla refusing to rise to the bait, Joyce was left at a loss. ‘How am I supposed to keep this act going now?’

“A true lady of the house is always magnanimous, able to tolerate anything. Isn’t that right, Mom?” Kayla said, her tone dripping with sarcasm as she looked straight at Maggie.

Maggie awkwardly avoided eye contact, too embarrassed to say a word.

Something told her Kayla wasn’t about to let this go. She was definitely cooking up something major behind the scenes.