She deliberately paused, relishing the turmoil her words caused.

Given Mitchel's current fury, Katie assumed he might end her life at any minute. She wasn't going to just surrender like a fool. She could just break everything to bits. If she was going down, she'd take it all down with her.

The color drained from Mitchel's face in an instant. He lunged forward, crouched, and seized Katie by the collar, his eyes red with fury. "What are you talking about?"

Seeing Katie's crazed smile and hearing her manic laughter only drove him to greater desperation. His eyes, filled with a murderous rage, fixed on her. "Tell me! How do you know about this?"

But Katie fell silent as if she had lost her voice, saying nothing further, just continuing with that unsettling, chilling laughter.

Katie seemed to find the situation amusing. She was thrilled because, as far as she knew, Henley had managed to let Raegan return to Ardlens. It appeared that their plans aligned perfectly, even under these circumstances.

With Raegan nearby at such a critical time, Katie felt less intimidated.

Mitchel's brow creased, confused about how Katie could possibly be aware of Raegan's pregnancy. Yet, at this moment, it seemed pointless for Katie to lie to him, and from his expertise in reading people, she didn't seem to be deceiving him.

But why would Raegan, carrying his child, keep this from him again?

Reflecting on his recent efforts to confront Katie and Lorenzo, Mitchel could see why Raegan remained silent. Even if he knew, what could he possibly do? The result was already decided. He couldn't alter a thing. All he could do was try his hardest to secure her future safety. But... How did Katie discover this?

"Explain it to me clearly!" Mitchel clutched Katie's collar, shaking her roughly in his distress.

"Mitchel, do you really believe all those misfortunes are my doing?"

Katie responded off-topic, “Ever considered you're the one to blame? Who else could be causing pain to your beloved? But I got to say she's really fortunate. Despite my numerous attempts to harm her, she survived. Eventually, I had to team up with Lorenzo, but I never imagined her luck would be so strong that even Lorenzo couldn't succeed. Anyway, it's all because of you that the lives of the woman you love and your mother are in turmoil. If you hadn't given me hope, I wouldn't have fallen so madly in love with you, and they could have lived in peace."

Katie spoke, her face gradually contorting into something sinister.

"The one who truly deserves to die is you. You're the root cause, the main villain! Those near you suffer because of you! I curse you. I curse you to never find happiness in life!"

"I will kill you!" After hearing a barrage of bitter curses, Mitchel's expression turned lethal as he strangled Katie. His grip tightened around her neck like a steel vice, squeezing intensely.

Just as Katie's eyes began to roll back and she neared unconsciousness, the grip on her neck suddenly loosened.

Mitchel leaned in close, his presence overwhelming and the fresh, appealing scent of his cologne surprisingly close, leaving his intentions ambiguous.

"Interesting!" He scoffed. “You'd like that, wouldn't you? That way, when Lorenzo arrives, you could try to absolve yourself of blame, right?"

Katie was left speechless. Mitchel appeared to grasp her thoughts instinctively, hitting the mark with surprising accuracy.