Chapter 196

Blergh…
Penelope’s revenge had been served, but at a cost. She doubled over and threw Thıs content belongs to
up.
Back at the Sullivan house, the mood was grim. Mrs. Sullivan tactfully suggested Zebulon go take a shower, and Rebecca was about to do the same.
“So now my son smells bad to you?” Mrs. Sullivan snapped, needing someone to take her anger out on.
Rebecca held up her arm. “Why don’t you take a whiff?”
Mrs. Sullivan quickly covered her nose. “Go, go! You go take a shower too!”
After they had both cleaned up, Mrs. Sullivan called Zebulon downstairs for breakfast.
As he sat down, he noticed a stack of invitations on the table. He assumed they were for his wedding to Penelope and scowled as he picked one up. But when he opened it, he saw Rebecca’s name in the bride’s slot.
“What is this?”
Mrs. Sullivan sneered. “I snatched those from Rebecca’s mother this morning. Can you believe it? She secretly replaced Penelope’s name with Rebecca’s. That woman is so conniving.”
Zebulon tossed the invitation aside. “Cancel the wedding.”
“I agree. Now that we’ve completely burned our bridges with Penelope, there’s no
need for this fake wedding to placate her. But Rebecca’s mother has already sent out most of them, mainly to our relatives. If we cancel now, we’ll be a laughingstock.”
“So what? You want me to actually marry Rebecca?”
“Well, you two do have a marriage license. It’s just her mother I can’t stand.”
“I’m not in the mood to marry her.”
“What do you mean, you’re not in the mood? You were in the mood to marry Penelope?” Mrs. Winters stormed out of her room, still in her pajamas. Her movements were so frantic that two buttons on her top had popped open, but she didn’t seem to notice as she marched up to Zebulon.
Mrs. Sullivan looked away, mortified to have such a person as an in-law.
“Let me tell you, this wedding is for my daughter, and it’s going to be a grand one!”
Mrs. Winters declared, slamming her hand on the table.
“And what if the Sullivan family decides not to give her a wedding?”
“Then I’ll take my daughter to get an abortion right now!”
The threat had been used so many times it had lost its power.
Mrs. Sullivan laughed. “We only involved your daughter in the first place so we could have a child without Penelope knowing. Did you really think she was good enough to many into the Sullivan family on her own merits? But now we don’t have to hide anything from Penelope. My son can just divorce your daughter and marry someone from a good family. Then he can have a child openly and respectably.”
Mrs. Winters narrowed her eyes. “So that was your plan all along?”
“That depends on whether you and your daughter know how to behave.” Mrs. Winters nodded slowly. “Fine. We’re going to the hospital. It’s a shame to lose a boy, but it’s better than my daughter being mistreated in your house.”
“Wait. Did you say Rebecca is having a boy?” Mrs. Sullivan’s eyes widened. She had always talked about an heir, but she had never been sure of the gender.
Now it was Mrs. Winters’s turn to be smug. “That’s right. We went to a clinic yesterday. It’s a boy.”
The confirmation brought a radiant smile to Mrs. Sullivan’s face.
“Thank God! The Sullivan family has an heir!”
“A pity he’s about to be gone.”
“No, no! You want a wedding, you’ll get a wedding! We’ll proceed as planned. We
can’t let the heir to the Sullivan family be slighted in any way.”
With this new leverage, Mrs. Winters was not about to let the Sullivans off easy. That very day, she demanded that Mrs. Sullivan take Rebecos shopping for wedding jewelry.
They entered a high-end jewelry store and came face to face with Penelope.
Seeing her browsing engagement
rings, Mrs. Sullivan let out a derisive
laugh. “Some people get dumped
and still shop for rings. Do they really think my son still wants them?”