Chapter 1079
[ 620 words ]
At dinner, Hull and Elliot Harlow were deep in conversation off to one side, while Susanna stayed close to Lacey.
Lacey picked at a vegetable salad in the dining room, but Susanna was enthusiastically devouring meat. “Mom, can that really be any good?”
“I’m not a young girl like you anymore,” Lacey replied. “My metabolism has slowed down. If I ate like you, can you imagine how huge I’d get? Besides, with a husband this young, I have to keep my figure in shape.”
Susanna blinked. As far as she could remember, her mother had always been this way—her fashion sense unchanged, her curly hair pulled back stylishly, her makeup flawless, and her outfits impeccably chosen.
Lacey glanced toward Hull and Elliot. The two men looked quite serious, though she couldn’t hear what they were saying. Her gaze then returned to Susanna. “This thing with you and Hull… was it consensual?”
“Huh?” What did she mean?
Lacey’s eyes flickered back from Hull, her expression shifting to the classic, scrutinizing gaze of a parent. No matter how outstanding a man was, he never seemed quite good enough for one’s own child. She looked at Susanna, her expression suddenly serious.
Susanna quickly swallowed the bite of meat in her mouth. “I-It was consensual,” she stammered.
Lacey raised an eyebrow. “I thought you had a thing for the refined, intellectual types. He looks dangerous.”
Susanna was at a loss for words. Did she like the gentle type? “That was before. I hadn’t met anyone like him back then.” Growing up in Portis City, most of the boys she knew were polite and well-mannered. She had never encountered anyone like Hull.
Just as Lacey was about to say more, her phone, sitting on the table beside her, began to vibrate. She put down her fork, glanced at the caller ID, and answered. “Hello?”
“Did we really never sleep together?” Derek’s voice, tight with restrained fury, came through the phone.
“Are you unwilling to accept the truth, or are you too afraid to?” Lacey shot back.
A heavy silence descended on the other end of the line. He was unwilling, and he was afraid. Derek knew better than anyone that if he and Lacey had never been intimate, then Susanna couldn’t possibly be his daughter.
“Remember how loyal you were to Adelle back then? You acted so chaste you nearly drove your mother to her grave. You tell me if we ever slept together,” Lacey taunted.
Derek remained silent.
“Then again, you did have your
flings,” Lacey continued. “You spent your nights, carousing to throw Mrs. Murray off your trail. Derek, you don’t have to act so tormented Everything that’s happening today is just karma. You entered into a sham marriage. You deserve this.”
vel
It was true. It had been a sham marriage. Derek had not only used his debauchery to distract his mother but had even married Camille, Dan’s mother. Given Adele’s background, if Derek hadn’t taken such drastic measures, Mrs. Murray would have surely had her killed. He had protected Adelle, and look how she had repaid him-three children, none of them his. If that wasn’t karma, what was?
Derek’s breathing grew ragged. “You…”
“You and Adelle both deserve this,” Lacey declared. It wasn’t just Derek; Adelle was also getting what she deserved. While Derek had faked a so
marriage, Adelle, who acteure
andamnocent in front of him, had
been secretly trying to eliminate any woman who had ever been involved with him.
“You and I never slept together,” Lacey stated coldly. “But what about Camille? Did you ever sleep with her?” The mention of Dan’s mother made the air on the call grow even heavier.
“I remember… we did!” Derek choked out, his voice filled with desperation.
“You remember wrong.”
“You’re just saying this to get back at me, aren’t you? You’re lying to punish me!”
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