The Night He Chose Her, I Chose My Revenge Chapter 17

The Night He Chose Her, I Chose My Revenge Chapter 17

The next day, his mother came.

Catherine Croft.

It was the first time I had seen her up close outside of a social function.

Under Croft family rules, only core family members invited to her private estate for tea were granted that privilege.

In the past five years, every local socialite Julian had brought home had been there.

I, his legal wife, had not.

She sat in the chair beside my bed, the same one Julian had occupied before being dragged away. She looked as elegant and proper as if she were attending afternoon tea, not visiting a patient who had nearly died in a hurricane.

From a velvet box, she produced a sapphire necklace.

“Elara, at last we can have a proper talk. You are such a good girl.”

“This was given to me by my mother when I married into the Croft family. Consider it… the Croft family’s apology to you.”

I smiled faintly and didn’t even look at the necklace.

“Thank you, but it’s too valuable. I can’t accept it.”

Her voice softened, taking on a gentle authority that brooked no argument.

“Elara, Julian is a bastard. I have told him so for years. Your brother beat him badly, and I have given him a severe lesson myself. He knows he was wrong now.”

She paused, her gaze locking on mine.

“Could you, for my sake, give him one more chance? Every marriage has its problems. You can’t end things over one incident. I know you two loved each other once.”

She added, “If he ever steps out of line again, I will personally stand up for you.”

I looked at her and dropped the pretense.

“You say you disciplined him every year. Then why did he never allow me to host the Founders’ Gala?”

I leaned forward slightly, enunciating each word.

“Whether I could be the Croft family hostess was a matter of one word from you, wasn’t it?”

The gentle expression on her face froze.

Catherine Croft clearly hadn’t expected me to ask that.

For the first time, a flicker of panic appeared in those eyes that were always so full of pity and dignity.

After several seconds, she finally spoke, her voice stiff. “I did say so… but if he refused to listen, there was nothing I could do.”