Rift in the perfect picture

+35 BONUS

A series of questions flooded my mind. At that moment, I felt like my breathing had gone erratic.

Doubt and confusion washed over me as I pondered. Should I act indifferent, or should I at least seek out the truth?

Frances immediately noticed the shift in my expression. She knew about Nicholas‘ illness, but Claudia was far from the noble figure she portrayed herself to be. She only took care of him for her own selfish motives.

Frances had casually suggested taking advantage of Nicholas‘ absence to end Daniel’s life, intending to claim the inheritance sooner. Little did she expect that Daniel hadn’t left even a single penny for them.

But Claudia had acted on it, hoping to strip away Nicholas‘ concern for others so that her significance to him would increase. Her possessiveness over Nicholas was pathological.

As Claudia’s mother, Frances naturally caught on to her intention. But she chose to remain silent, thinking that perhaps Claudia could really find a way out of this

A wave of disappointment washed over her. Frances had always thought that despite her constant arguments with Claudia, they were still close as she had raised Claudia alone.

Yet, she hadn’t expected Claudia to completely neglect her in such dire circumstances and was even prepared to shift all the blame onto her.

Feeling weary, Frances plopped to the ground and gazed outside the door.

A tear streaked down her cheek as she murmured, “Ariana, take Claudia to visit Nicholas. Honestly, he’s really very ill. And I admit that I was responsible for the rest. I will face the consequences.”

While I was taken aback by Frances‘ sudden shift of stance, she nodded solemnly, as if she’d aged decades in just an instant.

Claudia was utterly oblivious though. She scrambled to her feet and beamed at me. “See, Ariana? I told you I was telling the truth.”

I gave Frances a hard look before I left. “Why did you give me the medicine that harmed my body when I first married into the Hawk family?”

Looking impassive, Frances smiled and said, “Claudia attempted suicide when you married Nicholas. Do you think I’d allow you to bear his child?”Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.

Her gaze drifted to Claudia, who was completely unaware that she’d become the topic of their conversation. She was lost in her joy of potentially being freed.

Staring at the back of Claudia’s head, Frances ultimately sighed and hung her head low. ‘I can trade my life for the child you lost. I’m sorry.”

Only then did I realize why the Hawk family never mentioned Claudia’s illness after I married Nicholas. I finally understood why they allowed her to join us on our honeymoon and even permitted her to stay in -our new home.

But was Nicholas aware of the truth? If he had known about Claudia’s ulterior motives toward him, would he still have allowed her to be so close to him?

I had no idea, but it was too late to delve into those matters now.

“Do you think your life can be compared to my child’s? And to think I’ve treated you as family for four years! Listen, Frances, you’re unworthy. You’ll face legal consequences for your actions!”