Chapter 609

Chapter 609:

The air inside was heavy with the scent of aged mahogany, expensive Darjeeling tea, and centuries of oppressive family expectation.

Beatrice Lancaster sat in a high-backed Victorian armchair beside the unlit fireplace. She was nearly eighty years old, but her spine was perfectly straight, her silver hair pulled back into a severe knot. Her eyes—pale and sharp as shattered glass—locked onto Grayson the moment he entered the room.

He stopped in the center of the Persian rug and inclined his head. “Grandmother,” he said, his voice tight.

Beatrice did not offer him a seat. She did not return the greeting.

She simply reached out with a frail, blue-veined hand and pushed a silver tray to the edge of the antique tea table. On the tray sat a tablet, its screen illuminated and playing a video. Grayson recognized the setting immediately—the lounge of Kaiden’s preparatory school. The footage was shaky, clearly captured on a smartphone by one of the wealthy mothers in the room.

“Did you honestly believe those society wives gather at these schools merely to discuss charity galas and designer handbags?” Beatrice asked, her voice laced with lethal amusement. “They are my eyes and ears, Grayson. The wife of the school board director found this little performance quite entertaining and forwarded it directly to my personal server this afternoon p>

The audio filled the quiet room. It was Kaiden’s voice, screaming at Isolde.

“Belle is my new mommy p>

Beatrice tapped the screen, pausing the video on Belle’s smug, triumphant face.

“Explain to me,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper but carrying the force of a swinging blade, “why the Lancaster family’s dignity is currently being dragged through the mud by a cheap, plagiarizing harlot p>

Grayson swallowed hard. His throat felt like sandpaper. “It is a misunderstanding,” he said, struggling to keep his voice level. “The media is twisting the narrative. Victoria overstepped with the PR team. Belle is simply a business associate helping with Kaiden’s transition p>

Reco𝗆m𝘦𝗻𝘥 𝘁o 𝘆𝗈𝗎𝗿 𝖿𝗿і𝖾n𝖽ѕ

Beatrice let out a sound that was half laugh, half snarl. She picked up her delicate, priceless bone china teacup.

“Do you take me for a fool, Grayson?” she asked softly.

Before he could answer, she hurled the teacup directly at his feet.

The china shattered against the hardwood floor with a violent, explosive crack. Boiling tea and razor-sharp shards of ceramic exploded outward. A sliver of porcelain sliced through the expensive wool of Grayson’s trousers and bit into his shin. He flinched, but he did not step back.

Beatrice rose from the chair. She leaned heavily on her silver-headed cane, her eyes burning with a terrifying, ancient fury.

“For five years, I have watched you funnel resources into that woman’s pathetic company,” she hissed, advancing toward him. “I allowed it because men have their vices. But I will not allow you to replace the legitimate Lancaster wife with a woman whose bloodline is nothing but dirt and deception p>