Chapter 557
Chapter 556:
“Jocelyn, please,” she wailed. “You cannot just let me die p>
“I am not letting you die, Elouise,” Jocelyn said, her voice utterly cold. “I am simply doing exactly what you taught me to do. I am ignoring you p>
Jocelyn turned her back. She did not hesitate. She did not look back.
“Let’s go, Gaston,” she said.
Gaston escorted her to the elevator, his hand resting protectively on the small of her back. The doors slid open and they stepped inside.
As the metal doors closed, Jocelyn saw Elouise collapse onto a waiting bench in the hallway. The medical paper slipped from her fingers and fluttered to the floor. Elouise buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with agonizing, hopeless sobs.
The elevator descended.
Jocelyn leaned against Gaston’s chest and closed her eyes. She breathed in slowly, feeling the steady beat of his heart and the quiet, extraordinary presence of the new life growing inside her.
𝘞𝗁at 𝘦𝘃𝖾r𝘆𝘰n𝖾 i𝗌 𝗋𝗲а𝖽𝘪ոg 𝘰n
The past was finally, truly dead.
The crystal chandeliers in the grand dining room of the Douglas family’s Hamptons estate cast a harsh, glittering light over the long mahogany table.
Bella sat rigidly in her high-backed chair, wearing a conservative, high-necked black dress that felt more like armor than fashion. She stared blankly at the expensive porcelain plate in front of her, pushing a piece of roasted duck around with her silver fork.
The room was filled with the loud, arrogant chatter of Douglas family elders and their wealthy political allies.
Sitting directly to Bella’s right was Senator Hayes.
He wore a flawlessly tailored navy suit, his posture impossibly straight, his broad shoulders squared. He was currently engaged in a deep, monotonous conversation with Bella’s uncle about tax reform in the industrial sector.
Bella resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The man was a walking, talking C-SPAN broadcast.
Hayes paused mid-sentence, picked up the crystal water pitcher, and smoothly refilled Bella’s glass without so much as glancing at her.
“Thank you,” Bella muttered, not bothering to infuse any warmth into her voice.
Hayes gave a curt, polite nod and immediately returned to his debate about corporate loopholes.
The dinner dragged on. The wine flowed heavily, and the volume in the room steadily climbed.
Across the table, a distant cousin of the Douglas family — a man named Richard, whose face had gone red from too much bourbon — leaned forward heavily on his elbows and fixed his glassy eyes on Bella.
“So, Bella,” Richard slurred loudly, cutting through the surrounding conversations. “I guess you should be thanking your lucky stars the Senator here is willing to take you off our hands. Especially with the absolute mess your brother Kieran made of the family name p>
The entire table went dead silent. The clinking of silverware stopped.
Bella’s face burned. Her fingers gripped her fork so tightly her knuckles turned white. The insult was blatant and humiliating — it implied she was damaged goods, a desperate liability being pawned off to salvage the family’s reputation.