“You little…” Lucia’s sharp insult died on her lips when she saw the crowd around Audrey. She forced a stiff smile and muttered, this side
She stepped closer, fingers brushing Audrey’s veil with barely concealed envy. “Isn’t this too long? It’ll be a hassle to move around.”
Audrey nodded. “I thought so.”
Hearing Audrey agree with her, Lucia felt a little better inside.
“Can it be shortened?” Audrey asked the designer.
The designer folded a section of the veil, waited for Audrey’s nod, then noted the
With the wedding just ten days away, Audrey’s only task was final fittings. The Justment.
staff had handled everything else for her.
Changed back into her clothes, Audrey sat at the kitchen island with a glass of juice and a slice of warm apple crisp.
Lucia took the seat opposite. “That mediocre face mask you mentioned last time is the Lunessé one, right? Several wealthy ladies use that brand. Had I known you had a stash, I wouldn’t have paid so much for it.”
Audrey drank her juice, silent.
Lucia continued, “Audrey, I’m your mother. If I don’t attend your wedding, people will talk.”
A dry laugh escaped Audrey as she blew on her dessert. “Sometimes I wonder if we’re even related.”
She had doubted it enough to get a paternity test. The results confirmed Lucia was her biological mother. That was the only reason she hadn’t cut ties
entirely.
“What mother doesn’t want her daughter to thrive?” Audrey’s voice turned brittle. “Why are you the exception?”
“I do want your happiness! It’s just…” Lucia bit back the truth. She feared losing status once Audrey married Yann.
Audrey was her daughter, yet she couldn’t scold or control her. And even before the wedding, Yann had stripped Lucia of her household authority.
Audrey was beautiful and brilliant. She could’ve landed any elite match without Lucia’s help.
“We’re family,” Lucia pleaded, suddenly gripping Audrey’s arm. “If Yann ever mistreats you, I’ll defend you. Outsiders won’t have your back like I will.”
Audrey sneered and thought, ‘Outsiders? You mean Amelia? You’re just terrified Logan might remarry her and cut off your cash flow. But even if Logan wanted to, Amelia would never agree. She’s already remarried to a man who treats her like a princess.’
Audrey set down her spoon, wiping her mouth with a napkin. “When have you ever defended me? My dad paid child support, but did you raise me for even a single day?
Lucia’s knuckles whitened as she clenched her fists on the table. She’d spent Audrey’s support money on herself.
Lucia thought, ‘If I didn’t keep myself young and beautiful, how could I remarry? Without a wealthy husband, my life would have been ruined, and yours too. Why can’t you understand that?‘
As for George’s death compensation, Lucia had invested it. Bank interest was pitiful. Her intentions weren’t evil, but the venture failed, and the money vanished. It wasn’t as if she had stolen it.
“Audrey.” Lucia forced a laugh. “Let’s not dredge up the past, okay?”
“What happened to Dad will never be the past for me.” Audrey’s stare was unrelenting.
Chapter 300
Lucla shrank under her gaze. “Then what? You want me to jump off a building like him Goerge bited hands. Hoc deretan
Audrey leaned forward, eyes locked onto Lucia’s. “Swear it. Swear on your life that Dad’s death had nothing to do with you, if jeuk e bine, Ar hit by a car, crushed by falling debris, or
“Shut up!” Lucia’s face twisted with rage. “I’m your mother. You curse me like that?” She lunged, but Hugo blocked her path, Panting, shangi yet Audrey from a distance, venom in her eyes.
Audrey stood. “The guilty flee where none pursue. I’ll swear right now. If I had any part in Dad’s death, I may die horribly. But you? You can’t, You’re
terrified.”
Lucia trembled like a leaf in a storm, nails digging into her palms without her even noticing.
Audrey’s gaze was unnerving–as if she could see straight through Lucia’s soul. Lucia turned her head away, not daring to meet her eyes.
She snorted, “Tjust don’t like making vows. If you have proof, show it. Or just shut up. How can we ever get along if you keep suspecting me of
everything?”
She exhaled sharply. “At your wedding with Clayton, they walked all over you because you had no family backing you. If you don’t learn from that and keep acting recklessly, don’t come crying to me when Yann dumps you.”
“So you really want to attend my wedding?” Audrey said with a faint, mocking smile.
A flicker of hope flashed in Lucia’s eyes. She was Logan’s wife. Skipping Yann’s wedding would mark her as irrelevant in the Winifred family, it was a social suicide among the elite circles she clung to.
“I only want what’s best for you,” Lucia insisted, the same hollow refrain.
Audrey nodded. “Fine. If you want to attend as my mother, I’ll allow it.”
Lucia barely suppressed a triumphant smirk, her expression straining toward sincerity as she waited for the catch.
Audrey pulled out a notebook, flipped to a page, and handed it to Hugo to pass to Lucia. “Since you’re my mother, you’ll need to give me wedding gifts. Afford something from this list, and you’re welcome to come.”
The notebook suddenly felt scalding in Lucia’s hands. But for the chance to flaunt her status at such an event, she forced herself to look.
However, with each line, her face darkened. She didn’t even finish reading before slamming it onto the table.
“Who the hell do you think you are? This is delusional!” Her finger trembled as she stabbed at the page. “Three million dollars in cash? A penthouse in Ashbourne? Emerald jewelry? Are you out of your mind?”
Audrey merely smiled.
Sylvie stepped forward, picking up the notebook and brushing off imaginary dust. “These are the gifts Amelia prepared for Audrey. You can’t provide them, but it doesn’t mean Audrey isn’t worthy.”
Lucia’s eyes bulged. She thought, ‘Amelia is giving Audrey wedding gifts? What’s her game? She tries to steal my husband, and now she’s bribing my daughter?‘
Audrey was already walking toward the living room when Lucia’s shrill voice followed her. “Audrey, I’m your mother! How can you be so vain? Seiling yourself to another woman for money?”
Audrey snorted, “I learned from the best. You dumped Dad for a wealthy life. And even with all that money, you never spent a cent on me and even ruined my credit instead.”
