Filed To Story: The Broken-Hearted She and The Icy He Book PDF Free
Grinding down on her envy, she hurried on, “Yes, Mom, Lily is a liar. She tricked our family into giving her countless treasures with that bastard child in her belly. You must take them all back!”
She was the rightful Luke daughter-in-law, the future mistress of the family. Everything reclaimed would belong to her.
Of course, she didn’t dare say that aloud.
Rolling her eyes, she put on righteous indignation. “Lily has gone too far. Mom, you must call the police! Have her arrested! She should rot in prison! She’s so desperate for men she didn’t even spare that disgusting old creep-she…”
“Slap!”
Before the words were out, fire exploded across her cheek.
Marilyn’s eyes flew open. Nancy had struck her.
Frozen, she stammered, her voice breaking into a scream, “Mom, you hit me? I-I’m always thinking of James, of this family, and you hit me? Lily has done something so shameless-shouldn’t she pay the price? Should James just suffer being cheated on, should he…”
“Slap!”
Nancy’s hand cracked across her face again, her voice colder than a blade scraping bone. “You’re the liar. You’re the shoe. You’re the shameless one!”
Marilyn’s eyes went wide.
What had she just heard?
Mom said she was the liar, the shoe, the shameless one?
Had her mother-in-law gone mad?
Shock and fury welled up, tears spilling in heavy drops.
Choking back sobs, she wailed, “Mom, how can you call me shameless? Lily is the shameless one! If she had any shame, she wouldn’t have done such things with that old man in the video. Everyone’s seen her body, seen her sluttish face. She’s filthy, she’s ruined-how can you still protect her? Do you want James to be a fool, raising another man’s child, while…”
“Slap! Slap! Slap!”
Nancy didn’t bother arguing anymore. Her palm landed on Marilyn’s cheek again and again, sharp and merciless.
Yes, the Bale and Luke families were wealthy, steeped in privilege.
But Nancy wasn’t the kind to sneer at people, nor was she quick to raise her hand.
Marilyn’s foul mouth, though-it was unbearable. Nancy’s patience had burned away.
Zoey and Grace glared daggers at Marilyn, their eyes full of disgust.
They too wanted to slap her, but Nancy’s hand was already delivering the blows, so they stood back and let her vent her fury.
Only after more than ten hard strikes did Nancy finally stop.
Her palm burned, but the fire in her chest still raged.
Marilyn had been too stunned to react. She’d never expected Nancy to beat her so ruthlessly.
Only after a long, stunned silence did her wits begin to crawl back into place.
This world was too unfair.
She had saved Victor. The entire Luke family should be grateful to her. She was their daughter-in-law. How could Nancy humiliate her like this for an outsider?
Her rage roared for release.
She wanted to strike back, to shred Nancy’s face and watch her squirm like a toad in the dirt.
But reason-thin and fragile-held/her back. She dared not retaliate.
Nor did she dare slander Lily further.
Eyes glistening with tears, she looked pitifully at Victor, whispering, “Victor, it hurts so much… Mom hit me so hard… it hurts…”
Victor’s brows knit so tightly they could have crushed a fly.
Watching James and Lily stand side by side, hand in hand with such deep affection, he couldn’t help but feel envy.
He too had once imagined that if the day came when he met the right girl, he would hold her hand with the same resolve, shielding her, cherishing her, never betraying her, loving her until death.
But Marilyn’s words just now had been too vile. He couldn’t bear them. He certainly couldn’t protect her.
Lifting his gaze to her, his eyes were cold as ice, his refined features set in aloof rejection.
“Before the truth has even been uncovered, you leap around spreading filth, slandering Lily. Mom’s slap was exactly what you deserved. From now on, you will show her respect. If you dare stir up discord in this family again like some petty clown, I will reconsider marrying you.”
What?
Marilyn nearly popped her eyes out of her head.
He was going back on his word-did he not want to marry her anymore?
Did he want to marry Adeline instead, that shameless little slut?
He was hers. She would never allow Adeline to steal him away.
Her teeth ground audibly in hatred.
But fear of losing him smothered her rage. She forced herself to stay silent, stepping aside obediently, though her heart seethed.
So what if the Luke family still defended Lily for now? Once the whole world turned on her, they would cast her out in shame.
“Mr. James is on stage!”
Gasps erupted when James appeared.
“If Lily cheated on him, he must be going up to hit her!”
“Of course! What man could stand such humiliation? If I were him, I’d break that whore’s legs so she could never stray again!”.
The crowd buzzed with speculation, convinced James was about to mete out punishment.
Instead, he walked straight to Lily’s side.
With undeniable affection and solemnity, he clasped her hand tightly.
Lily, I’m here.”
Lily had known he loved her, had known he trusted her. She believed he would never abandon her in the face of slander..
But feeling his grip, hearing his deep, steady voice that wrapped her in security, her eyes still burned hot with unshed tears.
She squeezed his hand hard. “The woman in the video isn’t me.”
“I know.”
James’s gaze cut to the frozen image on the background screen, cold and sharp. “Leave this matter to me.
“Lily, how could you? Just to spite me, you bedded that disgusting old man?”
John’s furious voice tore through the air, almost before James’s words had faded. He had come to the recording too.
“You mean to tell me the child in your belly is his? How could you fall so low?”
A moment ago, warmth had surged through Lily at James’s side. But at John’s voice, her face froze over like ice.
Every time he appeared, it was a brutal reminder of how blind she had once been-how she had wasted her devotion on him.
And every time, it made her love James even more.
She was even grateful that Elsa had come back pretending to be ill.
If not, she might still be shackled by her own foolishness, pouring her heart into that rotten cucumber John.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.