Filed To Story: The Broken-Hearted She and The Icy He Book PDF Free
Henry’s expression darkened, and he followed close behind them.
From the study, Blanc and his three sons came out as well, all hearing Marilyn’s wailing.
Victor instantly understood that the cousin Marilyn accused was Adeline.
He had only met Adeline a handful of times; he didn’t know her well.
But instinct told him she would never harm Marilyn’s unborn child.
He couldn’t bear to see her slandered. He was the first to stride quickly toward the second floor.
“Marilyn, what are you screaming about?”
All night Marilyn had been provoking Adeline. Grace, who thought well of Adeline, refused to believe she could have done such a thing.
Nancy’s face hardened as well. “So which is it? Did Adeline actually hit you, knock you or is this another one of your little performances to frame her?” down-
“I…”
Marilyn’s face twisted with hatred. trap It was true: Adeline hadn’t struck her, hadn’t pushed her. She had set this herself.
But she told herself she had done it out of love-love for Victor, love for the child in her womb. She wanted to give the baby a whole family.
And she was the Luke family’s daughter-in-law. Nancy and Grace should have been loyal to her, should have defended her. How could they side with Adeline instead?
Her tears fell in fat drops as she choked out, “Mom, Grandma, I didn’t frame her! If it wasn’t for her, why would my face be like this? Why would I fall and almost miscarry? I don’t want to say bad things about Adeline, but why would she be so vicious, hitting me, trying to kill my baby? I’m in so much pain, I’m so scared-I don’t want her to hurt me again, or kill my child…”
Nancy’s lips twitched violently.
Not saying bad things? Marilyn had been smearing Adeline nonstop.
Lily had been framed too many times herself not to recognize the performance. Just seeing Marilyn’s fake tears told her everything-she had seen Adeline alone and seized the chance to trap her.
Coldly eyeing Marilyn’s swollen face, Lily said icily, “If Adeline wanted to teach you a lesson, don’t you think she’d do it in secret where no one would see, rather than risk everyone’s blame here? Marilyn, you went hard on yourself just to frame her.”
Lily’s blunt words made Marilyn burn with hatred. She wanted to claw those beautiful eyes out of her face.
But she couldn’t afford to break her mask in front of the elders. Sniffling pitifully, she whimpered, “Why are you smearing me like this? Am I really that bad in your eyes? I know you and Adeline are close, but wrong is wrong-you can’t twist the truth just to defend her.”
“In my eyes, you are selfish, base, shameless, rotten to the core!”
Lily’s voice was sharp and unwavering. “A liar, a thief who shamelessly steals from others-what good could come of you? You’re filthier than a crow, and you dare say I’m smearing you?”
“Lily!”
Marilyn’s shame and rage made her snap, forgetting her act for a moment as she shouted in fury.
“My wife said nothing but the truth.”
The voice came cold and steady. She turned and found James’s eyes-icy, merciless, burning into her.
Her eyelids twitched hard.
A strange chill spread through her, and in that moment she didn’t dare say another word against Lily.
Instead she pouted at Victor, her voice quavering with tears. “Victor, everyone is bullying me… I’m carrying your child, the Luke family’s heir. How can you all not care if this baby is wronged?”
Henry and Blanc’s eyes filled with even deeper disgust.
An heir?
If Victor truly married her, they would cast him out of the family entirely. How could they ever acknowledge the child she carried?
She really did know how to flatter herself.
“Victor, I’m in so much pain…”
Marilyn still pouted through her tears, pouring her grievances onto him.
“Adeline’s bullied me since we were children. I’ve always been afraid of her, but she’s my cousin -I wanted to get along with her, so I sincerely invited her to our wedding. Who would have thought she’d say I’m unworthy of you, slap me a dozen times, and threaten to kill our baby just to stop me from marrying you? Victor, our child and I have suffered so much… you have to stand up for your wife and child!”
Frost covered Victor’s handsome face.
He thought Marilyn sounded completely insane.
He didn’t believe for a second that Adeline would be stupid enough to lay a hand on Marilyn in the Luke home.
Marilyn, this scheming parasite, was his own doing.
And the thought that the wretched woman he’d once touched now dared to slander Adeline in front of everyone filled him with shame. He couldn’t even bring himself to meet Adeline’s eyes.
Turning his face aside, he said coldly, “Marilyn, my sister-in-law is right. If Adeline wanted to deal with you, she would’ve done it quietly, without leaving evidence. There are cameras in the hallway. Every blow you claim she gave you would have been caught on video. That footage would destroy her completely. She’s not stupid enough to walk into her own grave.”
Adeline froze for a moment.
In her mind, Victor cherished Marilyn deeply, practically treating her like a treasure.
She hadn’t expected him to speak in her defense.
But she wasn’t foolish enough to mistake it for affection. She knew he spoke up only because his conscience demanded it.
As for herself, she hadn’t reacted earlier because she’d already noticed the faint red light of the hallway camera.
“What?”
Marilyn gasped in shock. “There are cameras in the hallway?”
Which meant-every self-inflicted slap, every calculated stumble-had been recorded.
Her hatred for Adeline deepened to the bone.
It was all Adeline’s fault!
If not for Adeline shamelessly seducing Victor, he wouldn’t protect her now. Adeline always wanted to steal from her. Marilyn swore she would never let her win.
Her fury was cut short by James’s icy voice.
“Mr. Soren, pull up the footage from the hallway.”
“No!”
Marilyn shrieked.
She hadn’t seen herself in a mirror, but she could imagine the twisted expression on her face during her little performance. The last thing she wanted was for Victor to see her mask ripped away.
Trembling, she stammered, “No need to look. I admit Adeline didn’t touch me. I… I was just joking with her.”
“Joking?”
Nancy laughed outright, though the sound carried no warmth. “Ha! Since when is framing someone a joke? Marilyn, I don’t know whether to call you shameless or malicious.”
“I didn’t! Adeline’s my cousin, I was just trying to play around,” Marilyn insisted, eyes red with false tears.
Nancy’s expression twisted with biting irony. “Then it’s rotten luck to have you as family.”
Marilyn kept up her pitiful act, still arguing her innocence,
But Nancy no longer looked at her. She raised her head toward Victor, her voice firm and sharp. “I don’t approve of you marrying Marilyn. No wedding, no certificate-nothing.”
Nancy had always believed in letting her children live their own lives. She had never liked interfering.
But Marilyn was too revolting.
She refused to see the son she raised so carefully ruined by a woman like that. This time, she would cut the tie herself.
“I’ve always respected your choices. But this time, I won’t accept you marrying someone so cruel, foolish, and vile. I’ll say it plainly-you either make her abort the child, pay her off to disappear, or you cut ties with me as your mother.”
“I agree with your mother.”
Blanc’s voice rang firm as iron. “If you sever ties with Marilyn, you will always be my son. But if you insist on marrying her… return every cent I’ve spent on you and get out with that disgusting woman.”
“Dad… Mom…”