Filed To Story: The Broken-Hearted She and The Icy He Book PDF Free
“I’m not lying,” Marilyn protested, tears streaming down her face. “I really do want to get along with her. But Lily seems to hate me deeply. She kept calling me shameless, said I was trying to steal the Luke family inheritance. I tried to explain sincerely, but she hit me… it hurt so much… I…”
“Shut up!”
James knew the Luke family could see through right and wrong. None of them would believe Marilyn’s lies.
But hearing her smear and belittle Lily over and over still made his blood boil. Even for Victor’s sake, he couldn’t hold back.
His eyes swept coldly over the jewelry on her body, then sharpened like blades as they locked onto her. “The jewelry I gave Lily-why is it on you?”
Ivan hadn’t known exactly which pieces James had gifted his sister-in-law. At first, seeing Marilyn dripping with necklaces, he had thought Victor had given them to her and she simply loved them too much to take off.
Who would have guessed these jewels were James’s gifts to Lily?
Lily would never hand over James’s presents to another woman. Which meant…
Ivan’s gaze toward Marilyn turned openly scornful.
Not only had this so-called future sister-in-law shamelessly thrown herself at James, now she was caught red-handed with sticky fingers.
James had been far too merciful. If someone dared steal from him and he caught them in the act, he would have hacked their thieving hands off without hesitation.
Victor too hadn’t realized the jewelry Marilyn wore had all come from James. His face darkened to a dangerous shade.
“Marilyn,” his voice was frigid, “did Lily hit you because she caught you stealing from her? Speak!”
“I…”
Tears welled in Marilyn’s eyes, but this time they came from fury more than grief.
To her, Victor was her man, her support. He was supposed to defend her unconditionally.
How could he scold her-over a few trinkets that should have been hers anyway?
Her chest burned with anger, hurt, and disbelief. For a long moment she couldn’t even find her voice.
Henry’s head swam with rage.
What on earth had his grandson gotten tangled up with?
A shameless woman who had once clung to James, now exposed as a common thief. If she actually married into the Luke family, it would be the family’s disgrace.
He shot Victor a hard glare, about to speak, when Marilyn suddenly broke down in tears again.
“These necklaces-Lily gave them to me! How could I steal in my own home?” she cried. “You can’t play favorites. I’m also a Luke daughter-in-law. Lily beat me like this, you can’t just let it go!”
“Hah!”
Ivan burst out laughing, no mercy in his voice. “First you said you went to her room to chat, and she attacked you for no reason. But now you claim she gave you gifts? If she hated you enough to strike you out of the blue, why would she hand you jewelry? The truth is obvious-Lily hit you because you stole from her and refused to admit it! And Lily was still too soft. If you had stolen from me, I’d have your limbs broken on the spot.”
Marilyn’s eyes went wide, stunned.
She was to be his sister-in-law. How dare Ivan speak of breaking her bones? Did he have no regard for Victor at all?
Inside the jewelry room, Lily replaced the handbags Marilyn had stuffed full of valuables, giving the rest of her belongings a quick once-over,
From the ruckus in the corridor, she could tell Marilyn had already run to cry victim. Her expression cold, she stepped out.
The moment James saw her, he strode over and clasped her hand tightly, a silent promise that no matter what was said, he would be on her side.
?
Marilyn’s face stiffened.
But she quickly bolstered herself with the same delusion she had repeated all along: she wasn’t stealing-she was only taking what should be hers.
Clutching the pendants at her throat, she declared, “These jewels were gifts from Lily!”
“Return them to her at once!” Victor snapped. He was no fool-her lie was as thin as paper.
He pressed on coldly. “What else did you take from her rooms? Hand it all back!”
“I didn’t take anything else!”
But Marilyn’s eyes flickered. Her fingers clutched the necklaces tighter-the purple diamond, the emerald, the brilliant green fire opal. Each one was worth a fortune.
They were hers now, she told herself. She couldn’t part with them.
“Since Lily gave them to me, they’re mine,” she insisted, her chin high. “No one can take them away!”
“Marilyn, you steal and still act proud about it.”
Lily had no patience left, not even for Victor’s sake.
Her voice sliced through the air, sharp and unyielding. “Return every piece you took from my jewelry room and closet. All of it!”
“I didn’t steal anything!”
Marilyn snapped the moment Lily accused her in front of everyone, her voice shrill with panic.
She screamed, “Lily, what have I ever done to you? Why must you target me and slander me? And yes, you hit me-you beat me like this! Instead of apologizing, you throw filth on my name. You’ve gone too far!”
“I hit you because you deserved it.”
Lily knew some people only admitted guilt when forced to the edge.
Seeing Marilyn’s shamelessness, she wasted no more words. She unlocked her phone, pressed play, and a recording filled the air.
The venomous voice was unmistakably Marilyn’s.
“Lily, James already divorced you, yet you still cling to him. Shameless! The only reason he keeps you is because of the child in your belly. You’re such a whore, willing to do anything disgusting, messing around with so many men, used up by all of them. You probably don’t even know who the father is! Carrying a bastard child, shoving it onto James, forcing him to marry you-shameless!”
The recording cut off, but the damage was done. The Luke family’s expressions turned stone-cold.
Grace sneered. “With a mouth that foul, no wonder you were slapped.”
Ivan’s face darkened. “Marilyn, you really don’t know shame. You call my sister-in- law shameless? A few days ago you deliberately threw yourself onto James, and now you cling to Victor. Tell me, who’s the shameless one here?”
Marilyn’s face drained of color.
She had done it-sat on James’s lap when he was unguarded.
But only James, Lily, and Zhao Shuo had known. How could Ivan know? And how could he dare rip away her cover in front of all the elders?
It had to be Lily-Lily must have told him! That venomous, conniving woman! She would never forgive her for this humiliation.
“I didn’t…”
Marilyn’s eyes brimmed with tears as she clung to Victor’s arm, voice soft and pitiful. “Victor, I saved your life, I gave you my purest self. Now they’re all bullying me-you have to protect me…”
Victor’s brow furrowed. He yanked her hand off in disgust.
Even now, he couldn’t stomach her touch.
And to think, before all this, she had even tried to throw herself at his elder brother. The thought alone made his skin crawl.
Last night, how had he lost control again and again for such a loathsome woman?
It was shameful. Base.
“Marilyn, this time you were wrong.”
Her tear-streaked face only made his revulsion worse.
He steadied his breath before speaking again. “Return everything you stole from Lily and apologize to her.”
Marilyn staggered back, nearly collapsing.
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.