Burned Once, Never Again (Niamh and Castiel) novel Chapter 30

Chapter 30 

Renee sat on the large couch while Niamh sat on a smaller one nearby. 

The contrast between them was stark. Renee exuded the air of a queen, expecting to lord over Niamh as she had in the past. When she saw Niamh sitting and holding Ginger with an unfazed look, she felt even more enraged. 

“Tilda, pour me some water,” Renee ordered. 

“Sure, Madam Jamison, Tilda replied, momentarily startled. 

In the past, it had always been Niamh who handled such tasks. If anyone had ever tried to help her, Renee would have flown into a rage. Over time, everyone assumed it was Niamh’s responsibility, and no one offered to help anymore. 

Things were different now. 

Niamh sat on the couch like a young lady of an affluent family, holding her pet piglet and stroking it leisurely. 

Renee was displeased that Niamh was practically treating her like she was air. She immediately called Castiel and ordered, “You need to come back right now.” 

“Are you at Maplewood?” 

“Yes!” Renee said through gritted teeth. If he didn’t come back soon, she’d be driven mad with anger. 

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line before Castiel said, “I’ll send a driver to take you back to Jamison Manor.” 

“Castiel-“Before she could say more, the call ended abruptly. Renee’s expression soured considerably. 

All she wanted now was for Castiel to divorce Niamh as soon as possible. She couldn’t tolerate having Niamh as her daughter–in–law for another second. 

Meanwhile, Niamh was the exact opposite of how Renee was behaving. She acted like an outsider who had nothing to do with the family and was completely detached from the chaos around her. The buzzing of Niamh’s phone broke the silence. Not caring that Renee was right beside her, she answered the call, “Hello.” 

“Niamh.” Simon’s concerned voice came through the speaker. The volume was loud enough for Renee to hear. 

Renee was already furious to begin with. Her face flushed even redder upon hearing a man speak to Niamh with such familiarity. She was too enraged to even catch what was being said on the other end of the line. 

The only thing she caught was Niamh’s gentle response to the person on the phone. “Yes, I’m fine. Don’t worry. I’ll let you know if I’m coming back once I settle things here.” 

Renee fumed when she heard that Niamh intended to go back to that man. Upon recalling the 

2/7 

Chapter 30: 

news reports and online gossip, she felt her vision going dark at times. 

As Renee was about to start hurling insults at Niamh, she hung up. Just as she had expected, Renee could no longer hold back from rebuking her. “How can you be so shameless?” 

Niamh didn’t respond to her. 

“Even if you’re cheating, at least find someone who’s better than Castiel! That man is old enough to be your father! Don’t you have any shame?” 

Faced with Renee’s insults, Niamh responded flippantly, “I did it on purpose.” 

“What did you say?” Renee stammered in disbelief. 

“I said I did it on purpose. This is the best way to disgrace the Jamison family, isn’t it?” 

Renee started heaving with fury. Niamh’s words left her breathless. She admitted to doing those shameless acts on purpose to humiliate the Jamison family. 

“You… You…” Renee failed to form a coherent sentence as she cursed in her mind.