A Wedding Night Gone Terribly Wrong novel Chapter 162

"I'm taking this set," Holden announced, holding Jordyn in his arms. He was simultaneously spoiling the little terror and deliberately picking a fight with Winifred.

Winifred stepped back, wordlessly yielding the item to him. Though the dishes were beautiful and she had seen them first, the moment Holden declared he was buying them for Iris, it felt as though she had swallowed a fly. The sheer disgust was enough to make her stomach churn. She didn't want the bowl anyway.

As she turned to leave, Holden called out after her. "My sweet Jordyn tells me you were bullying her earlier. I rushed all the way down here just to deal with it, and we haven't resolved a thing. Did you really think you could just walk away?"

Winifred glanced back. "What exactly do you want?"

Holden smirked. "Oh, nothing major. I just think it's incredibly immature for a grown woman to pick on a little girl. You're going to apologize to Jordyn. Coax her a little. Soothe the emotional trauma you inflicted on her fragile heart."

Winifred stared at him, wondering if he had any grasp on reality. It was completely absurd. He was acting as if he'd been possessed, entirely incapable of distinguishing right from wrong. His entire demeanor was bizarre and unsettling.

"You're out of your mind," Winifred said coldly. "I don't waste my breath on lunatics."

She grabbed her cart and briskly walked away.

Jordyn immediately started shrieking. "Daddy! Daddy! Don't let her go!"

"Okay, okay," Holden murmured.

"She was so rude to me! You have to make her apologize!" Jordyn demanded.

Winifred could hear Holden's heavy footsteps closing the distance. He wasn't going to let this go. At the same time, Jordyn was rattling off insults like a wind-up toy.

"Aunt Iris says she's a tramp who loves seducing men! She seduced you, she killed your mommy, and she hit Aunt Iris in the head! The police were going to arrest her, but she ran away like a coward and hid in Kingsbridge! And now she's seducing Declan!"

"She told Declan to be mean to Aunt Iris and to you! She got me yelled at by Mrs. Sutton, she made you look stupid, and she made Aunt Iris cry! Daddy, she's so evil! You can't let her get away!"

"Mhm," Holden agreed, his pace quickening.

The footsteps grew louder until Holden overtook Winifred, blocking her path with his tall frame.

"Then what are you going to do to her?" Jordyn pointed a stubby finger right at Winifred's nose.

Holden gave a hollow, calculated smile. "Apologize, Winifred. A smart woman knows when she's beaten. Say you're sorry to Jordyn and make it up to her. It's the easiest way out of this for you."

Jordyn crossed her arms and pouted. "If you give a really good apology, I might consider forgiving you." She paused, her eyes darting as she thought of something else. "Oh! And you have to apologize to Aunt Iris too! You hurt her, and Daddy was so sad. He had to spend forever comforting her when we got home!"

Winifred let out a long, weary sigh. Her heart was as dead as ashes as she stared at her ex-husband.

"I don't know if you're actually crazy or just pretending, but let me tell you one thing, Holden. Iris's toxic, twisted personality has completely infected you. You think you're standing up for her, showing off how much you dote on her? You're not. In my eyes, you're pathetic, ugly, and entirely fake. You're nothing but a dead cockroach in a sewer!"

With a fierce shove, she pushed past him, ramming her cart through the gap and marching away.

Behind her, Jordyn gasped in outrage. "Daddy, she called you a name! She called you a dead cockroach, and she said Aunt Iris is toxic!"

Holden didn't say a word.