A Wedding Night Gone Terribly Wrong novel Chapter 171

Madeleine lounged gracefully on the chaise. Her face was gaunt, the sharp angles of her features stark against the opulent silk of her dress, radiating an unmistakable coldness.

"Are you out of your mind? Why on earth would you invite Winifred to the engagement party?" she snapped, her long, bony fingers drumming nervously against the armrest.

Ever since Iris Morgan had called to tell her Winifred was still alive and hiding out in Kingsbridge, Madeleine hadn't slept a wink. One sleepless night bled into another, leaving her consumed by a suffocating, clawing anxiety.

Iris simply laughed, entirely unbothered. "What are you so afraid of, Madeleine?"

Madeleine's expression hardened, her skin pulling tight over her cheekbones, giving her a severe, almost menacing look. "I'm afraid she's going to ruin us! I'm afraid Holden will uncover the truth, and we'll both be finished. I'm afraid that the happiness I risked my life to secure for you will be ripped away!"

She took a shaky breath. "What if this is all Holden's trap? What if he lured her here to reopen the past, to find the flaws in our story, to dig up the evidence of what we did to her? If he decides to avenge her, he will destroy us!"

She hadn't forgotten the lengths she had gone to three years ago—destroying the security footage, buying the staff's silence, ensuring there were no loose ends. No body, no evidence. It had brought her total peace of mind.

But now, the dead had returned. A living, breathing person with a mind, with capabilities, and with a blood debt to collect. There was no telling what would happen next.

Iris's bright, melodic laughter echoed through the enclosed space. "You've been cooped up in this house for way too long. You're getting paranoid."

"How dare you!" Madeleine hissed, her chest heaving.

Iris's face went ice-cold. "You have no right to take that tone with me. You owe me. In this life and the next, you will never be able to repay what you owe me!"

The words struck Madeleine like a physical blow. Her face paled to a sickly, ashen hue, and tears pricked the corners of her eyes. Forcing herself to swallow her pride, she softened her tone, adopting a gentle, placating demeanor.

A faint, relieved smile touched Madeleine's lips, softening her harsh features. "And you said Holden treats Jordyn like a daughter?"

"Mhm. He told me my family is his family. He loves me, so he loves her."

Madeleine felt a profound sense of comfort. Holden was notoriously fastidious and had always despised children. When he was younger, Madeleine's constant complaining about her own miserable marriage had convinced him that having kids was nothing but a burden. For him to change his mind and dote on little Jordyn meant only one thing: he was madly in love with Iris.

Basking in the relief, a sudden thought struck Madeleine. She stood up and reached for Iris's hand. "Come with me. We need to go check the Ancestral Wing."

The Ancestral Wing was where Winifred had been kept three years ago. And it was where Holden had built a shrine to mourn her.