A Wedding Night Gone Terribly Wrong novel Chapter 274

If they put that new house up for collateral, combined with her parents' older property, the total sum would be more than enough.

"Make sure you go apologize and sweet-talk Shelly later," Eleanor said, her eyes gleaming with sharp calculation.

"I will," Quentin agreed, his ego finally taking a back seat to his ambition.

Eleanor let out a heavy sigh. "Have you heard anything from Winifred?"

It had been over a month since she walked out, and there was no sign of her returning. Eleanor couldn't help but ask.

The house was falling apart. The daily expenses were bleeding them dry, and Quentin was constantly being asked for money. He was working himself to death trying to support everyone.

And the chores were piling up. No one was cooking breakfast anymore; they were spending thirty dollars a morning just buying pastries and sandwiches for six people.

Then there were Larissa and Demi. They were an absolute nightmare.

The school's group chat was a constant stream of complaints.

The day before yesterday, Demi failed her vocabulary quiz. Larissa was caught staying up late reading romance novels and was caught writing fanfiction during class, which the teacher intercepted as the students passed it around.

Yesterday, Larissa scored a 72 on her math midterm, ranking third from the bottom. Demi 'forgot' her art supplies and sat uselessly through her entire art class...

It was humiliating.

Even though the teachers were polite and only referred to the students by their ID numbers, the other kids weren't stupid. They definitely went home and told their parents that 'Student #13' was Larissa Jordan, the infamous author of the steamy 'billionaire romance' fanfiction circulating the classroom.

Ugh...

Eleanor rubbed her tired face. "You should call Winifred. If she's willing to be sensible and come back, we won't hold this against her."

"A woman who truly loves you doesn't care about your mistakes," Eleanor reasoned. "She loves you for you. She's been with you for over three years. You were cold to her, you took out your anger on her, and yet she stayed deeply devoted. Why? Because she loves you. She wants to be with you. It doesn't matter how you treat her; as long as she needs you, that's enough."

Winifred stayed because she *needed* him.

Quentin felt a surge of inspiration. His mother was right. Winifred needed his protection. She needed his love to shelter her and her children.

She loved him. She didn't actually want to leave.

So... if Winifred was willing to overlook Shelly staying in the house temporarily, he could bring Winifred and the kids back.

With Winifred home, the chaos would instantly settle. The family would go back to their stable, happy lives.

And, of course, he wouldn't let Winifred suffer forever. They just had to endure Shelly for a few more months until the baby was born. Once that happened, he would kick Shelly out, cut all ties, and never look back.