A Wedding Night Gone Terribly Wrong novel Chapter 318

After surviving that chaotic, makeshift "family induction," Winifred and Leland retreated to his bedroom.

Once the door clicked shut, Winifred stood in front of him, getting up on her tiptoes to look him dead in the eye. "Did you even think to discuss that absolutely insane lie with me?"

"You're very intimidating when you're angry," Leland teased, tapping her lightly on the nose.

"Stop joking around. I'm being serious," she swatted his hand away.

Leland's face was still flushed from the fever. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at her, his expression turning sincere.

"Think about it," he reasoned gently. "Iris knows the kids' true parentage. Knowing how malicious she is, if I didn't completely squash her leverage today, she would have absolutely dragged this straight to Holden."

That would have been a disaster.

Winifred lowered her eyes, knowing he was right.

"You were incredibly smart to adjust their official birthdates by three months," Leland continued. "If Iris had run to Holden, he would have investigated immediately. And he would have realized the birthdate didn't align with your divorce. But there would still be that lingering doubt... he would want to see the father for himself. By stepping in and claiming them, I shut the door on him completely. He'll back off."

His logic was flawless.

Winifred didn't argue further. She shifted her focus to treating him.

He lay back on the bed, his fever-flushed face watching her every move.

She prepped a cold compress and mixed a potent holistic remedy that Fletcher immediately took to the kitchen to prepare. Between the herbal treatment and the compress, his fever broke, dropping to a manageable 99 degrees in under an hour.

Leland sat up immediately, slipping his suit jacket back on despite his face still being warm.

"What are you doing?" Winifred asked, wringing out a fresh damp towel to wipe his parched lips.

Leland tilted his chin up to adjust his tie. "I'm going back to see my son and daughter. I miss them too much."

Winifred tightened her grip on the towel. "You need to rest."

"I'll be fine. Your medicine worked wonders. I've got plenty of energy."

"Leland..."

"Winifred, I know what you're thinking," he said, turning fully to face her. The look in his eyes was overwhelmingly tender.

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