A Wedding Night Gone Terribly Wrong novel Chapter 360

They were both women who had married into the exact same family. They shared the exact same mother-in-law. So why were they treated like they lived in two completely different worlds?

Fabiola stood on the sidelines, watching Shannon hold Winifred tightly, crying and comforting her as if she were her own flesh and blood. Her eyes burned with a sharp, stinging pain.

When had Shannon ever shown her an ounce of that kind of affection?

Even when she had gone through the agonizing labor of delivering her seven-pound son naturally, crying out in pain, Shannon had merely patted her tears with a tissue and politely combed her hair.

She had never, not once, experienced the kind of overwhelming adoration Winifred was currently receiving.

Buzz. Buzz.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket. Fabiola quickly handed her heavy son off to the nanny and pulled it out.

It was a message from Iris Morgan.

Her mouth trembled, and the tears she had been holding back finally swirled in her eyes. An absolute outsider was treating her better than her own supposed family. Her mother-in-law was completely blind to the fact that she was standing right there, feeling utterly humiliated and pushed to the margins while Winifred and her kids soaked up all the glory.

But Iris, a woman who wasn't even related to them, cared enough to reach out.

When she answered, Iris's voice floated through the speaker, soft, gentle, and full of perfect empathy.

"Hey, babe. How are you holding up? You've been on my mind all morning, I've just been so worried about you."

Fabiola choked back a thick sob. "Thank you. Iris, you are honestly so good to me."

Iris perfectly pivoted to the real issue at hand: the threat to Fabiola's son's inheritance.

"Listen... have you started making moves to protect your son's future yet?"

Fabiola cast a dark, bitter look across the room. Winifred and Shannon were still affectionately locked in their emotional embrace. The sight of it felt like acid on her skin.

She clenched her free hand into a fist. "I'm taking action."

Iris sounded deeply supportive. "You are such an incredible mother. You have every right to take back what belongs to your son from an outsider."

"Thank you."

"I'll be waiting to hear the good news."

"You will."

Seth marched right up to Winifred and tugged gently on the hem of her elegant dress. "Mom, I need to use the restroom."

Winifred, still caught up in her emotional conversation with Shannon, quickly pulled back.

Before Winifred could even respond, Fabiola swooped in with lightning speed and gently but firmly grabbed Seth's little arm. "Aunt Fabiola will take you, sweetie. Your mom and Grandma are having a nice talk."

Seth had two of Shannon's nannies hovering nearby. He was a very private, reserved child who did not like strangers handling him, which was exactly why he had sought out his mother.

But since Fabiola had intercepted him, he looked up at her.

She was his aunt. She was family.

His mother had explicitly taught him: *Everyone in the Lockwood family is our relative. Our family cares about us, loves us, and sincerely looks out for us, so we must always be polite and treat our family well.*

He gave a small, polite nod. "Sorry to trouble you, Aunt Fabiola."

Winifred's hand, which had been reaching out for her son, paused mid-air.

Seth looked back at her calmly. "You finish talking with Grandma. I'll just go with Aunt Fabiola."