Betrayed and Dumped She Rose Stronger Than Ever novel Chapter 539

Charlie was the first to snap out of it, and he looked the most anxious, too. His eyes went wide. “Jon, what are you doing? You and Cindy… Are you two…?”

Jon looked totally calm, his hand tightening around Cindy’s. “Just like you saw.”

Richie stopped breathing for a second. So his gut feeling earlier had been right. Suddenly, it all made sense. Cindy used to always sit with Macie when she came over, but tonight, she was next to Jon. They really were together.

Charlie’s face darkened. He gritted his teeth. “When did this start? Why didn’t you ever mention it?”

This stupid kid was going to be the end of him. He got together with Cindy and didn not even say a word. Didn’t he realize Cindy was supposed to be his future sister-in-law? And he and Richie had just gone over to the Duncan family’s house to talk about a proposal, only to come home and find out his younger son was already with the girl. If George asked about it later, he’d never live it down.

“We’re not just dating,” Jon said, intertwining his fingers with Cindy’s.

Macie, still kind of in shock, managed to ask, “Then you’re… what?”

Jon didn’t hesitate. “We’re married. Legally. As husband and wife.”

The living room went dead silent. You could hear a pin drop. Everyone just stared, frozen, except for Jon and Cindy.

Charlie’s mind went blank. What had he just said?

Jon spoke up, his voice steady. “Dad, Mom, Richie, I’m going to take Cindy for a walk in the garden. You guys can talk things out here.”

With that, Jon led Cindy outside.

The garden was lit up like daylight, lamp posts everywhere. Flowerbeds stretched out as far as Cindy could see. She’d been in such a rush when she arrived. Jon had grabbed her hand and pulled her straight into the living room, so she hadn’t even noticed how beautiful the garden was.

After taking it all in, Cindy glanced back toward the house, worry in her eyes. “Wasn’t that a bit much? Maybe you were too direct tonight?”

As far back as she could remember, Jon had always been the good kid. He listened to his parents, his teachers, never caused trouble. In most families, the younger brother looked up to the older one, but in the Garfield family, it was the other way around. Jon always stepped aside for Richie. Jon would never fight for anything Richie wanted.

Her own brother, Stephen, had been a bit of a troublemaker, clever and rebellious even as a kid. But Jon had never even had a rebellious phase. Cindy used to think it was just because Jon was naturally easygoing.

But she remembered something Chelsey once said that changed her mind. That wasn’t it at all.

Jon always gave in to Richie because he understood the situation—he and his mom didn’t have the strongest standing in the family. If he ever pushed back or even looked like he was competing with Richie, his dad would take it out on his mom. For her sake, he’d had to grow up fast.

“What’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you when I get there.”

After hanging up, Jon called Cindy right away. His throat felt tight. “Cindy, I know I should go to your place and meet your parents first, but this can’t wait. Can you come with me to my family’s house tonight? I want to tell my mom about us.”

Cindy didn’t even hesitate. She canceled dinner plans with Rebecca, went home to dig through Chelsey’s and Stephen’s stash for some gifts to bring, and headed over.

They’d barely sat down with Macie in the living room before his dad and Richie walked through the door. Jon let out a quiet sigh of relief. Perfect. Everyone was here. This way, he could say everything directly and there’d be no more mixed messages. Maybe he could even stop his dad from embarrassing himself at the Duncan family’s house again.

But just as he was about to say it, his father told Richie to take Cindy for a walk in the garden. Jon knew exactly what his dad was trying to do.

He clenched his fists, then decided enough was enough. He was going to say it, right here, in front of everyone. He’d let Richie have so much over the years, but not this. He couldn’t, and he wouldn’t. Cindy was his one non-negotiable.

Jon reached out, gently brushing Cindy’s cheek. “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine. Let me show you the front garden. There’s this huge patch of prize-winning roses. My mom collected them from all over the country.”

Back inside the living room, after that initial shock, the three left behind were each lost in their own thoughts.