Broken Vows and Buried Twins novel Chapter 123

Melody Monroe sat in a high-tech smart wheelchair, wearing a simple white dress. Her long hair had been chopped short, barely brushing the tops of her ears.

A thick gauze pad was taped over her left cheek.

Beneath that bandage was an eight-centimeter-long laceration. Even though the plastic surgeons had done their absolute best when she was brought in, the cut had been too deep. Furthermore, sitting in a filthy environment for an extended period had caused a nasty infection. A permanent scar was inevitable.

Lena was stunned to see her. "Ms. Monroe, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see Caden," Melody said, looking at Lena. Even though she looked entirely battered compared to her former polished self, she still carried herself with the entitlement of Caden's mother.

"I bought Caden some new toys."

As Melody spoke, the caregiver standing behind her stepped forward. "Hello, these are the gifts Ms. Monroe purchased for Caden."

Lena wasn't entirely privy to the exact nature of the agreement between Julian and Melody. All she knew was that Caden genuinely called Melody "Mommy," and Neil had mentioned that Julian had been hospitalized solely for Melody's sake.

In Lena's mind, Melody clearly held a special, irreplaceable position in Julian's life.

She absolutely couldn't afford to offend her!

"Mr. Weston is away on a business trip," Lena said, stepping aside to make room. "Please come in, Ms. Monroe. Caden is in the living room."

"I know. Julian told me. I was worried sick about Caden precisely because I knew Julian wasn't here."

Melody maneuvered her smart wheelchair into the house.

Lena took the shopping bags from the caregiver and led the way to the living room. "Caden, look who's here to see you!"

Caden had been engrossed in a picture book. He looked up, and upon seeing Melody, he froze.

Melody wheeled herself right up to him. "Caden, are you so happy to see Mommy that you're speechless?"

"Mommy..." Caden's lower lip quivered, and tears immediately spilled down his cheeks. "Mommy, I thought you didn't want me anymore!"

Melody wrapped her arms around Caden, whispering gentle, soothing words into his hair.

Watching from the sidelines, Lena let out a heavy sigh.

Mr. Weston's family dynamics were an absolute mess. It was truly the child who suffered the most in these tangled relationships!

...

Melody lowered the book. As she stared at the sleeping boy, the meticulously crafted mask of a loving mother melted off her face.

Looking at Caden, her eyes were void of anything but cold, calculating ambition.

Caden's utter dependence on her was her final, desperate bargaining chip!

She had to make Caden emotionally inseparable from her; only then could she force Julian to abandon his plans to send her away.

Yesterday, upon being discharged and returning to Silverstream Villa, she had discovered that her personal nanny had been fired. Worse, the systemic abuse Caden had suffered at the hands of that nanny had been completely exposed, and Julian had already thrown the woman in jail.

Julian had also officially moved Caden back to Stellamare Villa.

But that wasn't the worst of it. First thing this morning, Neil had arrived with a ten-million-dollar severance check, a contract termination agreement, and a one-way plane ticket.

Neil informed her that Julian no longer needed her as a human shield, nor did he need her to maintain the charade of being 'Caden's mother' at Silverstream Villa.

In truth, this had been crystal clear in the contract from day one.

She was bait. Her sole purpose was to help Julian smoke out the criminal mastermind behind the kidnapping five years ago. Once the job was done, she would take her payout, leave the country, and permanently cut ties with her bloodsucking, abusive family.