Broken Vows and Buried Twins novel Chapter 127

Julian stared at Hester.

Listening to her relentless, bitter accusations, the harsh lines of his face softened slightly.

"With the plan, I fully admit I neglected your feelings, and for that, I am sorry. But my hand was forced. That mastermind was a ticking time bomb, and I couldn't afford to worry about collateral damage."

He looked deeply into her eyes, his voice low but completely stripped of its usual commanding ice. "Hester, for the sake of the baby, stop throwing this tantrum."

Tantrum?

After laying her soul bare, he still didn't understand a single word she'd said.

He never knew what truly mattered to her. No—he had never bothered to care.

The last embers of emotion in Hester's chest turned to ash.

A suffocating wave of pure exhaustion washed over her.

She realized talking to Julian was like screaming into a void. Rather than wasting another second here, she might as well just go home.

As she reached into her bag for her phone, Julian immediately clocked her intention.

"Gael Montgomery isn't going to answer your calls right now."

Hester's thumb froze over her contacts list. She snapped her head up, her brow knitting together. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You should know that Gael and her friends are involved in some shady, off-the-books dealings overseas. Even though they're citizens there, it wouldn't take much for me to make a single phone call and have them deported and locked up in their home country."

Every drop of color drained from Hester's face. Her grip on her phone turned white-knuckled. "Are you threatening me?"

"I'm simply reminding you of the lengths I'll go to if you insist on tearing this marriage apart." Julian's expression didn't so much as twitch. He delivered the horrifying ultimatum as casually as discussing the weather.

And the worst part was, Hester knew he wasn't bluffing!

It was only in this exact moment that she truly grasped the sheer, terrifying ruthlessness of Julian Weston.

If he could push his own wife to the brink without batting an eye, destroying Gael and her friends would be nothing to him.

Julian easily caught her wrist mid-air. He opened his mouth to speak, but his phone suddenly rang.

It was Lena.

Keeping a firm grip on Hester's wrist, Julian yanked her flush against his chest, locking her in an inescapable embrace.

Hester thrashed violently, furious and humiliated, but Julian's strength was overwhelming. She couldn't break free!

"Mr. Weston, it's a disaster! Something terrible has happened to Caden!"

Hester instantly stopped struggling.

Pressed so tightly against him, she could hear Lena's panicked voice perfectly through the receiver.

Julian didn't loosen his grip on Hester, but the temperature in his eyes plummeted to absolute zero. "What happened?"

"I—I don't even know exactly how it happened! I was in the kitchen prepping food, and suddenly I heard him scream. By the time I ran out, Caden was lying at the bottom of the stairs. His head was cracked open... there was so much blood! He's in the emergency room right now, but the doctors say the head wound is critical..."