Broken Vows and Buried Twins novel Chapter 130

"Oh, so now you know to ask for my opinion." Hester looked at him, her voice dripping with venom. "Makes sense, I suppose. After all, it's your precious son she nearly killed this time."

Julian frowned deeply. "Hester, can we just have a normal conversation?"

"You're the one who completely blurred the lines," Hester shot back. "When I wanted to deal with Melody, you stood in my way. So why bother asking me now?"

"That was a critical phase of the operation. I still needed her as a decoy."

"Excuses don't matter anymore. And I'm sure you've figured it out by now—Melody kept plenty of dark secrets from you."

Hester turned to face him fully. "I've already clawed back my company shares. As for Melody herself, I'm chalking her up as a brutal lesson in blind charity. To me, she is nothing but trash now, and normal people don't lose sleep over where their trash ends up."

"Fine. I understand." Julian studied her face, pausing for a long moment. "Since everything is finally out in the open, let's just go home."

"Julian, do you really have to force this?" Hester looked dead into his eyes. "I genuinely don't believe we can live together anymore. Yes, the affair was a staged lie, but your methods are completely unforgivable to me. The way you orchestrated this entire nightmare will always be a thorn in my side. It won't kill me, but it will always hurt."

"I admit I failed to consider your feelings during this operation. I swear to you, it will never happen again."

"It wasn't a failure to consider my feelings. It was you weaponizing my love for you. You were so arrogant you believed that no matter what horrors you put me through, I would never walk away. You exploited my love, Julian."

Julian's fists clenched tightly at his sides, his pitch-black eyes reflecting Hester's eerily calm face.

She offered a hollow smile, completely devoid of warmth. "In fact, looking back on it now, I finally realize the sickest part: you anticipated every single move. Me tearing Melody apart to regain control of my company? That was just another calculated variable in your grand design."

Julian's frown deepened. He opened his mouth to argue, but his phone abruptly broke the tension.

It was Neil.

Caden was awake.

...

His dull eyes instantly lit up. A weak, sweet smile spread across his pale lips as he softly called out, "Mommy."

Hester froze instantly.

Julian stiffened. He whipped his head around to look at Hester, then snapped his gaze back to the boy on the bed. "Caden, what did you just call her?"

"Mommy!" Caden stared at Julian with his big, dark eyes, completely perplexed. "What's wrong, Daddy?"

"Caden, you've never called her that before. You always called her Pretty Lady."

"Huh?" Caden's face scrunched up in utter confusion. "Even though Mommy is a really pretty lady, why would I ever call her that?"

Hearing those words, Julian, Hester, and Lena all exchanged a horrified realization.

Something was terribly wrong with Caden's memory!