Broken Vows and Buried Twins novel Chapter 18

Julian shot up from his chair, his narrow eyes blazing with fury as he glared at Hester. "Hester, there is a limit to this madness! This is a corporate office, not a place for you to throw a temper tantrum!"

"How much longer were you going to lie to me?!" Hester screamed, her voice shattering as she lunged across the desk and grabbed him by the lapels of his suit. "Those graves are empty! There's nothing in there! You lied to me! You lied to me for five agonizing years!"

Julian froze instantly. He stared at her, absolute shock written all over his face.

His reaction gave Hester the only confirmation she needed. Melody wasn't lying. Her babies... there wasn't even a single trace of their ashes left...

Back then, she had spent a fortune finding the most beautiful, peaceful cemetery plot. She had hired priests to pray for their souls. She thought that, at the very least, she had done the one final thing a mother could do to put her children to rest. But now she realized that Julian's betrayal went far deeper than another woman's bed!

"Why did you do it?" Hester demanded, her tear-drenched eyes blazing with pure, unadulterated hatred. "You never cared about how I felt, did you? For five years, you watched me weep over an empty patch of dirt. Did you think I was just some pathetic idiot?!"

Julian raised his hands and grabbed her violently shaking wrists. He looked at the woman who was on the absolute brink of a psychological breakdown, his expression heavy. "Everything was chaos back then. You hadn't even recovered physically. I didn't tell you because I was terrified the truth would kill you. I did it to protect you..."

"Protect me?" Hester violently ripped her hands out of his grip and stumbled backward. "You protected me, so the second my children were burned to nothing, you immediately made a new baby with Melody! You protected me, so while I was sobbing over a tombstone wishing I was dead, you and Melody were celebrating your new family..."

"What kind of insane logic is that? Caden is just a little boy. You shouldn't take your anger out on a child."

"I shouldn't take my anger out on the child..." Hester nodded slowly, laughing through her tears. She reached up and violently wiped the wetness from her face. "So my children just deserved to die?!"

Julian went completely silent.

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