Broken Vows and Buried Twins novel Chapter 186

Hester had barely settled onto the velvet sofa in the master bedroom when the door burst open.

She paused, her hand hovering over a book, and looked up.

Julian stormed into the room, his dark eyes locked intensely on her face.

Her expression remained completely unbothered. "Is there a problem?"

"Why did you agree to let Seraphina stay?"

"You were standing right there. Caden asked for her to stay."

That answer didn't satisfy Julian in the slightest.

In fact, he flat-out refused to believe it.

Her behavior was wildly out of character.

And that very abnormality was sparking a deep, gnawing anxiety inside him.

"Hester, I already told you, this is our marital home. Even if Caden begs for it, I would never allow her to move in here. You don't have to force yourself to play this accommodating role."

Hester's lips curved into a cold, mocking smile.

She stared him down, her voice dripping with irony. "When I kick her out, you're furious. Now I invite her to stay, and you're still furious. Don't you think you're being incredibly contradictory, Julian?"

Julian's frown deepened, entirely stripped of a comeback.

Hester leaned back against the plush cushions, fixing him with a lazy, challenging stare. "If you don't want your precious Seraphina spending the night, feel free to go down there and tell her to leave yourself."

Julian ultimately failed to extract a genuine answer out of her.

He stood there in tense silence for a long moment before finally turning and walking out without another word.

The second the door clicked shut, Hester's mocking smile vanished instantly.

She knew full well that Julian would never throw Seraphina out.

The only reason he had charged up here to interrogate her was his suspicion that she had an ulterior motive for letting the woman stay.

In reality, he was just terrified that Hester was plotting to make Seraphina miserable.

But Julian's protective paranoia didn't matter.

Everything was playing out exactly as she had anticipated.

"Great," she murmured dismissively. "Let's eat."

Seraphina instantly shot a playful look at Julian. "See? I told you she wasn't mad, but you wouldn't believe me!"

Julian shifted uncomfortably, avoiding Hester's eyes as he cleared his throat. "I know she isn't mad, Seraphina."

"I've been telling you how wonderful she is! You're just too cold and terrible with your words! Look at Caden—he knows how to sweet-talk her, and she adores him for it!" Seraphina turned to her son with a radiant smile. "Isn't that right, sweetie?"

Caden clambered into the seat beside her, nodding vigorously. "Uh-huh! Godmother is super gentle and nice. I'm good at talking to her, so she loves me the most! Daddy, you always say she has a bad temper, but maybe you're just bad at making her happy?"

Julian was rendered entirely speechless.

The seamless double-teaming from the mother and son left even the notoriously stoic, intimidating Julian Weston squirming in awkward silence.

Meanwhile, Hester, the very subject of their banter, remained completely indifferent as she pulled out a chair and sat down.

She didn't take the seat next to Julian. She positioned herself at the center of the long table, creating a distinct physical distance between herself and everyone else.

Julian watched her isolate herself, a frown touching his lips.

Seraphina scooped a generous ladle of clam chowder into a bowl and set it in front of Hester. "Lena mentioned you loved this soup. It's my first time trying the recipe, so tell me what you think. If you like it, I'll make it for you all the time."