Broken Vows and Buried Twins novel Chapter 187

Hester murmured a polite thank-you, picked up her spoon, and took a small sip.

The taste was nearly identical to Lena's version.

"Well?" Seraphina leaned forward in breathless anticipation. "Is it good?"

"It's good," Hester replied, setting the spoon down. "You should eat too."

"Oh, thank goodness!"

Beaming with pride, Seraphina served bowls of soup for Julian and Caden before finally serving herself.

Settling into her chair, she lovingly stroked Caden's hair. "Caden, your godmother has been so incredibly generous to us. You have to promise me that when you grow up, you'll take good care of her, alright?"

Caden nodded enthusiastically through a mouthful of soup. "I promise, Mommy! When I get big, I'm going to make tons of money and be super powerful like Daddy. Then I'll take care of you and Godmother!"

Seraphina let out a tinkling laugh and looked over at Julian. "Look at him. He's such a sweet boy."

A genuine fondness warmed Julian's dark eyes as he watched his son.

For the rest of the meal, Seraphina effortlessly assumed the role of the house's matriarch. She urged Hester to eat more, casually instructed Julian to peel shrimp and plate food for Hester, and dutifully tended to Caden's every need.

She played the part of the perfect, magnanimous hostess from start to finish. Compared to the hysterical woman from just a week ago, she seemed entirely reborn.

Hester remained silent throughout the performance, only offering brief, noncommittal responses when Seraphina directly addressed her.

An outsider observing the table would undoubtedly assume Hester was an honored guest and Seraphina was the gracious lady of the house.

The bizarre, suffocating tension was only apparent to Hester and Lena.

Neither Julian nor Caden noticed a thing amiss.

Caden was just a child, so his ignorance was excusable.

But Julian?

Julian was clearly eating up every word and action of Seraphina's perfect little act.

Hester took it all in without an ounce of anger or frustration.

She had predicted this exact scenario; there was nothing to be upset about.

...

The front door swung open, and Caden came bursting into the house.

"Godmother!" he yelled, his face flushed with excitement as he sprinted toward her. "Mommy and Daddy took me to the mall! We picked out so many cute clothes for the baby!"

Seraphina trailed in right behind him, effortlessly hauling two massive shopping bags toward the living area.

"Hester, look at these! Let me know if you like them!"

Hester offered the bags a disinterested glance.

Seraphina flopped onto the sofa beside her, eagerly yanking out two tiny outfits—one blue, one pink.

"Since we don't know the gender yet, Julian and I decided to buy a mix of both. You guys will definitely have a second child eventually, so they'll get used sooner or later."

Hester remained completely silent, simply resting a protective hand over her stomach.

Oblivious, Seraphina continued fawning over the baby clothes, chatting a mile a minute. "Oh, by the way, Julian just dropped us off. He had to head straight to a business dinner, so he won't be joining us tonight. But don't worry, I made sure to remind him not to drink! After all, we have a pregnant woman in our house!"