I Chose Me Over My Marriage novel Chapter 197

Miles was still immersed in the past Catherine had just revealed, his expression remaining dark and heavy.

He looked up at Elias without responding.

Seeing this, Elias continued, "You are, after all, a child of the Gardner family. It's only right that you take the Gardner name."

Hearing this, Miles stared at Elias for a long moment before letting out a cold laugh.

"I spent years with the Lennox family and never changed my last name."

Elias frowned. "The Lennox family was just your foster home. The Gardner family is your true home. You have Gardner blood flowing through your veins; you should take the Gardner name."

"But I also have my mother's blood flowing through my veins."

As his words fell, Miles stood up, staring coldly down at Elias.

"I will not change it. Otherwise, I can just leave."

His words held no overt threat, yet they dripped with sheer warning.

Ezekiel's face instantly shifted. "Are you threatening us?"

"I wouldn't dare," Miles replied without hesitation. "The Gardner family is notoriously decisive. Since you're not above using kidnapping and confinement to get your way, what wouldn't you do?"

After he said this, Elias's expression shifted slightly.

Ezekiel didn't seem to know what had happened back then. Or perhaps, to him, as long as the job got done, the methods didn't matter.

But Miles wouldn't operate like that.

He would never cross his bottom line.

He didn't even care about the Gardner family's power; he had built his own empire and capital.

The Gardner family never mattered to him.

Bloodlines couldn't compare to genuine gratitude.

"I support you, Miles. Don't worry, no one can force you to do something you despise."

Miles nodded lightly, murmuring in agreement.

"Catherine, you—!"

Elias's expression was now beyond ugly, his eyes burning with fury.

"What, am I wrong?" Catherine was completely unafraid. "If it hadn't been for your greed for power, Miles wouldn't have been left wandering outside. And you wouldn't have suffered divine retribution, losing your fertility and prematurely graying. This is all karma."

After saying this, she turned to Ezekiel.

"I know what you want to say, but I've kept these words bottled up for far too long. I have to say them today. When you mercilessly tore them apart back then, did it ever cross your mind that the Gardner family would end up without a single decent heir today?"

"Catherine!"

Ezekiel's voice suddenly spiked, his eyes glaring in absolute rage.