Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed novel Chapter 856

As the whispers rippled through the crowd, Kathleen Rodriguez’s face twitched, a vein throbbing in her forehead.

How could this be happening? Did Rodriguez patriarch and matriarch know?

No… they couldn’t… they absolutely couldn’t…

But the probing, judgmental stares of the guests were like a hundred sharp knives, slicing at her without mercy. For over twenty years, she had been the pampered ‘Mrs. Sullivan’ of the illustrious Sullivan family, with a distinguished husband and an outstanding son.

Everywhere she went, she was the center of attention.

When had she ever been subjected to such open gossip and scrutiny?

Kathleen took a deep breath, forcing herself to remain composed. She put on a smile and moved to greet Neely Rodriguez as he stepped down from the stage.

“Father, happy birthday! It’s your eightieth, and with my sister returning to the family, it’s a double celebration for us!”

Neely merely lifted his eyelids, his gaze cold and distant.

He deliberately avoided her outstretched hand.

“Was I not clear enough just now?”

Kathleen’s face went pale.

Neely left her no room to maneuver. “I’ll say it again. The Rodriguez family has only one daughter, and her name is Madge. So, don’t call me father.”

“What… what are you saying? I… I know something must have upset you. I’ll fix it… please don’t be like this…” She tried to frame his public disavowal as a simple father-daughter squabble.

Even now, she was trying to paper over the cracks. And it almost worked. The guests began to murmur amongst themselves, thinking it was just a family dispute.

No one truly severs ties like that, right? It was just an argument, something that would blow over soon enough.

“And here I thought we were getting some real drama…” “Turns out it’s just a family tiff.” “Well, that’s that.”

Just as everyone was about to dismiss the incident and find their seats, the old matriarch, Geneva, let out a cold laugh.

“I’ve met shameless people in my life, but you take the cake.”

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