Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 579

The moment the words left his mouth, Arthur's back was drenched in a cold sweat.

He opened his mouth, struggling for half a minute before forcing out a stuttering reply. "The invitation... it was... sent to the company. I thought it was... from the Fairchilds..."

His voice grew quieter and weaker with every word until it was nothing more than a breathless whisper.

Diana stood beside him, trembling uncontrollably, entirely unable to speak.

Dominic wished he could curl into a ball and hide behind his parents. He didn't even dare to breathe.

Hudson swept a cold gaze over them. The look wasn't particularly fierce—it was actually quite flat—but that sheer indifference was far more terrifying than any bout of rage.

Arthur felt the cold sweat trailing down his spine.

He had lived for decades and weathered plenty of storms.

Hudson was at least twenty years younger than him. Arthur was old enough to be his father.

Yet standing in front of Hudson, he felt incredibly small.

Just then, Finnian noticed the commotion and hurried over. "What's going on?"

Hudson glanced at him lazily. "You're just in time. Do me a favor and find out who sent the Sterlings their invitation."

Finnian looked baffled. "Why are we looking into that?"

Hudson's lips twitched. In his eyes, the Sterlings had absolutely no right to attend what was essentially a private celebration. Since they were here, they were almost certainly targeting Nora.

Anyone who messed with his wife was messing with him.

And he wasn't going to play nice.

"What? Is it that hard to look up?" Hudson asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's not hard. Every invitation has a tracking number..."

Before Finnian could finish, Hudson let out a short laugh and cut him off. "Then I'll leave it to you."

Finnian was speechless.

Across the room, Liana was eavesdropping on the conversation.

Seeing that Hudson was actually pursuing the matter of the invitation, her nerves pulled taut.

She was doomed.

She hadn't expected Hudson to be this petty, nor had she anticipated him demanding an investigation right in front of everyone.

She just wanted Nora to be embarrassed at the gala. She wanted everyone to know about Nora's messy history with the Sterlings. She never intended for it to escalate like this.

Watching Finnian turn to check the invitation numbers, Liana panicked.

If they traced the Sterlings' invitation back to her, Hudson would destroy her.

"No need. Let her rest. You can step out."

Finnian instinctively glanced at Liana. Seeing her eyelashes flutter slightly, he withdrew his gaze. "Alright. Call me if you need anything. I'll be right outside."

The Matriarch nodded.

When the door clicked shut behind Finnian, she cast a cold glance at Liana, who was still lying on the sofa. "Enough acting. Get up."

Liana's eyelids twitched, but she kept them firmly shut.

"Keep pretending, and I'll have the doctor start sticking needles in you."

Knowing the gig was up, Liana let out a soft groan and slowly opened her eyes. "Grandmother..."

Before she could say another word, the Matriarch's voice cut through the air. "Do you know what you did wrong?"

Liana had been adopted by the Fairchilds at age five, and she had never heard the Matriarch use such a harsh tone. She trembled. "I... I shouldn't have faked fainting..."

"Wrong!"

The Matriarch stared at her coldly. "Your first mistake was your sloppy execution. You set a trap and handed your enemies the evidence. Your second mistake was panicking when things went wrong, resorting to fainting to avoid the fallout. All these years of my teaching have clearly been wasted on you!"

Liana was truly terrified now. "Grandmother..."

The Matriarch ignored her pleas. "Your third mistake. You knew tonight was about announcing the Fairchild and Vaughn alliance, yet you resorted to cheap tricks over some petty grudge. You are meant to be the future lady of the Vaughn family. If you can't even stomach someone else's presence, how are you going to manage the relationship between two powerful families? Do you think marriage alliances are a game?"