She Quit Her Family and Found Herself novel Chapter 271

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Wade Jewell dismissed the staff and rushed out with Valery, only to see the fading taillights of a car speeding away.

"Where is Hulda?" Wade scanned the area, desperately searching for her.

"She's gone," Herbert replied. He stood with his arms at his sides, his face already returning to its usual apathetic baseline, betraying no emotion.

"Why didn't you stop her?!" Wade's face twisted in panic.

……

Inside the car, Hayden Owen gripped the steering wheel, guilt etched across his face. "Hulda, I am so sorry. I had no idea you had bad blood with the Jewell family. Wade used his network to track me down and begged me to introduce you. We hit it off well enough, so I agreed as a favor. You have my word—it won't happen again. I'm completely done with him."

If forced to choose between Wade and Hulda, Hayden wouldn't hesitate for a second. Whether out of personal loyalty or his ties to Caspian Sterling, Hulda was the obvious choice.

"It's really okay, Hayden. You were just making friends; you didn't have to factor me in," Hulda said, not wanting him to feel bad. "Besides, I wouldn't call it 'bad blood.' Herbert and I just went through a divorce, so I'd rather not deal with that family right now."

"Divorce?" Joanna's eyes went wide, staring at Hulda in utter disbelief. "Are you telling me Valery's son is your ex-husband? And you two just split?"

"Yeah." Hulda nodded. "It's recent. We also share a six-year-old son."

"What?!" Joanna looked like her entire worldview had just been turned upside down. "So you were married to that Jewell guy for seven years, and you share a six-year-old. Yet right after the ink dries on the divorce papers, he's already parading around a new wife? That's just straight-up cheating!"

"Pretty much," Hulda said, raising an eyebrow. During their marriage, Herbert might not have physically strayed, but he had definitely crossed the line emotionally with Sylvie Sinclair.