She Was Never Just a Pretty Face novel Chapter 48

They had purposefully kept the scandal away from Matilda.

But with an uproar that massive, how could the old woman not know?

That night, Matilda woke up feeling lucid. She held her daughter-in-law Eleanor's hand, closing her eyes with a heavy sigh. "I know exactly what you all think. You constantly wonder why I adore Hilda so much, why I forced Luther to marry her. You look at her ordinary background and assume she lacks capability. But I've always seen it—that girl is brilliant and elegant. She's one in a million. I heard all about what happened this afternoon. It just proves I was right. Eleanor, you come from extreme wealth, and you have a deeply loving marriage with Nathan. You don't understand the bitter reality of a woman like Hilda. She's had a remarkably difficult life. Think about it—raising a child that appeared out of nowhere all on her own? How could that possibly be easy? How did she feed them? Navigating sleepless nights, illnesses, meals, all without a shred of support. She had to be super-human just to survive. Luther is young and easily distracted by lust. As his mother, it is your job to guard the most critical threshold of his life. You must absolutely forbid them from divorcing. He acts like everything is fine just to placate me, but I'm not blind. And secondly, you must never let Jolie step foot in this family. It's not just because she's an illegitimate child. I simply know that girl is poison. What kind of respectable woman aggressively pursues a married man? Let alone her own sister's husband! It's perverse. A normal person wouldn't stoop to something so vile. I'm telling you this instead of Nathan because I believe women understand the plight of other women better... Eleanor, I'm trusting you."

Eleanor had never once argued with Matilda.

She had an immense amount of respect for the old woman.

Knowing Matilda's days were numbered, she was more than willing to honor her wishes. And after witnessing Hilda's masterstroke today, her faith in the old woman's judgment was cemented. She gripped Matilda's frail, bony hand, tears shining in her eyes. "I swear it. Rest assured, as long as I have breath in my body, I will never let Luther divorce her."

Matilda offered a faint, knowing smile—

"I don't think Luther is entirely immune to her."

"He's just too arrogant."

"He's terrified to admit that his heart might be torn in two directions. But a man's body never lies. Look at how he's kept Jolie at arm's length all these years without crossing the line. That tells you his feelings for her aren't as deep as he thinks. He's just blinded by his own narrative. If he truly loved her passionately, a man his age with his libido wouldn't have been able to keep his hands off her."

Eleanor let out a sudden, watery laugh.

Her eyes shining with tears.

Luther's hands were usually elegant and refined, but whenever he touched a woman, the thick, prominent veins along the back of his hand would bulge, radiating an overwhelming sexual tension. No one else knew this; only Hilda, his wife, intimately understood it.

She stared down at his hand and asked quietly, "Do you want to talk about Jolie? Luther, if you do, there's no need to worry. I was merely defending my dignity while we're still married. We signed a contract. In a year, we'll divorce, and I won't drag it out. I'll take exactly what's mine, and not a penny more. Whether it's the Sanford family's status or their money... you have nothing to worry about."

A thick vein throbbed furiously at Luther's temple.

Tracing all the way up into his hairline.

He should have been thrilled to hear it. But no man enjoys the sensation of being tossed aside like garbage—even if it was by a woman he supposedly didn't love. He clenched his jaw and spat out a single phrase: "Good to know."

Hilda just offered a faint, hollow smile.