The Cold Surgeon's Contract Bride novel Chapter 360

Ferris was pointing the finger directly at me.

He was accusing me of deliberately dragging our private matters in front of Vivian just to squeeze a little more money out of him.

His icy glare sliced through me like a jagged blade, digging straight into my heart. The agonizing pain was so intense I could barely keep myself upright. I could only stand there, helplessly watching as he turned and stormed out without looking back.

"Ferris, we can't just handle this like..." Vivian chased after him, desperate to reel him back in.

But Ferris had already marched straight out the front doors, disappearing into the distance.

The night was incredibly dark, and the wind whipped violently around his tall, imposing figure, quickly swallowing him whole until he vanished completely into the shadows.

Having failed to catch up to Ferris, Vivian spun around and glared at my mother and me, her chest heaving violently with unbridled rage. "Your family really knows how to play a calculated game! Selena, I should never have expected anything decent from you!"

"I should be saying that to you, Vivian! Your family is the one playing games here! Maxwell risked his life to save Ferris, and you promised to welcome Selena into your family. She's been perfectly obedient ever since she walked through these doors, and yet you secretly plotted to replace her with someone else! Now you're trying to pin the blame on us? Do you really think the Hayes family are just a bunch of fools?" my mother fired back, matching Vivian's fury beat for beat.

Vivian was so furious that all the color drained from her face, but she seemed completely cornered by my mother's accusations. Unable to form a coherent argument, she pointed a trembling finger toward the door. "Get out! Get out of my house!"

"We're leaving! Do you honestly think we enjoy being here? If you're disgusted, we're even more repulsed by the filth in this place!" My mother grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the exit. Before stepping out, she didn't miss the chance to throw one final blow over her shoulder. "But don't forget, Vivian—your son is the one entirely at fault here. The divorce settlement doesn't go through unless we approve it!"

My mother was incredibly fierce today, and Vivian had clearly been pushed past her breaking point. As my mother dragged me out the front doors, I heard the sharp, violent crash of porcelain shattering against the floor—Vivian must have smashed a vase.

My mother looked positively triumphant, like a rooster strutting away from a brutal cockfight.

But the moment we were off the Sterling Estate, all that fierce pride melted away. She squeezed my hand tightly, her thumb gently stroking the back of my hand. "Selena, have you had dinner yet?" she asked tentatively. "Are you hungry? How about I take you out for a nice hot bowl of soup?"

Did I want to cry?

I didn't want to cry.

I wanted to tell her I was used to it.

I was used to Vivian's relentless verbal abuse, used to Ferris's freezing indifference, and entirely accustomed to his constant dissatisfaction with my very existence.

I was used to the endless stabs of pain, the emotional bruises, and drowning in absolute agony.

But for some inexplicable reason, the moment she held me tight, the tears came flooding out. A suffocating burn stung my nose, and for a terrifying second, I almost couldn't hold back the gut-wrenching sobs tearing at my throat.