The Hidden Empress Stripping Her Secrets After Divorce novel Chapter 224

Lydia's figure vanished through the doorway, the muffled clicks of her heels fading down the hall until the heavy oak doors swallowed the sound completely.

The private dining room descended into silence again, but the quiet was thick, sticky with embarrassment and tension. The air felt like coagulated gel, pressing heavily against everyone's chest.

Penelope slowly lowered her wine glass, the crystal clinking sharply against the bone china coaster. It was a piercing, deafening sound. She looked up, her gaze cutting straight across the table like a surgical scalpel, zeroing in on Lyra.

"Lyra," she began, her voice steady but laced with frost. "What exactly did your sister mean by that last comment?"

Lyra's hand trembled, her napkin slipping onto her lap. She forced the corners of her mouth up, but the smile was as fragile and pale as tissue paper. "Penelope, Lydia is just... throwing a childish tantrum. She speaks without thinking. Please don't take it to heart."

"A childish tantrum?" Penelope let out a cold scoff, entirely devoid of humor. "She is in her twenties. You call that a child? And what she said—'I hope you can secure your position as Mrs. Lancaster'—that hardly sounded like well wishes."

Mr. Langford desperately tried to smooth things over, beads of sweat breaking out along his hairline. "Mrs. Lancaster, Lydia is incredibly spoiled and speaks without a filter. I will strictly discipline her the moment we get home..."

"Mr. Langford," Lawrence interrupted, his face impassive but his eyes flashing with clear displeasure. "Tonight was meant to be an important occasion to finalize the wedding. Your daughter suddenly barges in and makes a scene like that. Do you think that was appropriate?"

Mr. Langford pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his brow, his voice dry. "No, it wasn't. It was entirely inappropriate. It's my failure as a father, and I apologize to you all on her behalf."

Lawrence sat in silence for a moment before placing his glass heavily onto the table. "Enough. Christian, you handle the rest. Your mother and I are leaving." He swept his dark gaze across the room. "Do not let any more mistakes happen. Otherwise, I won't be this forgiving next time."

With that, he pulled Penelope up from her seat and walked out. Christian immediately stood to follow them.

"Lawrence, Penelope—" Mr. Langford stood up to see them out, but his only reply was the heavy thud of the door shutting in his face.

---

The black Rolls-Royce merged into the night, its taillights leaving two blurry red streaks in the traffic before vanishing entirely.

The silence compounded, hardening the air in the room.

After a long moment, he spoke. His voice was completely flat, like the surface of a frozen lake.

"I know about Lydia's situation."

Those words were like ice picks driven straight into their chests.

Mrs. Langford's sobbing stopped instantly.

Mr. Langford's head jerked up, the sweat on his forehead distinctly visible.