The Lies Behind Her Marriage novel Chapter 226

The Vanders' Offer to Noelle.

Noelle had asked to be alone. She locked herself in the room.

Behind the door, she heard every commotion.

Sterling had scolded Silas.

Celine cried.

Serena even tried to persuade her to come out, but Noelle remained silent.

She just wanted the time to think.

Thanks to the medicine, her fever had subsided.

The rain had stopped, but the sky was still heavy with dark clouds.

While she stared out the window, she thought about her life.

She and Brian had shared many good times. Why was it so easy for him to throw away their friendship, their love, and everything they had built from being friends to being lovers?

“In your eyes, Brian, is Gwen that exceptional?” Noelle thought.

But in reality, if she had not given up her career to carry a child and raise him, she would have achieved much more. She was confident in that.

“I would not have settled for working with a mediocre company,” Noelle muttered. “And if it’s about beauty?”

Noelle stared at her reflection in the mirror.

She wasn’t so bad.

It was just that Gwen came from a wealthy family. She knew signature clothes. She knew how to put on makeup, and she had spa treatments weekly.

Noelle, on the other hand, had barely taken care of herself since giving birth to Benson. At most, she shaped her brows and put on lipstick.

Noelle remembered how Benson often compared her to Gwen.

“Why can’t you dress like Aunt Gwen?”

“Aunt Gwen is closer to Daddy. So I like her better.”

“She buys me toys, treats me well, and spoils me!”

“Mom, Aunt Gwen has worked and studied abroad. What about you?”

A bitter laugh escaped her lips. Even now that she knew Benson was not her son, it still stung that the boy she had raised chose her husband’s mistress over her. She muttered, “Benson, go to Gwen. Let’s see how well your real mother takes care of you.”

Then Noelle thought back to the time when she was pregnant.

She loved and cared for the baby even while he was still in her womb.

Noelle remembered talking to him while rubbing lotion over her tummy, whispering about her day as if he could understand every word. Sometimes she would laugh softly and ask him if he had been kicking because he agreed with her.

She let her son listen to classical music, pressing her phone gently against her belly, imagining that the melodies would soothe him. Whenever he kicked, she would place both hands over her stomach and murmur, “I know, I know. Mommy hears you.”

She remembered every tear that rolled down her face each time she saw the ultrasound screen and watched him move.

Sometimes, late at night, she would lie awake with her hand over her belly, wondering whose eyes he would inherit, whether he would like books or music, or if he would grow up stubborn like her.

She had spoken to him, dreamed about him, and loved him long before he was born.

And now she realized… the child she had carried, the one she had whispered to every night, was still out there somewhere.

She ended up crying, “Baby, are you alive? I hope you are.”

“Forgive me. Mommy was such a fool.”

Her hands fisted. “Whatever suffering you have endured, I will make them pay.”

At that point, she thought about Silas.

Noelle, “...”

“Pfft!” Only Nathaniel snorted.

Serena looked like she wanted to laugh, but somehow held it in.

“My son did you wrong,” Celine said. She was the most serious one of all. “While waiting for you and Silas to get married, I will enroll him in a husband training program so he can become the perfect domestic husband! He will learn how to cook for you, treat you when you are sick, do your laundry, clean the house, do the groceries, and drive you anywhere.”

She paused and added firmly, “There will be examinations.”

“If he fails, he will repeat the exam!”

Noelle, “...”

She slowly turned to Silas. The latter had a complicated look on his face. Still, he gulped and said to her, “Anything to make you realize how sincere I am in my apology.”

“I have already made my brother swear to treat you right,” Serena declared. “Every time he makes you cry or disappoints you, he must transfer a hundred thousand dollars to your—” she made air quotes, “Noelle’s Happiness Account.”

Nathaniel nodded thoughtfully. “That seems reasonable.”

“I will personally open this account with an initial deposit of ten million dollars,” Serena added.

“If Silas ever makes you unhappy, the Vander family will intervene,” Celine concluded solemnly.

Serena crossed her arms and added, “Just so we’re clear, if my brother turns out to be a disappointing husband, the Vander family offers a full refund and replacement service.”

“Refund and replacement?” Noelle asked in confusion.

“Yes,” Serena said without hesitation. “We will find you a better husband.”

A loud thud hit the table.

It was Silas.

He had slammed his hand down and declared, “I am not going to fail!”