The Wife He Forgot to Marry (Winona and Yule) novel Chapter 522

The thought of Winona being in danger felt like a physical blade twisting in Wynne's chest.

"But dragging this out isn't a solution either! I can't let anything happen to her. What if I just send Ophelia abroad and have a security team watch her 24/7? I raised her... even though she's gone down a dark path, she hasn't done anything irreversible yet. I'm willing to give her one last chance."

"Do you really think the person backing her will just let it go?" Stefan asked softly. "Ophelia is the only thread we have to unravel who's actually pulling the strings."

Wynne's mind was racing. "Then what do you suggest we do?"

"Play along. Accept Giselle as your daughter. Once she thinks she has her foot in the door, the mastermind will get impatient and reveal themselves. They won't let a mere pawn reap all the benefits. They have to step into the light to control her."

Wynne hesitated, her maternal instincts warring with logic. Finally, she exhaled. "Alright. I'll trust you on this."

***

That evening, when Stefan returned home, Winona noticed the tight line of his jaw. "What's wrong?" she asked, stepping closer.

He sank onto the sofa, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Sylvan Scully is deceiving Wynne."

Winona's expression hardened instantly. "What did he do?"

"He brought over a fake daughter and used forged DNA evidence to trick her."

Thinking of how fiercely Wynne protected those she loved, Winona saw red. "She's been searching for her kids for so long, and he has the nerve to exploit that? He was a bastard in his youth, and he's still a bastard now!"

Stefan took her hand, smoothing his thumb over her knuckles. "I broke down the situation for her. I actually advised her to play along and accept this Giselle girl for now."

"Why?"

Stefan chose his words carefully. "Because I suspect Giselle might know the whereabouts of the real twins."

Winona smiled, though her eyes were glassy. "No one else needed to be his pallbearer; I carried his casket. I am a Jowett, and I'm going to take care of my grandma for the rest of her life."

Stefan's heart ached as he listened.

He realized that no matter how much Wynne loved her, or even if he slammed the DNA results down on the table, Winona wouldn't easily accept it. She was fiercely loyal. Despite complaining about her grandmother's old-fashioned ways, the woman was her whole world.

If Winona had grown up in an abusive, unloving home, maybe she would have eagerly embraced Wynne as her true mother. But she hadn't. She had been fiercely loved and valued by the two elders who raised her. Her identity was entirely rooted in being a Jowett.

Accepting the truth meant accepting a far darker reality: the real Jowett child had died over twenty years ago, and she was merely a replacement.

Could Nikita survive knowing her real granddaughter was dead?

That was exactly why Stefan didn't dare breathe a word of the truth.