The Wife He Forgot to Marry (Winona and Yule) novel Chapter 568

Stefan stared at the medal, a strange tightness gripping his chest. If Winona had been raised in the capital, nurtured by Wynne and Ryder's boundless support, her life would have been entirely different. With her brilliance and drive, she would undoubtedly have a collection of gold medals all her own by now.

*

In his sprawling corner office, Yulen Locke was glaring at his phone.

An exclusive equestrian club in the capital had posted a highlight reel online, and Winona was front and center. She looked utterly breathtaking in the saddle—confident, radiant, and completely in her element.

He had never seen her ride before. He hadn't even known she knew how.

Scrolling through the hundreds of comments thirsting over her, a dark, suffocating jealousy clawed at his throat. He gripped his phone so hard his knuckles turned white. Winona belonged to him. What right did any of these people have to look at her?

Knowing Violet's ninetieth birthday had just taken place, he connected the dots. Stefan had taken Winona to the capital. Was he introducing her to the family? Was Stefan actually serious about her?

Panicked, he fired off a text to a contact in the capital's inner circle.

The reply came a few minutes later: *Stefan didn't even show up to the banquet, let alone bring a girlfriend. His mother looked like she was ready to murder someone over it.*

Yulen let out a long, shuddering breath of relief.

Stefan wasn't serious about her after all. He was just playing games. With Winona's traditional values and need for stability, she would see through Stefan's toxic dynamic eventually and walk away.

A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts. "Come in."

Conrad Vance, the Vice President of R&D, stepped in looking grim.

"What's the issue?" Yulen asked.

Conrad hesitated. "Mr. Locke, we've hit a critical roadblock in the phase one clinical trials. We audited the raw data and realized the anomalies are stemming from inconsistencies across reagent batches. No one on the internal team knows how to stabilize it. I've tried reaching out to Giselle, but she's completely MIA."

"I saw Conrad's emails," Giselle assured him. "I was just tied up the last couple of days. Don't worry, I'll draft the optimization protocols as soon as I get home tonight."

Relieved that she had it handled, Yulen smiled. "There's no rush. You just got off a flight. Get some rest first."

"Thanks. You're always so considerate."

The conversation lulled, and Yulen couldn't stop himself from circling back to the obsession gnawing at his mind. "Did you happen to run into Winona while you were in the capital?"

Giselle's eyes gleamed with amusement. "She wasn't at the Goddard banquet. Word on the street is that Stefan was too busy to give her the time of day. She went horseback riding and got completely ambushed and bullied by the local heiresses. She only managed to save face because she actually knew how to ride."

Yulen felt a twisted sense of vindication. Winona had abandoned him, only to be rejected by Stefan's family and thrown to the wolves while Stefan didn't even bother to protect her.

She was being so incredibly foolish. What could Stefan possibly offer her? She belonged back by his side. At least the Locke family had always treated her like one of their own.