The Wife He Forgot to Marry novel Chapter 69

"Last night, I had to borrow five hundred thousand from a friend to get out of that situation," Winona said directly. "I need to pay it back. Can you give me the money?"

A wave of guilt washed over Yulen. "Of course. I'll transfer it to you."

Now that he had agreed, Winona felt there was nothing more to say. "I have to go. I'll hang up now."

Sensing her coldness, Yulen quickly added, "Winona, I know your vacation at Springs Haven was cut short. How about we take everyone somewhere else next weekend?"

Winona had truly lost all interest in spending time with him. "No, thank you. My grandmother was quite frightened by the whole ordeal. I doubt she'll want to go anywhere for a while."

Yulen opened his mouth but couldn't find a reply. A moment later, he realized she had already hung up.

He sat on the couch, staring at his phone, overtaken by a sense of helplessness. He suddenly felt that Winona was drifting further and further away, slipping right through his fingers.

Tallulah approached with a plate of strawberries and sat beside him, smiling sweetly. "Yulen, have a strawberry."

Yulen turned to look at her but didn't speak or take the fruit.

His stare unnerved her, and she asked plaintively, "Yulen, what's wrong?"

His face was tight with anger. "Never again, Tallulah. Don't you ever do something so stupid again."

Tallulah flinched, then quickly resorted to her usual tactics. "Yulen, I already told you it was a misunderstanding. Why don't you believe me?"

When his expression remained dark, she played her trump card, rubbing her belly and complaining of discomfort.

Violet, who was sitting beside Stefan, saw the message and beamed. "Dinner with Winona? Is it a date?"

Stefan just smiled without answering.

Violet, however, was more excited than he was and started planning for him. "You have no experience with this, so you have to listen to me. Women like thoughtful gestures. Order her flowers before you go."

Stefan listened to her prattling on, a headache forming. He couldn't understand why his grandmother was so taken with Ms. Jowett. But he always made his own decisions. Even if his grandmother adored Winona, he wouldn't rush into a relationship with her just for that. He had been willing to help her simply because she had saved his grandmother's life. Of course, there were a few motives of his own mixed in, but he saw nothing wrong with that.

After chattering for a while with no response, Violet grew annoyed. "Are you so lukewarm because she's divorced? Is that why you don't like her? But for families like ours, what does divorce even matter?"

Violet herself had been divorced three times before marrying Uriah, the patriarch of the Goddard family. In the world of the elite, marriages were about merging interests. Violet had suffered through that in her youth, and for her fourth marriage, she had resolutely chosen love. Though Uriah was a serious and unromantic man, he was honest and treated her well, and she was content with their marriage.