Thorns Grow After Betrayal (Celeste and Chester) novel Chapter 349

…

Celestine remained silent the entire time.

Before this, Joanna used to pick one day each month to bombard her with calls, harassing and verbally abusing her to vent her frustrations.

If she didn't answer, Joanna would just keep calling.

In the beginning, Celestine had the patience to engage in a verbal spat or two.

Later, she just started putting her phone on airplane mode and focusing on her designs.

Raymond's face was now as pale as a sheet of paper.

The Joanna on the phone was a starkly different person from the gentle woman he knew.

"Why aren't you talking? Cat got your tongue? I know you're listening, though. Let me tell you, Chester will only be mine, and the position of Mrs. Fordham can only be mine. Marrying you was truly the stain of his life."

Joanna leisurely sipped her water as she sat on a lounge chair.

"Joanna, it's me."

A young, childish voice came from the other end of the line.

Recognizing the owner of the voice, Joanna froze.

Raymond?!

He was supposed to be at Silvermere, so how could he be the one answering the phone?

Could Celestine have come to Silvermere too?

She started to feel uneasy.

…

Raymond's mind was in turmoil.

After hearing Joanna's indiscriminate attack, his heart shattered all over again.

He couldn't help but reveal his identity into the receiver.

He had wanted to deceive himself, to believe this was just some prank.

But only Joanna could have said those things.

Especially after he spoke, the long silence on the other end made him think the call had been disconnected.

And in a way, it had been.

But now that he was here, he would definitely shoulder the responsibility of protecting his mother.

Raymond went to take another shower.

Celestine, meanwhile, contacted the family estate again.

The butler answered the phone.

"Mrs. Fordham, I will inform the master about the Raymond's situation. However, the master's health has been poor lately, and he has been in the hospital for a week."

"Is Grandfather okay?"

Out of respect for the patriarch's past kindness to her, Celestine asked politely.

"The temperature has been fluctuating a lot recently, and at the master's age, he's more susceptible to catching a cold. On top of that, what happened with Chester was a huge blow to him…" the butler sighed.

Celestine seemed to understand.

So, they already knew about Chester.

They probably found out when a large group of them had gone to Silvermere.

"You are, after all, the young master's biological mother. No matter what, you wouldn't punish him too harshly. If we bring him back, we'll do our best to prevent these things from happening, but it's hard to be completely foolproof. However, if you could keep him with you for a while, until the master's health improves, we will send someone to pick him up immediately."