Too Late, Mr. Cooper: Your Bride Ran with Your Baby novel Chapter 3

The words hung in the air, and Liliana felt the man in front of her, the cool, untouchable Linton Cooper, go rigid. He looked down at her, his piercing eyes seeming to swallow the light, leaving nothing but an abyss of cold, flat black.

Liliana had thrown countless tantrums over the years, but she had never, not once, threatened to end their engagement. This was the first time.-

Linton realized she was serious.

His cold eyes flashed, and his voice, deep and smooth like polished cedar, finally broke the silence. “Just because I brought Isabella to the hospital and gave her the necklace?”

“Is that not enough? What more do you need?” Liliana shot back, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “What, do I need to catch you in bed together, Mr. Cooper?”

Linton’s expression darkened again. A storm of anger brewed in his eyes. He thought she was being absurd, completely unreasonable.

Isabella’s soft, watery voice interjected at the perfect moment, laced with manufactured surprise. “Liliana, how could you think such a thing? Linton and I have only a sibling bond. You’re the one misinterpreting everything. Besides, I’m a married woman with a child now, but even if I weren’t, Linton and I would never… cough, cough…”

She frowned, pressing a hand to her mouth as she coughed, her cheeks flushing. A hint of reprimand colored her features as she looked at Liliana with an expression of pure exasperation, as if dealing with a petulant child.

“Isabella, don’t you dare stand there and lecture me like you’re the reasonable one.” Liliana’s laugh was sharp, cutting through Isabella’s performance. “Why don’t you go find a doctor, right now, and prove you’re actually having an episode? This depression of yours is quite miraculous. It comes and goes whenever you need it to. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a mental illness that can be controlled on command.”

Isabella’s face went white. Her eyes turned to ice, but standing next to Linton, she didn’t back down. “Liliana, don’t go too far! Cough…”

“Just don’t regret it later.”

Their confrontation ended on a bitter note. Liliana stood alone in the hospital corridor, the sharp, sterile scent of disinfectant making her stomach churn. A wave of nausea washed over her, and she doubled over, gagging.

She retched until tears streamed from her eyes, her hand pressed against the cool wall for support. She knew the truth. She and Isabella were like two roses blooming in the heart of Crownport. Isabella was the white rose—gentle, elegant, and kind, the universally adored first love of the city’s elite, pure and flawless. Compared to her, Liliana was the red rose—willful, brash, her mind consumed with love, constantly trailing after Linton like a thorny, ostentatious shadow.

After a decade of shamelessly chasing him, Liliana had become the laughingstock of Crownport. She was despised, ostracized, the subject of countless whispers and sneers behind her back.