Whats She Overheard in Her Own Marriage novel Chapter 105

05

Elaine froze, entirely caught off guard by Kain suddenly bringing her son into the crosshairs.

“He… he was out of the country on business…” Elaine stammered, trying to find an excuse.

“I understand that he’s busy with his career, but I’d appreciate it if you could understand that as a mother, I was entirely focused on keeping my child alive and might have overlooked a phone call, Kaia fired back smoothly, completely dismantling Elaine’s self–righteous anger.

Elaine stood there, out of arguments and suddenly very aware that she was in the wrong.

Kaia steadied her breathing, her voice firm. “Mom, if you’re here to see Brynlee, she’s right in that room. If you’re just here to yell at me, let’s take this somewhere else so we don’t wake her.”

Elaine clearly hadn’t expected Kaia to stand her ground like this. Reluctantly, she backed down. “Let’s just go see the child. I’ve been worried sick.”

Kaia and Elaine walked into the room to find Finnian and Brynlee huddled together on the bed, looking at his phone. He had opened a princess dress–up game for her, and the little girl was completely absorbed.

“Mommy! Grandma! Look, I’m getting the princess ready,” Brynlee beamed, thrilled to see her favorite people.

Elaine set down the food and toys she had brought and walked over. “Brynlee, you shouldn’t stare at the screen for too long. It’s bad for your eyes.”

curled into a ho

Brynlee immediately against Finnian’s chest, stubbornly refusing to look up from her game.

Finnian spoke up gently, “Mom, she promised me she’d only play for fifteen minutes.”

Seeing that her daughter was well taken care of, Kaia finally let her exhaustion take over. She sank onto the sofa nearby, hugged her coat to her chest, and fell asleep almost instantly.

Elaine saw how quickly Kaia had passed out and realized that staying awake for twenty–four hours straight had completely drained her. Her resentment softened just a fraction.

Finnian glanced over at the sofa. Without a word, he took off his heavy black wool coat and draped it gently over Kaia.

Kaia was sleeping too deeply to notice the sudden weight of the men’s coat. She only registered the faint, familiar scent of cold pine–a scent her subconscious still associated with safety. Instinctively, she pulled the coat tighter around herself and shifted into a more comfortable position.

Watching her reaction, a faint, almost imperceptible smirk tugged at the corner of Finnian’s

mouth.

Inside the VIP suite, Finnlan sat quietly in a black turtleneck. Elaine had brought food, but Brynlee hardly touched it before her energy faded again. She curled up against Finnian’s side and fell fast asleep.

Seeing that all three of them were asleep, Elaine decided to head out.

But as she reached the first–floor lobby, she spotted Jane walking in, carrying a large thermos.

Jane saw Elaine, too. In that moment, whatever polite affection they usually maintained as in–laws evaporated.

“Jane, what did you bring?” Elaine put on a pleasant smile and walked over to intercept her. “I made some beef stew and Brynlee’s favorite dumplings,” Jane replied coolly.

Elaine’s smile faltered slightly. “You’ve had a rough twenty–four hours. Thank you for your help. Honestly, Kaia really dropped the ball this time. Not telling me the baby was sick immediately–that was very thoughtless of her.”

Jane gave a dry laugh. “Yes, well, when a child gets sick, it’s natural for the grandparents to panic. It’s exhausting, but what else could we do? The child’s father was out of the country. We had to step up because we certainly couldn’t count on him.”

Elaine’s face immediately darkened. This was the first time Jane had ever openly criticized her son’s behavior to her face.

In Elaine’s eyes, the Chavez family was middle–class at best, and Kaia was the golden goose that had managed to fly up into high society. If it weren’t for Kaia’s undeniable brilliance as the head of R&D at Aethelstan, a marriage between their families would never have happened.

But over the years, Elaine had realized something irritating: the Chavez family prided themselves

on their academic backgrounds and refused to bow down. No matter how wealthy the Sanders family was, Kaia’s parents treated them as equals. Sometimes, they didn’t even seem to care about the Sanders name at all.

Elaine despised that quiet, stubborn pride.

Now, Jane’s sharp rebuke made Elaine bristle with indignation.

Innian is busy. He’s working to secure the company and the family’s legacy. He didn’t fly out of the country to go on vacation.””

Jane kept her polite, icy smile. “Of course. But when someone is an ocean away, who can really say if they’re taking care of business or taking care of personal matters? It’s not like he reports his every move.”

10:307

Elaine stiffened. That hit entirely too close to home.

“Jane, it’s the holidays. There’s no need to throw baseless accusations around. Finnlan went abroad for work. Questioning him like this is completely uncalled for.”

Thinking of everything Kaia was suffering, Jane was seconds away from ripping the polite mask off and screaming about Finnian’s twisted obsession with his widowed sister–in–law.

But her daughter seemed to be playing the long game, and if Jane blew up at Elaine right now, it might ruin Kaia’s plans.

“My apologies. I’m just a bit stressed. I’m going to take this soup upstairs,” Jane said abruptly, stepping past Elaine and heading straight for the elevators.

Elaine’s face was thunderous. She let out an angry huff. “Unbelievable. My son is a hundred times the catch her daughter is, and she has the nerve to talk down to me?”

Upstairs, Jane gently pushed the door to the hospital room open. The soft click woke Kaia. Her eyes fluttered open. Seeing her mother, she quickly sat up from the sofa.