While My Husband Cheated I Married His Powerful Brother novel Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Chapter 20 The Cost of Being Right

The words hung in the air like smoke.

You will apologize to me.

Veyra’s finger was still pointed at Celeste and Eleanor. Her hand was steady now. The shaking had stopped. She had been humiliated. She had been accused. She had been choked and slapped and screamed at. And she was done.

Eleanor laughed.

It was a sharp, ugly sound.

"Apologize to you?" Eleanor shook her head. "You’re not worth my spit, let alone my apology. You’re a nobody. A fraud. A woman who spreads her legs for money and calls it marriage."

Veyra did not flinch. She had been called worse by better people.

"You heard the condition," Veyra said. "If the test proves I made that medication myself, you apologize. In front of everyone."

"And if it proves you’re lying?" Eleanor stepped closer. Her heels clicked on the marble. "What do we get then?"

Veyra met her eyes. "What do you want?"

"I want you gone." Eleanor’s voice was cold. "I want you out of this family. Out of this house. Out of Dorian’s life. I want you to crawl out of here on your hands and knees like the snake you are."

The room murmured.

Veyra did not look away.

"Fine," she said. "If the test proves I’m lying, I divorce Dorian. And I crawl out of this house on my hands and knees. In front of everyone."

Eleanor’s eyes widened. She had not expected Veyra to agree so quickly.

"But," Veyra said, "if the test proves I’m telling the truth, you don’t just apologize. You slap yourself in the face. In front of everyone. Hard enough to leave a mark."

The room went silent.

Celeste stepped forward. Her frozen face was flushed. "You can’t be serious."

"I’m completely serious." Veyra looked at her. "You’ve all treated me like garbage. You’ve accused me of things I didn’t do. You’ve humiliated me in front of your servants and your family and your grandmother. If I’m telling the truth, you owe me more than an apology. You owe me blood."

Eleanor’s mouth opened, closed and opened again.

"You’re bluffing," Eleanor said.

"I’m not."

"You’re trying to scare me into backing down."

"I’m not trying to do anything." Veyra’s voice was calm. "I’m telling you the terms. Take them or leave them. But if you leave them, everyone in this room will know you’re afraid. Because you know I’m telling the truth."

Eleanor’s face went red. Then white. Then red again.

"Fine," Eleanor said. "I accept."

Celeste grabbed her arm. "Eleanor, don’t—"

"She’s bluffing." Eleanor shook her off. "She’s a liar. A fraud. There’s no way she made that medication herself. She bought it somewhere. Peeled off the label. And tomorrow, the test will prove it."

Veyra said nothing.

"And when it does," Eleanor continued, "you’ll crawl out of this house on your hands and knees. And I’ll watch. I’ll enjoy it."

Veyra nodded. "We’ll see."

She turned to Dorian. He was still standing by his grandmother, his gray eyes fixed on Veyra’s face. His expression was unreadable. But something in his jaw had loosened.

"Did you hear the terms?" Veyra asked.

"I heard."

"Will you enforce them?"

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