While My Husband Cheated I Married His Powerful Brother novel Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Chapter 49 Power Shift

The room was still heavy with silence.

Eleanor knelt on the floor, her tears staining the carpet, her shoulders shaking. The Old Madam had closed her eyes. Beatrice and Harold stood frozen. Phillip looked like he had aged ten years in ten minutes.

Dorian stood at the center of it all, his gray eyes fixed on Eleanor.

"Please," Eleanor whispered. Her voice was raw. Broken. "Dorian, please. I’m begging you. Show mercy. I’ve been a part of this family for thirty years. I’ve served your grandmother. I’ve raised your cousins. I’ve given everything to this house."

She crawled toward him. Her knees scraped against the floor.

"I will never antagonize Veyra again," she said. "I swear it. On my life. On my children’s lives. I will leave her alone. I will stay out of her way. I will do whatever you ask. Just please—please don’t destroy me."

Her hands reached for his pant leg. She clutched the fabric.

Dorian looked down at her. His face was unreadable.

"Wrongdoing must inevitably be met with punishment," he said. His voice was quiet. Final.

Eleanor’s hands fell away. She sat back on her heels. Her face was pale. Her eyes were hollow.

"What form will the punishment take?" she asked.

The room leaned forward. Everyone was curious. Beatrice held her breath. Harold’s jaw was tight. Phillip stared at the floor.

Even the Old Madam opened her eyes.

Veyra watched from her corner. Her heart was pounding. She did not know what Dorian would do. Would he send Eleanor away? Have her arrested? Strip her of her status?

She waited.

Dorian did not answer immediately. He let the silence stretch. Let Eleanor sweat.

Then he turned.

His gray eyes found Veyra.

"How do you wish to punish her?" he asked.

Veyra blinked. She thought she had misheard.

"What?"

"How do you wish to punish Eleanor?" Dorian repeated. His voice was calm. Matter-of-fact. "She wronged you. She tried to destroy you. She put your life at risk and the life of our child. The punishment is yours to decide."

The room erupted.

Beatrice’s mouth fell open. Harold shook his head. Phillip looked like he had been slapped.

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

Veyra stared at Dorian. Her mind was racing. He was giving her the authority to decide Eleanor’s fate. Her. The outsider. The high school dropout. The woman they had all treated like dirt.

She did not know what to say.

"You can’t be serious," Eleanor said. Her voice was high. Desperate. "You can’t give her that power. She’s nobody. She’s—"

Dorian held up his hand. Eleanor stopped.

"She is my wife," Dorian said. "The mother of my child. The woman who saved my grandmother’s life and my niece’s life. If anyone has the right to decide your punishment, it is her."

Eleanor’s composure shattered.

"What right does she have?" Eleanor screamed. She pointed at Veyra. "What right does she have to punish me? She’s not family. She’s not a Thorne. She’s a stranger who crawled in from the gutter and spread her legs for—"

"Enough."

Dorian’s voice was ice.

Eleanor’s mouth snapped shut.

"I said she is my wife," Dorian said. "That makes her the Matriarch of the Thorne Family. She has every right to decide your punishment."

Eleanor laughed. It was a bitter, ugly sound.

"Matriarch?" She looked around the room. "Does anyone here acknowledge her as Matriarch?"

No one spoke.

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