The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella) novel Chapter 2136

They struggled to move their bodies, and under the guidance of Beverly’s mother, they found a pair of scissors and cut off the ropes binding them. They saved everyone and escaped the garment factory.

“You were in labor at the time, undergoing a C-section. And with your strong sense of pride, you didn’t want us to know about your family’s business. So after discussing it with your family, we decided not to tell you about this, to let you recover in peace,” Cornelia explained. “It wasn’t that we didn’t visit you and little Frederica, it’s just that we were injured too and were in the hospital ourselves.”

During the time Beverly and Lucas were discussing marriage, she was afraid that the Collins family might look down upon her, so she kept her family’s true state a secret. To outsiders, her family appeared to manage a garment factory with dozens of employees. In reality, to pay off her brother’s debts, they had mortgaged everything – the house, the cars, even the factory.

“Before you married Lucas, we already knew about your family’s financial condition.”

Cornelia’s words made Beverly’s eyes snap open, shocked that after all her painstaking efforts at concealment, her in-laws had known all along.

“We also knew that you used all of your betrothal gift to pay off your brother’s debts, and those photos.” Cornelia initially didn’t want to mention this, fearing it would hurt Beverly’s pride.

“After your marriage, those people came to you a few times for money, threatening with those photos. Your father-in-law and I stepped in to settle it, and those pictures were destroyed.”

Beverly had no idea that her in-laws had quietly dealt this for her.

She remembered the last time she had paid off those people, she had made a fierce threat, saying she would go down with them if they asked for money again. She had thought it was her tough stance that they stopped, little did she know.

“After the factory burned down, it was our financial support that helped your parents start over. Your brother also turned over a new leaf because of the incident; he began learning how to manage the factory, and we quietly provided resources and connections to help him out.”

To Cornelia, these were all trivial matters.

She didn’t feel the need to bring them up, for she saw Beverly as her own child. If Beverly’s family was doing well, Beverly would be happy, it made her, as a mother-in-law, happy as well.