Chapter 136

EMILY

Hazel barely spoke to me during the drive home.

Every now and then, I caught her stealing glances in my direction from the other side of the car, but the moment our eyes met, she looked away again like she was trying to piece something together in her head.

Honestly, I understood why she looked confused.

Just a few hours ago, I had been desperate to escape this wedding and get as far away from this house as possible.

Now I was suddenly cooperating.

Even I knew it looked suspicious.

My grandmother sat quietly in front beside the driver with one hand resting against the door while city lights flashed across her face through the window.

Occasionally, the corner of her lips twitched upward slightly, and somehow that irritated me more than all her threats combined.

Because Vivian Cavendish looked pleased.

Like things were finally going her way.

The second the car pulled into the mansion driveway, I reached for the door immediately because I needed fresh air before I completely lost my mind.

But before I could fully step away from the car, my grandmother’s voice stopped me.

“Emily.”

I paused and looked back slowly.

Hazel wanted to stay back too, but Vivian lifted one calm hand toward her.

“You can go inside.”

Hazel hesitated immediately. “Grandma—”

“I said go inside.”

Her voice remained soft, but the warning underneath it was impossible to miss.

Hazel glanced toward me carefully like she hated leaving me alone with this woman, but eventually she nodded and headed back toward the mansion.

I watched her disappear through the front doors before turning toward my grandmother again.

The evening breeze brushed against my skin, but my body still felt too hot from everything that had happened today.

Vivian stayed quiet for a few seconds after Hazel left.

Then unexpectedly, she sighed.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

I frowned immediately.

“For what exactly?”

“For everything I’ve put you through.”

That almost made me laugh.

Not because it was funny, but because hearing an apology from Vivian Cavendish sounded completely unnatural.

This woman had threatened me, trapped me inside her house, burned down my bakery, separated me from my daughter, and forced me into a marriage I clearly did not want.

Now suddenly she was apologizing?

I folded my arms slowly and stared at her.

“What exactly is happening right now?”

She looked directly at me before answering.

“I need you.”

Confusion immediately crossed my face.

“For what?”

Instead of replying immediately, Vivian reached into her handbag and pulled out her phone.

I frowned harder while watching her scroll calmly through her contacts.

“What are you doing?”

“Quiet.”

Then before I could ask another question, she pressed the phone to her ear.

The call rang twice before someone answered.

Cecelia.

The moment I heard her voice through the speaker, my chest tightened instantly.

“What now, Vivian?” Cecelia snapped immediately. “I already told you I’ll get Ryan out of the picture as long as you keep my secret.”

My body went completely still beside the car.

Vivian chuckled softly.

“Remind me again,” she said calmly. “What exactly did you do, girl?”

Cecelia’s voice sharpened immediately.

“Don’t try me.”

“Oh, I’m very serious,” Vivian replied smoothly. “Either you talk right now, or every piece of evidence I have goes directly to your husband and your son.”

Silence followed immediately.

A long silence.

I stood there frozen beside the driveway while my pulse pounded loudly inside my ears.

Then finally Cecelia spoke again, and this time her voice sounded lower.

Angrier.

“Fine.”

Vivian remained silent.

Cecelia exhaled sharply through the phone before speaking again.

“I’m sorry for taking one of your grandchildren at birth.”

Everything around me stopped.

The air.

The sounds.

Even my breathing.

I stared blankly ahead while the words echoed over and over inside my head.

Taking one of your grandchildren at birth.

My fingers slowly tightened against my arms.

But Cecelia kept talking.

“Can we please forget about this conversation already, Vivian?” she snapped tiredly. “This entire thing is becoming exhausting.”

The line disconnected immediately after that.

Vivian calmly lowered the phone and slipped it back into her handbag while I remained frozen beside the car like my body had stopped functioning properly.

Because suddenly every strange interaction I had ever had with Cecelia came crashing back into my head all at once.

My throat tightened painfully.

Slowly, I turned toward my grandmother.

My eyes were already burning.

“She…” My voice cracked badly. “Cecelia always hated me?”

For the first time since I met Vivian, her expression softened slightly.

“It was never your fault,” she said quietly. “That woman has always hated my daughter.”

I stared at her.

“Mom?”

She nodded slowly.

“And unfortunately,” she continued calmly, “you became part of that hatred the second you were born.”

Tears filled my eyes immediately.

I looked away fast and wiped at my face angrily because the last thing I wanted was to cry in front of this woman.

But the tears came anyway.

Because this entire situation felt disgusting.

All this time I thought Cecelia disliked me because of the divorce or because she believed I hurt Ryan.

Meanwhile that woman had apparently been involved in my life long before Ryan and I ever met.

The realization made my stomach turn violently.

Vivian leaned lightly against the car before speaking again.

“The story is complicated,” she admitted. “There are things you still don’t know.”

I laughed bitterly and shook my head.

“No kidding.”

“But there will be time for explanations later.”

I looked back at her slowly.

“That depends.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

“On what?”

“Whether you’re lying too.”

She held my gaze steadily without flinching.

“I’m not.”

The certainty in her voice made something twist painfully inside my chest again because the woman genuinely believed everything she was saying.

And somehow, that scared me more than manipulation would have.

Vivian sighed quietly before continuing.

“As long as you’re willing to help me, Emily, there will always be time for backstories later.”

I stared at her silently for several seconds.

At this point, I honestly didn’t know who the villain was anymore.

Every single person around me suddenly looked capable of something horrible.

I wiped at my face roughly with the back of my hand before finally speaking again.

“What exactly do you want from me?”

Vivian’s lips slowly curved into a small smile.

“I want you to destroy Cecelia Thompson the same way she destroyed my daughter by using the Montegos.”