Chapter 261: Chapter 261
Chapter 261
The heavy wooden double doors of the Castellan villa yielded easily under Maria’s touch, moving inward with a smooth, quiet glide that offered no warning of her unexpected arrival. She had walked out of this house days ago after the explosive family argument over Ethan's public scandal, swearing she would never return to the cold, ostentatious estate.
Yet her heart was breaking after leaving her son at Dr. Anny Wales’ psychiatric facility, and the raw maternal need to confront the man who had cast their boy aside drove her straight back to the residence. She marched into the cavernous marble entryway, her heels echoing against the grand walls, determined to make Richard answer for stripping Ethan of his position, his dignity, and his rightful place within Castellan Enterprises.
She pushed past the formal foyer and headed directly toward the main study, fully expecting to find Richard buried under corporate audit files and phone calls with his crisis management lawyers. Instead, as she stepped through the open archway of the private lounge, the sight before her brought her to a dead stop. Richard Castellan was sitting comfortably on the deep leather sofa, laughing softly with a glass of scotch in one hand, while a young blonde woman in a fitted silk dress sat directly on his lap, her hands draped casually over his shoulders as they romanced each other in broad daylight.
The blonde woman caught sight of Maria standing in the doorway, her eyes widening in immediate alarm as she quickly stood up, smoothing down her wrinkled skirt and stepping toward the side bar to distance herself from the patriarch. Richard barely flinched, leaning back against the leather cushions and taking a slow sip from his glass before turning his cold, arrogant gaze toward his wife.
“What are you doing here, Maria?” Richard asked, his voice dripping with annoyance as if she were an uninvited salesperson who had wandered off the street. “I thought you made your dramatic exit crystal clear on Tuesday. You don't live in this house anymore.”
“How could you do this, Richard?” Maria screamed, her voice cracking as tears of absolute betrayal instantly filled her eyes. She ignored the young woman completely, stepping fully into the lounge and pointing an accusation directly at her husband's chest. “Our son is sitting locked up in a medical facility, broken and sedated, and you are sitting here sipping alcohol and carrying on with a girl young enough to be his classmate! Have you no shame at all?”
Richard set his crystal glass down on the mahogany side table with a heavy thud, his expression hardening into a cruel scowl as he stood up to face her. “Do not come into my home and lecture me about shame, Maria. Ethan brought this entire disaster on himself with his pathetic, uncontrolled behavior. He disgraced our family name across every newspaper in Monterey, and I did what any responsible chairman had to do to protect our stocks.”
“You threw him away!” Maria yelled back, her whole body shaking as she closed the distance between them, her grief turning into a furious rage. “He needed his father! He needed support while he was hurt and confused from that crash, but you stripped him of his title at the firm without a second thought. You handed his whole legacy over to Sam Keystone on a silver platter just to save your own selfish public image!”
“I saved this company from utter ruin!” Richard barked, stepping toward her with his fists clenched at his sides. “Your precious son became a liability the moment he let his personal drama destroy our board relations. He is weak, Maria. Just like you are being right now.”
“You are a wicked, heartless monster,” Maria sobbed, looking at him with utter disgust as the final illusions of her marriage completely shattered right in front of her. “I spent twenty years pretending you were just a hard businessman, telling myself you loved your family under that cold exterior. But you don't care about Ethan. You don't care about anyone except yourself. You are an unfaithful, selfish coward, bringing trash into our home the second my back is turned!”
The blonde woman at the bar winced, clearing her throat nervously as she reached for her designer handbag. “Richard, maybe I should just wait for you in the car outside...”
“Stay right where you are,” Richard commanded without looking at her, his dark eyes locked entirely on Maria. He stepped directly into Maria’s space, pointing a long finger toward the front entry archway. “You have five seconds to turn around and walk out of my house, Maria. You chose to side with that disgraced boy over the family business, so you no longer have any standing in this villa. Get out.”
“I am his mother! I will always fight for him!” Maria screamed, standing her ground as tears streamed freely down her pale cheeks. “When Ethan gets through this and realizes what a disgusting excuse for a father you truly are, he will never step foot in this house again! You will end up completely alone in this oversized tomb!”
Richard didn't argue further; he simply raised his hand and gestured toward the doorway, where two house security guards had already rushed into the hall after hearing the shouting. “Escort Mrs. Castellan off the premises immediately. If she attempts to enter the driveway again, have the local precinct trespass her.”
The guards moved in, taking Maria gently but firmly by the elbows to guide her away from the lounge. “This way, ma'am, please,” one of the officers murmured quietly.
“Get your hands off me! I can walk myself out!” Maria spat, tearing her arms free from their hold as she cast one last look of absolute contempt at Richard and the woman standing by the bar. She turned on her heel and stormed down the marble hallway, slamming the grand double doors behind her as she stepped out into the bright driveway, whipping her phone out of her purse to call her private driver.