Chapter 43 Asked to Divorce Her
SloanePOV
After saying that, he let go and followed Aeneas.
As soon as the man left, the battlefield between us silently began.
The smile on Annette's face remained unchanged. Her gaze slowly swept over Keira and Isabelle, her tone gentle yet carrying an unmistakable warning, "As guests, you should know your place. The Montclair banquet is not somewhere just anyone can come and cause trouble."
Both Keira and Isabelle's faces paled.
Annette paid them no more attention. She patted my hand and said warmly, "I'm going to greet a few ladies. Make yourself comfortable - no one here will dare disrespect you again."
As soon as Annette left, Keira immediately came over. The pitiful expression on her face vanished without a trace, replaced by undisguised jealousy and malice.
"Sloane, don't think that just because Aunt Annette and Grandma are protecting you, you can rest easy." She lowered her voice. "Look at yourself tonight - you're a joke, only embarrassing Jared. I suggest you know your place and stop shamelessly clinging to a position that doesn't belong to you."
"That's right, Sloane." Isabelle beside her finally found her chance to speak. The look in her eyes was full of disappointment and disgust. "I really regret it - I never should have brought you back! Look at you, besides causing trouble and bringing shame to the family, what else can you do? How did I ever think you could help our family? You're just a bitch!"
I calmly looked at her face, twisted with anger, and the last trace of hope for maternal love in my heart finally died out completely.
Fine.
I pulled at the corner of my mouth, showing a faint smile that was almost like relief.
"Since I embarrass you so much," I looked into her eyes, speaking each word clearly and calmly, "then from today on, let's act like we never knew each other. Cut ties - it's better for both of us."
Isabelle's hand pointing at me was trembling, but in the end she could only squeeze out through gritted teeth, "You're hopeless!"
After saying that, she pulled Keira along and turned to blend into the crowd of guests.
The tiny bit of warmth from Jared's defense had long been washed away completely by his father's scolding and Keira's acceptance into the family.
The gazes around me fell on me intermittently, carrying scrutiny, sympathy, and more than anything, the schadenfreude of watching a good show.
"After all, she's an orphan - can't handle high society, only brings shame to the Montclair family."
"Exactly, look at Keira - now that's a real socialite, such a perfect match standing next to Jared."
"I heard Aeneas has always liked Keira. I bet she won't be sitting in that Mrs. Montclair position much longer."
Those whispers were like invisible vines, wrapping around me, nearly suffocating me.
I put down my glass and excused myself to the restroom, escaping from this gorgeous yet cold cage.
Cold water splashed on my face. I looked at myself in the mirror - makeup perfect but eyes hollow - and felt incredibly strange and ridiculous.
My phone vibrated in my pocket - a new message.
The sender was Isabelle.
["Study at the end of the second floor. I'm waiting for you.]
That commanding tone again. I smiled mockingly at myself, about to delete it, but my finger somehow pressed the lock screen button instead.
I didn't know what possessed me - maybe I wanted to hear what more cruel things she could say to make me give up completely.
I lifted my dress and walked up the spiral staircase to the second floor.
The long hallway was covered with thick carpet that absorbed all sound.
I walked to that dark carved wooden door. The door was ajar, and Isabelle was leaning by the window with her back to me.
"You came." She didn't turn around, her voice cold.
I didn't speak, just stood quietly at the door.
She turned around, looking me over from head to toe with eyes that examined merchandise, her gaze full of criticism and impatience. "Sloane, I'm here today to make you face reality."
She walked up to me, her posture condescending. "You don't belong here at all, and you don't deserve to be by Jared's side. Besides causing him trouble and bringing shame to the family, what can you bring? Look at Keira - she can bring so much prestige and connections to Montclair Corporation. And you? What do you have?"
I looked at her calmly. "So, you're here to persuade me to leave voluntarily?"
"I'm doing this for your own good!" She raised her voice, as if my calmness had stung her. "You should take the money and leave while you can still keep some dignity. Otherwise, when Jared gets tired of you and the Montclair family throws you out, you'll get nothing!"
After saying that, she stopped looking at me and walked right past me in her high heels. In that moment of passing, I could even smell the perfume on her - sweet yet cold, identical to Keira's.
I stood there, not moving.
Outside the window at the end of the hallway, the moonlight was cold.
So in her eyes, my only value was to take some money and disappear.
I turned around, about to leave, when from the tightly closed study next door came the sound of heated arguing.
The soundproofing of the walls wasn't very good - a man's angry roar penetrated the heavy door.
It was Aeneas's voice.
"I'm telling you, I absolutely won't agree! How can the heir of the Montclair family marry an orphan! Look at her tonight - so petty, can't handle high society! Look at Keira - that's the daughter-in-law we need!"
My feet seemed nailed to the spot, unable to move.
"She'll only drag you down! Jared, wake up! Besides that face, what does she have? A gold-digger who uses men to climb the social ladder - she can't help you at all!"
Then, the air rang with a clear, loud slap.
The sound was so clear, like it had slapped directly onto my heart.
My whole body shook, my heart racing uncontrollably.
He got physical with his father to defend me?
In an instant, an absurd yet shameful hope, like a flame struggling out of darkness, suddenly ignited in my heart. I even unconsciously took a step closer to that door, holding my breath, longing to hear even one word of defense for me.
The study fell into a deathly silence.
After a long while, Aeneas's cold voice rang out again, carrying a trace of weariness from being defied and a final ultimatum.
"Fine, you've grown up, you've got wings now. I'll ask you one last time, Jared." The words came slowly, deliberately, carrying the weight of a final verdict. "For that woman, are you willing to give up your inheritance rights to Montclair Corporation, give up everything you have now?"
Time seemed to stretch at this moment, each second as unbearable as a century.