Chapter 240 CHAPTER 0240

Chapter 240 CHAPTER 0240
LAUREN'S POV

“I honestly don’t get why you guys don’t like her,” I said to Tessa through the phone, my voice soft but confused as I sat in the back of my car. The cool leather seat felt too comfortable for how uneasy I was beginning to feel. My driver kept his pace smooth, quiet, almost invisible, but somehow the silence in the car felt heavy.

“It’s not like she did something wrong to you guys,” I added, my thumb rubbing the side of my phone slowly.

“It’s not about her doing anything wrong,” Tessa replied, her tone sharp but controlled. “It’s about the fact that I don’t trust her. The way she behaved when she came over… I could clearly see what she was trying to do.”

I let out a long breath through my nose. “Tessa, you can’t just judge someone from their appearance, and secondly, what do you think she was trying to do?”

There was a pause on the phone. I knew that sigh she gave, the type she released only when she didn’t want to say something because she knew it would cause problems.

“Tessa, just say it,” I said softly. “I wouldn’t be offended.”

“I might be wrong,” she began slowly, “or I might have overthought the whole situation I was noticing there… but from what I saw, it looked like she has a thing for Roman.”

That sentence alone sent a wave of heat down my spine, not anger yet, but something closer. My hand tightened slightly around the phone.

“Explain more,” I said. My voice wasn’t loud… just serious. More serious than I expected it to be.

“The way she hugged Roman,” Tessa said quickly, as if she’d been holding it in. “I’m sure you saw it too. That wasn’t necessary. It almost looked like she wanted him to notice her or something. And then when Roman proposed, I saw her reaction. As your sister, isn’t she supposed to be happy for you? Yet she couldn’t even congratulate you. The expression on her face looked like she was disgusted at the sight of you with Roman.”

My heart dropped a little. Not completely, just enough to shake something inside me.

Because I saw it.

I genuinely saw it.

And I had been trying so hard to pretend that I didn’t.

I bit down on my lower lip, staring at the window as the estate came into view far ahead. My mind was replaying the engagement party like a video on loop — the way Elizabeth’s eyes had lingered on Roman, the way she had stormed off immediately, her hands shaking a little as she forced a smile.

I really thought I was overthinking everything. Every time I caught something strange in her expression, I brushed it off. Every time she looked at Roman too long, I pretended not to notice.

But hearing Tessa say the same things I kept silently ignoring… it made the truth feel real in a way I wasn’t ready for.

The car hummed softly beneath me, and I could feel my pulse pick up. Why did she react like that? Why didn’t she congratulate me? Why did she suddenly leave with the excuse of luggage?

Why did she look upset when she should’ve been happy for me?

And now, hearing Tessa say she thinks Elizabeth has a thing for Roman… I couldn’t pretend I didn’t see the signs anymore.

“I know you noticed it too,” Tessa said, breaking into my thoughts. “You’ve been quiet since I told you instead of defending her.”

I let out a small sigh. “Maybe I might have noticed it,” I admitted. My voice was low. “But both of us still can be wrong. I don’t want to accuse her of something when we barely know each other.”

But inside… I was already putting pieces together, each one snapping into place with a tight little ache in my chest.

The way Elizabeth clung to Roman’s arm longer than necessary.

The way she didn’t congratulate me when we announced the engagement and rushed out so fast she almost tripped.

It wasn’t normal.

It wasn’t sisterly.

It wasn’t innocent.

And the more I thought about it, the more my stomach twisted because something about Elizabeth… something just felt off.

“So what are you planning on doing?” Tessa asked. “Because we definitely noticed something at your engagement. And I’m sure you’re not just going to wait till it gets out of hand, right?”

“I'm not going to do anything for now,” I said quietly. “Because there’s nothing to do. I can’t just come up to her and confront her because of something I assume she was doing. I can’t do that. It could spoil our whole sister relationship I’m working on building.”

If I confronted her and she wasn’t actually doing anything, I would be the problem. I would be the jealous sister. The insecure one. The unreasonable one.

And I didn’t want that. Not after everything. Not when I finally had a chance to rebuild something with a blood relative I thought I’d never meet.

Even though my chest felt tight and heavy…

Even though part of me was scared — scared that maybe what I saw wasn’t just in my head…

Even though my instincts were whispering something I didn’t want to hear…

I had to be careful.

“Let’s just hope when you see the proof you need it isn’t too late,” Tessa said, her voice firm. “I don’t want you to feel played. Or maybe we could both be wrong.”

I swallowed hard. That thought had been sitting in my chest since last night.

Proof.

What if there was proof?

What if everything I kept ignoring was leading somewhere worse?

“For now we can just watch and see, okay?” I said gently. “I’m just about to step out of the car. I’m already at the estate. Anytime you’re free you can come over so we can talk.”

“If I do that, I automatically become Aria’s babysitter. And with the stress that young lady has been putting me through, I think I need a little break,” Tessa replied.

Despite everything weighing on my chest, a small smile pulled at my lips. “Alright then. When you’re done with your break, you’re always welcome here.”

The car came to a full stop, and I opened the door slightly, stepping out into the familiar air of the estate. The sun wasn’t too harsh.

But today… the calm didn’t reach me completely.

“Congratulations once again, Mrs. Hale, I’ll chat you up later, bye..” Tessa said, then hung up.

I froze for a second, those words lingering in my ears.

Mrs. Hale.

This was the second time I was taking on another man’s last name.

But this time… I felt something different. Something real. Something that could last.

Roman wasn’t like the last man.

Roman was stability.

Roman was safety.

Roman was the one person who never made me doubt him, not even once.

I pressed the phone slowly against my chest for a moment, inhaling.

Mrs. Hale.

It felt right.

It felt like something I wasn’t going to give up.