As a mother, she couldn''t help but feel a pang of regret and reluctance. Still, she knew her son too well-some things simply couldn''t be forced.
Octavia sat beside Lucinda, ncing around at the stiff atmosphere before finally breaking the silence. "So, the two of you came here today... You''re not nning to ask my brother and Elodie to get a divorce, are you?"
It was the only exnation she coulde up with. Why else would they be summoned here for no apparent reason?
With that blunt question, Octavia ripped the lid off the unspoken tension that had been simmering in the room.
Even Henrietta grew somber. This meeting had been arranged by Jarrod, and she hadn''t figured out his intentions either. But she had to admit, Octavia''s guess wasn''t entirely unreasonable. Otherwise, why make such a formal affair out of it?
The thought that Jarrod might soon regret Elodie''s inability to have children, and might even announce a divorce, made the olddy''s face go pale. That would be humiliating—afterwards, the Silverstein family would never live it down.
Lucinda narrowed her eyes. "Not necessarily. Let''s just wait until they get back." Rosemary, however, said nothing more. She didn''t know much about Jarrod and Elodie''s marriage, but when it came to divorce...
Emile gave his mother''s shoulder a reassuring squeeze and shot her a look. "Let''s wait for Elodie to get here first."
It was clear the Silverstein side didn''t have the full picture.
Rosemary nodded.
Just then, the housekeeper''s voice came from the foyer: "Mr. Silverstein, Mrs. Silverstein."
Every head in the room turned. The air grew thick with anticipation and unease. Octavia''s eyes widened as she watched the couple enter, hand in hand. She was the first to leap up, blurting out, "You two made up?"
But before anyone could reply, Lucinda shot to her feet, stunned by the sight of the baby cradled in Jarrod''s arms.
The room froze. One by one, everyone stood, staring in disbelief.
"You... you went abroad and adopted a child?" Lucinda, for once, was so stunned she could hardly speak. That was the only exnation she could muster.
From across the room, Emile peered at the baby, then turned to Rosemary. "Mom, I think Elodie and Jarrod patched things up. See? They''re still holding hands-and they brought a kid back with them."
No one even considered the real reason for the baby''s presence.
But the olddy was the first to recover, a small smile breaking through her shock.
"So, you two have decided to settle down and start a real family?"
She''d never been the sort of rigid matriarch to meddle in her children''s lives. They had their own destinies to fulfill, and she was too old to
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By now, Octavia had already hurried over, standing on tiptoe to peer at the baby
in Jarrod''s arms.
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dark eyes, Octavia blinked in confusion, then whipped around. "Mom! Am I seeing things? That baby looks just like my brother Like, exactly the same Did he pickup some secret love child and bring her home? We''re not actually epting her into the family, are we?" s
Elodie had never even been pregnant. But this child was the spitting image of her brother-denying they were father and daughter would be a tant lie.
The only exnation was that Nadia was a child Jarrod had fathered elsewhere.
Octavia''s words sent a fresh wave of chaos rippling through the room. Everyone crowded around for a better look.
Octavia stared incredulously at Elodie. "Seriously? You''re okay with this? Do you really want to be the martyr here? When did he even have time to pull this off behind your back?"
In their social circle, the topic of illegitimate children was strictly taboo. No respectable family would ever allow one into the fold; after all, every extra heir meant splitting the inheritance further. Letting in a child with no proper standing? Qver their dead bodies! s