?Chapter 484:


    The moment they got close, Carter’s booming voice cut through the air, dripping with scorn. “I hear Cole nearly got himself killed all because of that worthless and ugly wife of his. If we care about the Evans family’s future, we need to handle her once and for all!”


    At Carter’s jab, a dry, sardonic smile flickered across Elliana’s face. She’d expected him to dissect Cole’s every action, but to turn and hurl such an outrageous usation about her? Now that was rich. This meeting just got interesting. She almost looked forward to whatever grand spectacle he’d call “punishment.”


    “Ahern!” Ruben’s deliberate cough cleaved through the rising storm.


    Carter’s tirade abruptly halted, and he turned toward the door, followed by the rest of the room. The once-raucous conference room dropped into stunned silence.


    As Ruben entered, the room scrambled into order. Chairs scraped back, and voicesced with deference greeted him.


    Carter stood, stiff and sulky, the gesture more out of obligation than respect.


    With a brisk nod, Ruben acknowledged their greetings, leaning on Elliana’s arm for support as he walked to the head of the table and lowered himself into the seat of authority.


    Elliana stood beside him, calm,posed, and unshaken.


    Carter flopped back into his chair with a scowl aimed at Elliana. “Ruben, we’re here to discuss serious family issues. Why is that worthless woman even in this room?”


    “Show some due respect. Elliana is Cole’s wife and the Evans family’s matriarch,” Ruben replied coolly. “Why wouldn’t she be?”


    Before Carter could respond, a sneering voice cut in from his side. “But we’ve never acknowledged her as the matriarch of this household. She has no ce here.”


    Elliana turned her head, unsurprised to find the speaker was Derek Evans—Carter’s youngest grandson. A pampered yboy with more ego than sense, Derek was around her age and wore his arrogance like cologne—loud and suffocating.


    Read the rest on g??l nov els.????


    Derek’s older brother, rence Evans—the one Carter was grooming to usurp the throne and seize control of this family—sat nearby, calm and collected, a stark contrast to Derek’s immaturity.


    Elliana let her gaze drift over Derek with cool detachment before addressing him, her voice crisp and clear. “Kindly exin why you refuse to acknowledge me as the matriarch of this household when I am the wife of the family head. Why do you think this isn’t my ce?”


    Derek scoffed, his lip curling in open contempt. “First of all, your ugly face alone disqualifies you for the matriarch role. We need one to…


    “Bring grace and glory to this family, rather than shame and gossip. Second, word has it that back in Podgend, you’ve caused nothing but trouble—you picked fights with Cole, threw tantrums, and ran off like a child. He had to send nearly all his guards just to locate you, which made him easy prey for the Phantom Mercenaries’ ambush. Your reckless behavior endangered him and caused enormous problems for the Evans family. And now you dare parade around as his wife?”


    Elliana’s expression didn’t flinch, but her eyes narrowed, razor-sharp. So this was the narrative they’d spun. If this twisted version of events stuck, she’d be painted as the root of the chaos. A scapegoat. And Carter? He’d seize the opportunity, punish her publicly, and then pivot to me Cole for letting his judgment be clouded by a woman. It was an elegant little trap, engineered to strip Cole of his leadership. And Derek? Just a puppet on Carter’s string.


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