"Mrs. Sherwood? Mrs. Sherwood!"


    "...What?" Beverley snapped back to reality.


    "Dinner is being served.


    Are you not joining us?"


    "Oh, right.” Beverley quickly led Hertha to a table.


    The person who had called her scratched their head, wondering why all thedies seemed so out of sorts today.


    As the banquet ended and guests departed, Corley found his mother in an upstairs guest room.


    "Mom, let''s go home," he said wearily.


    "I''m not leaving! Why should I? After all these years as their daughter, how could your grandparents treat me this way?"


    "That''s exactly what I want to know," Corley said, his voice heavy.


    Kathleen''s eyes flickered. "Has your father still not answered his phone?"


    "No." Finally, the Rodriguez patriarch and matriarch arrived.


    Madge and her family had already left.


    Geneva entered the room and looked at Kathleen, her face a nk mask.


    "Corley said you wanted to see us."


    "Mother—” “Don''t call me that. I can''t bear it." With no need for pretense, Geneva''s expression was one of pure disgust.


    Kathleen took a deep breath.


    "Fine." She hadpletely calmed down by now.


    “Sit. Let''s talk.” Geneva was curious what she could possibly have to say, that she would have the audacity to demand a meeting after everything that had happened. The elderly couple sat down.


    Kathleen began, "You know everything, don''t you?"


    Geneva sneered. "Know what? Why don''t you spell it out for us?"


    Kathleen nced around the room before her eyes settled back on the old woman.


    "I don''t know if this room is bugged or if you''re wearing a wire, so I won''t fall into your trap. Some things are better left unsaid. We all know the truth in our hearts."


    The old couple was so stunned by her brazenness that they almostughed.


    Corley couldn''t help but frown.


    Kathleen''s lips curved into a smirk.


    "At this point, I won''t beat around the bush. Let''s be blunt. At the banquet


    earlier you both humiliate


    me in


    public, making me the subject of


    everyone''s gossip. Have you


    considered the consequences?"


    Geneva shot back, "What consequences?"


    "I am still Mrs. Sullivan, Teague Sullivan''swfully wedded wife, and the only link


    between the Sullivan and Rodriguez families. Do you really think what you did was appropriate?"


    "Hah," the old woman scoffed.


    "A link?"


    !


    "That''s right! You two can disown me as your daughter, but you should at least keep up appearances for the public. If word gets out that our families'' rtionship has shattered, market


    T.ne


    will be bad for the stocked,


    for ourpanies, and for the reputation of both our families!"


    "So what are you suggesting?"


    Kathleen replied, “Publicly, I am still the daughter of the Rodriguez family. Tomorrow,


    I expect you both to exin to the media that today was all just a


    misunderstanding."


    Genevaughed coldly.


    "And then you can continue being


    Mrs. Sullivan? Maintaining your noble birth and prestigious background? Kathleen, do you take me for a fool, or do you think you''re the only clever person in the world?!"


    Years ago, Geneva had been doing charity work in a turbulent border region in Southeast Asia when she rescued a little girl, not yet three years old.


    She took the child to the local police, only to be told her parents had been killed in a conflict.


    The authorities said their only option was to send her to a local orphanage.


    The tiny child had clung to her leg, refusing to let her go, and Geneva''s heart had melted.


    The very next day, she found out she was pregnant. She and Neely had been married for years without children and were about to give up hope when this miracle happened.