QT: Against My Will-Chapter 597 - 10.09 - True Love - Rebirth Of The Heart
In the midst of the lively afterparty, William’s eyes lit up as he spotted Seraphine across the room.
"Seraphine!" he exclaimed, and immediately began to complain about his cousin, "You won’t believe what Edward had just done to me! He left me alone inside a den of wolves!"
Edward had quietly approached Seraphine and with a warm smile, wrapped his arm around her waist, "Nonsense, I accompanied him the whole time."
William, seizing the opportunity to gain Seraphine’s sympathy, adopted a pitiful expression. "But you never helped me!" he declared like a victim of his cousin’s antics.
Bing Shi, noticing William’s state, sniffed the air around him, "Did you drink?"
"Just a bit," William hiccupped, demonstrating the small amount with a pinch of his thumb and pointer finger.
Edward, with a sly twinkle in his eyes, gazed at Seraphine, |"Did I do a good job?"| he inquired, his eagerness for praise evident.
|"Good job."| Bing Shi patted Xuan Mu’s head internally. She thought that getting his cousin a bit tipsy might uncover some hidden truths that would help her with her mission.
· · ─────── · ⊱❈⊰· ─────── · ·
Daniel had experienced a meteoric rise in power and influence. Despite being engaged to Isabelle, he found himself becoming the object of admiration and desire for many.
Isabelle, aware of the attention her fiancé garnered was momentarily flustered. In an unintentional mishap, she didn’t notice Edward’s mother, who didn’t notice her either, and both accidentally bumped into each other and spilled their drinks on each other’s dresses.
"..." Some guests glanced in their direction, surprised.
Edward made his presence known, standing beside his mother as a show of support while keeping his hand wrapped around Seraphine’s waist, "Mother, are you alright?"
"I’ve been better," said Edward’s mother, who was sure Isabelle had done it on purpose, and decided to escalate things out of sheer pettiness, "My dear Isabelle," she said condescendingly, "One would expect more grace from someone in your position."
Isabelle chose to be the bigger person despite her growing certainty that Edward’s mother had been the one at fault. She had a huge stain on her chest while Edward’s mother received only a few drops at the hem of her dress. With poise and diplomacy, she extended a gracious apology, seeking to defuse the tension.
Daniel, however, interpreted it differently. In his mind, he perceived Isabelle’s willingness to apologize as an attempt to curry favor with Edward’s family, especially with Edward himself.
He gently draped his suit jacket over her shoulders, "You shouldn’t be the only one apologizing when it wasn’t entirely your fault. In fact, both parties should share some responsibility for the accident."
The room seemed to freeze. Guests who were previously chatting and laughing fell into an awkward silence, their eyes darting between Isabelle and Edward’s mother. They also thought that his mother should apologize too.
Edward’s mother’s pride and lingering frustration made her unwilling to fully let go of the matter, "A dress can be replaced, but the stain on one’s reputation is far more enduring," she said, her voice dripping with disdain, "It’s you who spread rumors of my son and daughter in law being cheaters, isn’t it?"
"The truth always finds a way to surface, whether I was the one who spread it or not," Isabelle said cryptically, offering no apology for her actions.
"If we’re discussing reputations," Daniel began, his voice icy yet controlled, "perhaps we should also talk about the kind of values you’ve instilled in your son."
Edward’s mother was visibly incensed, her eyes narrowed into slits, "Excuse me?"
"Rumors don’t materialize out of thin air," Daniel continued, not breaking eye contact. "Edward’s actions have made it quite clear where his moral compass points. And you’ve even accepted a daughter-in-law with a similar reputation. I wonder if that’s a family trait."
Edward’s mother drew a deep breath, her voice quivering with suppressed rage, "You’re in no position to judge my family."
"And you’re in no position to lecture Isabelle on grace or reputation," Daniel retorted. "If you’re so concerned about stains, perhaps start by cleaning your own house."
"You!" At Daniel’s words, the color drained from Edward’s mother’s face and for a moment, she swayed on her feet as if she might faint.
Edward quickly released his grip on Seraphine’s waist and rushed to his mother’s side, steadying her before she could collapse.
The room held its collective breath, watching as Edward’s mother gripped her son’s arm, steadying herself.
Before Daniel could lead Isabelle away, Seraphine stepped forward and landed a punch squarely in his stomach. The air whooshed out of him and the room gasped in collective shock.
"Running out of ideas on how to make us suffer?" Seraphine put an end to whether it was between them officially, "Here you are, a new excuse to paint me as the villain again. Go ahead, sue me. It’ll be just another Chapter in your story of how I’m always the bad one, right?"
Seraphine challenged Daniel and Isabella to use the punch as yet another way to tarnish her image, "I may not have proof, but I’m not blind. Isn’t it convenient that I was caught in the act, so you could feel better about your own emotional infidelity? I’m really thrilled for you, truly."
"What are you talking about?" Daniel held Isabelle, who was ready to defend him back, let Seraphins lash out violently again.
"I was ready to let it all go. Admit my mistakes and move on from our messy history. But making it someone else’s problem? That’s a new low, even for us." Seraphine’s gaze switched between Daniel and then at the ring on Isabelle’s ring finger, "Years with me and no ring, but with her, you couldn’t wait to propose. It must be true love."
Daniel opened his mouth, then closed it, struggling to find the right words. He never loved Seraphine. That was the fact.
The lines between physical and emotional unfaithfulness were often blurred, each causing its own form of hurt.
Bing Shi could have wrecked him up by pretending to travel back in time too, but she was rooting for their love story actually. She quickly looked nervously at her husband, thinking how she had promised herself to stay as his flower vase wifey, ’He is not going to make fun of me again, would he?’
|’I know that Daniel has been trying to push Ashtors out of the business, but I don’t want XiaoPu to be bullied because of our past. They can say whatever they like about us, but our babies will not be easy targets for bullying, hmph!’|
’Isn’t she thinking too far ahead?’ Edward, having been silent for most of the heated exchange, finally stepped forward after his mother’s state stabilized, |’Considering they will be dealing with a woman that was bold enough to punch a lawyer slash politician in the guts, they might want to think twice before crossing you.’|
|’Right! Nobody crosses an angry mommy Bing Shi, hmpf!’|
Taking Seraphine’s clenched fist in his hand, Edward gently began to wipe it with a cloth, a smile crossing his lips, "Perhaps we should take Daniel’s advice to heart," he said, his voice low and doting, "and cleanse ourselves of whatever filth we’ve managed to collect along the way."
Seraphine nodded with a relieved huff as she hooked her other arm around Edward’s mother’s arm, leading her out of the venue as fast as possible, "Clean me properly."
· · ─────── · ⊱❈⊰· ─────── · ·
When Edward and the rest stepped into the hover car, they noticed William already asleep, his face a portrait of exhaustion.
"My dear Seraphine, you are truly a vision," Edward’s mother said, clasping her daughter-in-law’s hand, "You have no idea how much joy you bring into my life." Her praises felt genuine but also carried an undertone of gratitude.
"Mother," Edward interjected, pulling his mother aside to sit next to Seraphine, "just apologize next time. We won’t be keeping your side forever."
His mother looked at Seraphine as if expecting her daughter-in-law to offer some form of allegiance or emotional support in the face of her son’s stern advice as she did a while ago before the whole world.
Seraphine met her mother-in-law’s gaze but remained silent, a neutral expression on her face, "I also think you should have apologized."
"..." His mother clutched her heart as if at the brink of fainting again, clearly unwilling to address the issue at hand. As the hovercar moved on, she leaned back in her seat after nobody bought her act, a satisfied smile forming on her lips.
Despite the private reprimands, she knew that when the world turned against her, her family would still have her back. And that thought alone seemed to give her immense satisfaction.
