Chapter 106: A serious threat.
Anne stood frozen, her chest rising and falling with shallow, shaky breaths. Tania’s words clung to her skin like frost, chilling her to the bone. Her mind reeled. Lies. They had to be lies. And yet—there was something about Tania’s tone, her certainty, that made Anne’s heart twist with doubt.
"No," Anne whispered, shaking her head.
"You don’t believe me?" Tania scoffed, her eyes glinting with wicked amusement. "Go ask Augustine yourself. See what he tells you."
Anne clenched her teeth. She wanted to scream, to cry, but instead, she straightened her back and held her head high.
"I don’t care what twisted stories you spin," she said through gritted teeth. "Whether his family accepts us or not, it doesn’t matter. I don’t need their approval. I and Augustine are enough for each other."
Tania’s smile faded for a moment, the venom in her eyes flickering as she realized Anne wasn’t breaking the way she had hoped.
"Suit yourself," she sneered. "That’s the fate of a family’s illegitimate child—always cast aside, ignored, and treated like dirt."
Anne stood frozen, her heart pounding in her chest. Anger simmered beneath her skin as her thoughts raced.
All this time, she had believed the conflict between Augustine and Denis was simply a matter of inheritance—a bitter fight over money and property. But now, the truth hit her like a punch to her gut: the resentment wasn’t just about wealth. It was personal. Deep. Rotten at the roots.
The infidelity of Grandpa Dimitri in his marriage—his affair, the child born from it, the shame and secrecy—was hard to digest.
And Augustine, by blood, had been carrying the weight of that mistake and humiliation all his life. Cast aside, denied his rightful place, judged for a sin that wasn’t even his.