Chapter 306
Hearing footsteps, Rowena quickly wiped away her tears, thinking it was her mother coming. But when Rowena looked up and met Winifred’s eyes, her tears burst forth like a broken dam; she just couldn’t hold them back anymore. With a loud wail, Rowena threw her arms around Winifred’s waist and sobbed uncontrollably.
"Hey–" Winifred started, reaching out to push her away. Winifred was wearing a dress, and it was quickly getting soaked with tears, which felt kind of awkward. But instead of pushing her away, her hand just landed on Rowena’s head.
Ten minutes later, after she’d cried herself out, Rowena finally calmed down a bit. Sniffling, she looked up at Winifred and said, "Thanks."
Winifred gazed down at her from above. “What happened?” Meeting Winifred’s calm, unreadable gaze, Rowena knew she couldn’t trouble her any further. She was just about to make something up when...
“Don’t lie to me." Winifred’s voice was cool. "I can’t stand liars." Rowena stiffened, her lashes trembling and her fingers clenched tightly. In the end, she told Winifred everything. As soon as Winifred heard the story, she instantly realized Yvonne was the one behind all this. No one would say something like that in a place like this. Wade probably took something from Yvonne.
“It’s really no big deal,” Rowena said, forcing a smile as she wiped away her tears. “It’s just one role. I’m sure there’ll be others.” But Winifred could tell she was just putting on a brave face–deep down, she was probably hurting more than anyone else.
“Rowena,” Winifred said firmly, “wait for me. I won’t let anyone replace you.” With that, Winifred turned and strode off. Rowena tried to stop her, but there was no way she could catch up.
“Winifred, no, you don’t have to–please come back,” Rowena called after Winifred. But Winifred was already gone, vanishing from sight. Rowena stood there, lost and unsure what to do, her heart racing for reasons she couldn’t explain as she bit her lip.
Winifred’s words made Rowena feel completely safe, like she could trust her with anything. Rowena just knew that if Winifred promised something, she’d always come through.
Winifred tracked down Wade, who was still drinking with a group of people. When she saw him heading for the bathroom, she followed right after him. Just as Wade was about to step inside, Winifred yanked him back, slammed him against the wall, and drove her foot into his stomach.
“Agh—” Wade cried out, collapsing to the floor in pain. He was just about to yell for help when he realized who it was—Winifred. "Wait, isn’t this the girl from the Hart family?" he wondered. "What was her name again! Oh right, Winifred."
“Winifred, why are you hitting me?" he cried out. Before Wade could even finish, Winifred started kicking him over and over, making his whole body ache with pain. As he was about to yell for help, Winifred’s voice turned icy. “Say one more word and I’ll end you right here.”
After getting beaten up, Wade, his face bruised and swollen, slowly got to his feet, wiping away tears! “Winifred–no, Miss Hart," he whimpered, "you’ve wronged me. I'm not your uncle if you want, but we’re still family, and there’s still blood between us. What did I ever do to deserve this? I never wronged you.”
Winifred couldn’t be bothered to waste words on him. “Spill it. How much did Yvonne give you to swap out Rowena?” So it really was about that? Wade thought.
“26 million dollars,” he blurted out.
“Fine,” Winifred said coldly. “I’ll invest 30 million dollars in you. But you’re not replacing Rowena. Let her act in peace. Call her right now and tell her you were just being crazy, that you must’ve lost your mind or something."