Marrying my secret admirer after my husband's fake death novel Chapter 23

Jayne beamed, her smile warm and unguarded. “Your father and I hardly spend any money on ourselves. This is exactly what it should be spent on, so don’t you worry

about it!”

Edith linked her arm through Jayne’s, her own smile soft and content.

She glanced up, only to lock eyes with two all–too–familiar faces.

Edith’s brow furrowed as she tightened her hold on Jayne’s arm. “Mom, let’s go take

a look over there instead.”

Jayne had spotted Heather and Salome as well. Her face stiffened, and she was just about to turn away when Heather’s shrill voice rang out.

“Well, if it isn’t my dear in–laws!”

Jayne managed a polite smile, maintaining her composure. “Hello, Heather. What a coincidence running into you here. Out shopping as well?”

Heather looked down her nose at them, her posture radiating the smugness of a peacock.

“I’m not sure I can call you in–laws anymore,” she replied with biting sweetness. “Didn’t Bennett say Edith’s planning to remarry?”

Salome shot a sidelong glance at Edith and Jayne, her expression dripping with

disdain.

Edith wore a simple white dress, while Jayne was in a pale green dress suit–both understated, both elegant in their own way. But Salome only saw plainness, cheapness, and had always thought the Sumners looked like they’d stepped out of

a thrift store.

After the whole incident with Bennett and the police, Salome’s dislike for the Sumners had soured into outright contempt. Her precious Bennett had only been trying to drop off a few keepsakes of Beckett’s–a kind gesture, she thought, to comfort Edith in her grief. But Edith, shameless as ever, had turned around and started seeing an older man. And the Sumners, equally shameless, reported Bennett for “disturbing the peace” in the middle of the night.

With a cold sneer, Salome hissed, “So that’s how you can afford to shop here–using the dowry money from your new sugar daddy, huh? I never pegged you for the gold–digging type, Edith, but I guess you’re not even pretending anymore, now that Beckett’s gone.”

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Before Edith or Jayne could respond, Heather jumped in, her voice syrupy with fake concern. “Edith, the Vance family always treated you well, didn’t we? I would have thought someone raised in comfort wouldn’t be dazzled by a few trinkets. But look at you now. I guess it must have been exhausting, keeping up that act all these years.”

Edith’s frown deepened. What a small world–it was just her luck to run into these

two.

She couldn’t help wondering if there was something in the water at the Vance house; one by one, they all seemed to go rotten in the head.

She used to put up with it all, for Beckett’s sake–swallowing every slight to keep the peace. But now, there was no reason to pretend.

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