My Unchosen Ex Chases Reborn Me (Soren and Fiona) novel Chapter 202

Chapter 202 Hidden Hands

Chapter 202 Hidden Hands

200

Free Comp

“You are correct, Aunt Joanna,” Fiona replied, keeping her courtesy impeccable. “Mdm. Isabel repeats her offenses, so punishment is deserved, and my thoughts match yours entirely. Still, the exact penalty ought to be settled between you and my mother.”

It was a polite formality. Fiona had no intention of burdening Meryl with the task, but the suggestion lent their position the weight of consensus.

“Very well. I shall consult Mother first, then your mother and I will oversee the matter together,” Joanna said, as though every step were already ordained.

At that moment Fiona set a folded letter on the rosewood table, ostensibly to free her hands for the pastries. The cream–sealed note bore Lilith’s careful script, addressed to Stanley.

Joanna’s gaze snagged on it, her pulse dipping. She forced a casual tone. “Is that a letter from Lili?”

“She asked me to post it to Uncle Stanley,” Fiona answered, eyes steady.

Joanna’s smile faltered. If the letter reached Stanley, his fondness for Isabel would draw him home at once, and secrecy would vanish like smoke.

She pictured her husband reading Lilith’s pleas, panic igniting, galloping back to the estate before Joanna could discreetly dispose of Isabel.

“Poor child. She must be worrying over Isabel,” Joanna murmured.

“Aunt Joanna, the letter begs mercy for Mdm. Isabel. I agree the woman must be punished, yet Lili cannot bear to see her birth mother destroyed. If you temper justice with a little grace, the world will praise your compassion.”

Without the letter, such words would ring hollow. That was why Fiona had urged Lilith to write–Stanley’s authority could still cow Joanna when nothing else would.

“Naturally, we cannot appear lenient,” Fiona added gently. “If outsiders believe our family condones treachery, even Uncle Stanley could not defend it. Still, the precise measure–please, discuss it with my mother.”

Rage simmered behind Joanna’s placid expression, yet she dared not let it boil over. She recalled how deftly Fiona had handled the household accounts; this young lady was no innocent flower.

From the first word today, Fiona had never intended the second branch to shoulder blame.

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Chapter 202 Hidden Hands

Her poised advice was, in truth, a lesson–one that left Joanna boxed in on every

side.

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45 Free Contis

If I truly sent Isabel away to that distant hillside manor, Stanley would surely drift from me. He would suspect I orchestrated the whole exile. Yet if I leave the woman untouched, the entire Niven household will condemn me as a useless duchess.

“You are right. Isabel is Lilith’s birth mother, so we must show at least a shred of courtesy. I have no wish to torment her, only to see our family rules applied.”

“If Uncle Stanley hears of this, he too will surely be moved,” Fiona replied.

Joanna’s painted lips quivered, but nothing came out. Hatred churned beneath her calm façade. Isabel had dared challenge her, lure away her husband, endanger her son. When the moment for payback arrived, Joanna vowed she would show no mercy.

The verdict fell swift. Thirty harsh blows across Isabel’s back and the forfeiture of her allowance for an entire year–exactly as the house statutes prescribed.

“Let there be one more offense,” Hannah growled, striking her cane against the floor, “and I will deal with you myself.”

Lilith is of my own flesh and blood. How can it be wrong for me to treat her as I please? If not for the bad luck she drags in, I would never have lost my son!

Hannah slammed her cane again. “Silence her–slap that insolent mouth!”

Realizing her husband was away–and no shield remained–Isabel swallowed her retort. She merely shot Joanna a look steeped in venom, certain the duchess had engineered this moment in his absence.

Isabel’s gaze

drifted to the side and caught her daughter standing quietly with Fiona.

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