The Villainess' Reborn Diary Novel - Chapter 173

Chapter 173 A Slap for a Son The words had barely settled when the study door was shoved open from outside. Sheldon stormed in, furious, grabbed a magazine off the table, and hurled it at Rhett's face. The heavy cover made a dull, hard thud against his skin. Sheldon hadn't held back at all. The impact left a red mark across Rhett's face. Isolde stubbed out her cigarette, voice sharp. "What is wrong with you?" Sheldon glared at her. "Look what your son's gone and done." Finished Rhett steadied himself, reached up to touch his own cheek, hot and stinging, and dropped his hand instead.

He looked at Sheldon's twisted, furious face, calm, the corner of his mouth curving mockingly. "What did I do now?" Sheldon pointed at him, breathing hard. "The Vanes just called me. They want to call off the engagement." Jackie had made the call himself. Unlike Alistair's blunt style, Jackie was known for being diplomatic, always opening with small talk about how things were going. This time, he'd been direct, no room left for pleasantries. The current business dealings between the Vane and Sterling families would continue as-is; no new deals going forward.

Jackie's closing line: "Back then I thought you were an honest man, figured whatever kid you raised couldn't turn out too bad. Seems I misjudged you." Nothing overtly harsh in the words, and yet it hit Sheldon like a slap. He'd apologized over and over, and Jackie had simply hung up on him. "That's not possible." Isolde grabbed the edge of the table to steady herself. "It's just kids fighting, a little squabble. How does that turn into calling off the engagement?" "A little squabble?" Sheldon let out a furious laugh.

"He called their own grandson a bastard, in front of a whole crowd, and you call that a little squabble?" "Just apologize, that'll fix it. Rhett and Xander never got along anyway... and Seren's crazy about our son, always following him around. There's no way she'd agree to call it off." Isolde gripped the table, refusing to believe it. Rhett stayed silent. He was thinking about that day outside the classroom building, chasing Seren down, her 12:16 pm P Chapter 128 A Slap for a Son like you anymore. You didn't appreciate what I gave you. Someone else will." So it hadn't been a bluff.

"Rhett." Sheldon glared at him. "You'd better think carefully about what you've done." Colette got home in a wreck that night and came down with a high fever. The next morning. Kieran finished breakfast, shouldered his backpack. "Mom, I'm heading out." "Okay." Selah said, then knocked on Colette's door, worried. "Colette, time to get up. You'll be late." No response from inside. She hesitated a moment, then, steeling herself, turned the knob and went in. Colette lay curled under the blankets, face flushed. Selah reached out and touched her forehead, gasped, and shook her awake.