97 Were her words so important to
Aiden?
Ryan’s mouth opened, but no words came out. His mind was swirling with guilt, regret, and confusion. He had tried to justify it to himself before, but now, standing before his mother’s raw, unfiltered rage and grief, he had no defence.
Beca shook her head, stepping back as if repulsed by her own son. “If Arwen had died that day, Ryan, you would have been responsible. You left her to die!” She wiped away a stray tear, her hands trembling as she *held herself, trying to contain the flood of emotions
threatening to overwhelm her. “The son I raised… wouldn’t have done that.”
Ryan’s voice finally broke through, weak and pleading. “Mom, it wasn’t like that. It happened so fast. I didn’t
realize …”
“You didn’t realize?” Beca’s laugh was hollow, bitter. “You didn’t realize you left her there to suffer while you saved someone else? I almost thought that maybe Arwen was exaggerating it to reason her actions, that
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97 Wore her words so important to Aden?
maybe she misunderstood what happened. But now …I see it was worse. You didn’t just hurt her, Ryan. You abandoned her. And now, you were pretending as if you care. Like she meant something for you. Like you would have stirred a war to have her in your life.”
Ryan took a shaky step forward, trying to explain, but Beca raised a hand to stop him. “Don’t,” she hissed, her voice low but full of fury. “I don’t know who you have become, but you are not the man I raised. And if Arwen never forgives you, I wouldn’t blame her.”
With that, she turned her back on him, her posture stiff with hurt and anger, leaving Ryan standing alone in the garden, his guilt hanging heavy in the air.
“Also, Ryan, Arwen has moved on. Now your desperation won’t change anything. You have spent so long taking her for granted that you didn’t even realize how and when everything got over between you two. You let her down, not once but every time.” Beca paused as she remembered Arwen’s resolute expression. “She is not coming back. Not anymore not just because she is no longer your finacée. But because she has someone else wife now. Someone else
who treats her better. The sooner you accept that, the
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97 Were her words so important to Aiden?
better.”
Ryan’s brows furrowed, feeling the ground beneath his feet slip away. “Someone else wife?” he asked, horrified at just the thought of it.
But Beca didn’t stay to answer him. She walked back inside, leaving him to his own turmoil. As he stood there, the weight of her words pressed down on him.
Someone else’s wife? Did Arwen marry someone else? The thought was more unbearable than he had thought.
Shaking his head, he denied it. No, that can’t be true. She couldn’t marry someone else other than me. She has always wandered around me. If not for marrying him, there was no way she would have indulged him so much.
With that thought, he ran his fingers through his hair. His gaze dropped back to the velvet box there. “Arwen, that can’t be true,” he murmured to himself before reaching to take the box in his hand.
Opening it, he looked at the familiar ruby inside,
“Arwen, this belongs to you. And if I have to make you
wear this again then I would do it. Happily.” He
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muttered to himself before leaving the garden with determination in his eyes.
On his way out, the butler stepped to ask him about the lunch but before Mr. James could say anything, Ryan was already off.
***
Meanwhile, Arwen has returned to Winslow estate,
when she overheard someone whispering in the
corner.
“Is it true?”
“Yes, I heard it with my own ears. Amanda didn’t quit.
She was thrown out.”
Arwen’s brows furrowed slightly, but she didn’t stop
until she heard Amanda’s name in the conversation.
Her steps slowed before she stopped completely to
listen.
“Thrown out?” someone gasped, surprised even Arwen. As far as she remembered, Mr. Jones had said that
Amanda had quit her job to take care of her sick mother.
“But wasn’t it for her mother?”
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“Heh! Her mother? Have you ever seen her care for her? She only paid for her medical bills, and not out of love, but because our wages are had a separate component that covers our parents‘ medical bills. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have spent a single penny on
her.”
“True. I used to share the quarters with her and never heard her speak kindly of her old lady. She always acted superior, boasting about how she
single–handedly improved her family’s circumstances.”
“Yes, that woman has always been cruel. She only pretended to be kind in front of Mr. Jones. But around Mr. Winslow, she spoke differently. I even heard her say once that she would soon become Mrs. Winslow. She always used to dream superficially.”
“Pity she learned her place when Madam appeared.
Who did she think she was? Mr. Winslow had never
cared to speak even a word to her, yet she always pretended as if she was favoured and appreciated.”
“So was it because of Madam, she was thrown out?” someone asked, and even Arwen furrowed her brows.
But her expression eased when she heard a click of
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someone’s tongue. “Madam is too kind. How can it be because of her? Amanda brought this on herself. I am not sure of the full details, but frown what I have heard, she was caught plotting against Madam.”
“Really?”
“Yes, Mr. Jones overheard her talking to others. She was trying to tarnish Madam’s image in front of the staff. When Mr. Winslow found out, he immediately had her dismissed. Not just that, he asked Mr. Jones to make sure that she wouldn’t find any decent work in
the future.”
The maids gasped. “Doesn’t that mean that she is
ruined?”
“So what? She asked for it. Who told her plot against
Madam?”
“True, she was wicked to even think of such a thing. But what about her sick mother? Won’t she suffer?”
Arwen felt a pang of sympathy. While Amanda deserved her fate, her mother did not.
“That old lady is been taken care of.” Arwen’s confusion grew until she heard the explanation. “Madam asked
Mr. Jones to handle her medical bills.
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97 Were her words so important to Aiden?
Mr. Winslow didn’t refuse. In fact, he instructed the butler to ensure the old woman receives proper care as per Madam’s order.”
Arwen was taken aback. Were her words so important to Aiden that he couldn’t go against them, even when it involved someone he didn’t favor?
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