He Deceived Me So I Destroyed His Family’s Legacy Chapter 05
After that night, I was sick for three days.
Adrian came to see me every day.
He sat by my bedside, tucked the covers around me, and spoke in a voice so gentle it was as if nothing had ever happened.
“Nora, stop making trouble.”
“I’ve already handled everything with Lily.”
“You just need to rest.”
“Once Vanessa officially moves in, everything will be better.”
I never said a word.
On the day Adrian held a public wedding for Vanessa—the legally meaningless ceremony meant only to establish her status—the Blackwood mansion on the Upper East Side was ablaze with light.
White roses snaked from the front gates all the way to the ballroom.
I stood behind a window and watched him, dressed in a black tuxedo, personally help Vanessa out of the car.
She wore a custom-made wedding gown, one hand clutched tightly to his arm.
He lowered his head to speak to her.
Guests in the colonnade laughed as they praised him.
“Mr. Blackwood is a man of true honor.”
“When the Hales went bankrupt, he still honored the family engagement. That was rare enough.”
“And now he’s willing to give Miss Reed a public place by his side. He’s a man who takes responsibility.”
A man who takes responsibility.
The words tasted like blood in my mouth.
I used to think so, too.
When we were children, some other kids pushed me into the mud in Central Park. He was the one who pulled me out and handed me his handkerchief.
He said, “Don’t cry. If something’s dirty, you wash it.”
I remembered that for years.