Ex Cried as I Wed a Tycoon

Chapter 33

When Effie stepped through the door of the Bagnold household, she was hit by an immediate, suffocating tension.

Shepard sat rigidly on the living room couch, his face dark with anger. Vera, dressed in an elegant evening gown, stood off to the side, her expression complicated, saying nothing. On another sofa, Suzan sat with her head bowed, her complexion ghostly pale-clearly, she'd already endured a round of scolding.

Suzan knew she'd messed up. After all, the fiasco had exploded online for everyone to see.

"So, the prodigal daughter finally returns," Shepard's voice was cold as ice as he fixed Effie with a razor-sharp stare.

Effie met his gaze with indifference, her tone detached. "You wanted to see me?"

Her words were flat, almost as if she were speaking to a stranger. In truth, Effie felt that even strangers deserved more of her respect than Shepard did. Just looking at him, and thinking about how he and that woman had ruined her mother's life, filled her with bitter resentment.

you speak to me?"

severed those ties," Effie replied coolly. "If you have something to say, say it. If not,

the whole room seemed to shudder. "You ungrateful brat! You dare ask what's wrong? Look at what you've done! You've dragged the

sure you're not confused? The security footage clearly shows Suzan dragging me into this mess. Why am I suddenly the one to

momentarily caught off guard by her retort, his scowl deepening. Of course he knew what the footage showed he just didn't care about the truth. All that

this have become

already thrown the family into the eye of a storm, and instead of defusing the situation, Effie had let it spiral further out of control. As Shepard watched Effie sit there, calm, almost amused, his

you should have protected her, not let

to his words, a cold, mocking smile flickering at her lips. This was her father: selfish, self-serving, always ready to throw her under the bus for his own