Forced Marriage: My Wife, My Redemption by Lilyheart

Chapter 280: Is she our next matriarch?

Lady Matilda hugged Jessica again and again, as though her arms could pull back the time lost between them. Each embrace was tender, trembling, yet unrelenting—as though she feared Jessica might vanish the moment she let go.

"You must have suffered greatly... when she died," she murmured, her voice thinned by grief, her brows furrowed with the weight of heartache

Her grip tightened slightly, as if the words had reopened an old wound.

"How was she, my Nora?" she asked, her voice cracking with emotion. "Did she live well? Or... did she suffer so much?"

The questions spilled out, unfiltered. For years, she had lived with them in the corners of her mind and in silence, these questions had lived and echoed within her yet she had never been able to answer them.

Has Nora eaten well?

Was she safe?

Who held her when she cried?

Who celebrated her when she succeeded?

Every time Lady Matilda had sat before the elaborate meals served by Santiago’s elite chefs, her heart would twist. Did her daughter dine with dignity—or simply survive?

Eventually, her uncertainty had pushed her into a life of charity and almsgiving. It was the only way she knew to atone for her helplessness.

She gave with one hope, one prayer: that somewhere, somehow, by feeding others, by giving warmth, hope, and comfort, some divine force would extend that grace to her daughter, wherever she might be and her daughter might find favor from above.

Now, looking at Jessica—Nora’s image reborn, strong, graceful, and whole. She felt that perhaps, her prayers had been answered, not for Nora, but for the legacy she left behind.

Jessica held the elderly woman with gentle firmness, overwhelmed by the intensity of the moment. She could feel Lady Matilda’s heartbeat, thudding softly against her own, and she wished she had the power to undo her mother’s pain.

Gently, she offered comforting words, painting a picture of a mother who had lived with dignity and grace despite life’s burdens.

"She lived beautifully... strong, Jessica said, her voice steady despite the storm inside her. "Step by step she pushed forward...day after day. Strong...Determined...never breaking, she never gave up."She concluded.

Still, a sting remained at the back of her throat. Behind those words was the memory of Nora’s pain—masked behind warm smiles, hidden behind late-night tears when she thought Jessica was asleep.

Jessica could still recall how her mother bore her suffering in silence, her heart heavy from a loveless marriage to George Brown.

Even as a child, Jessica had sensed it. Nora had stayed for her. Endured for her.

Now, the full weight of it settled on her chest like iron.

Jessica clenched her fists slightly. Her heart ached, her breath caught in her chest. "No matter the cost," she resolved silently, "George and that woman must pay for all she endured."

soft knock interrupted

gently, "the table is set.

trembling

she said, turning to Jessica with a look of apology. "But I thought it right they all

inhaled slowly and gave her a gentle, faint,

pride in her heart. she couldn’t help feeling immense pride in Nora for raising a

way down the grand hallway, their footsteps echoing softly on the

hall opened before them in opulent glory and they entered the grand dining hall

soft golden glow, and the long mahogany table gleamed under its light,

members of the Santiago family—well-dressed, sharp-eyed, and whispering amongst themselves. A hush fell across the room at the

of the table and took her seat with regal grace, motioning for Jessica to

always been a quiet absence in our family, an empty space where our daughter Nora should

unease passed through the

hers, her voice calm but commanding. "her daughter is here now. Her name is Jessica Brown, she is our granddaughter, so

through the table. Some gasped. Some exchanged knowing glances. Others stiffened, their eyes narrowing behind half-raised wine

the subtle tension, Lady Matilda continued with unshakable

forward, I expect her

tension in the room

the room in a few strides and

the situation to come to conclusion this easy. But seeing the result now, he was

pain tugged at his heart, he wished he had seen his

genuine warmth, others out of obligation.

sat stiffly, their eyes narrowed,

smiles or fleeting nods. A few, however, stared at their plates, clearly displeased yet

all—the envy, the subtle resistance, the silent calculations being

Jessica, noting her

patted the chair beside

"Jessica, sit here."

Forks paused mid-air. That seat—next to the matriarch—was symbolic. Reserved for the heir. It hadn’t been

had

the room. Expressions darkened. The unspoken hierarchy

in the family. For Lady Matilda to place Jessica at her right hand...

the family. She’s being positioned as the

were exchanged amongst them as a silent question tugged

she our next

I’ve just earned enemies I haven’t even met yet." Jessica thoughts sharpened. "I