Forced Marriage: My Wife, My Redemption by Lilyheart

Chapter 282: It is your fate...

After dinner, Lady Matilda motioned for everyone to remain seated. The clinking of cutlery ceased, and murmured conversations died down.

"Before we disperse," she began with commanding calmness, "I believe it is time Jessica is properly introduced to the family. She should understand the Santiago family tree."

What followed was a deliberate rundown of names and relations. Uncles, aunts, cousins—everyone took their turn, and Lady Matilda clarified the bloodlines as though each connection carried weight.

Jessica listened attentively. Her mind filtered through the names and titles, but it was one revelation that struck her most.

Lady Matilda had only two children—her mother, Nora, and a younger son, Donald. Jessica’s heart skipped. Her mother had been the eldest. The firstborn.

So that was it.

The secret tension in the air. The barely concealed hostility. It all made sense now.

Her presence had disrupted more than routines—it had threatened the silent ambitions that had festered in this house for years. Her arrival had shaken old plots from their slumber and forced hidden motives into motion.

She cast a quick glance around the table. Her eyes lingered on each face. Some wore false warmth, their smiles too tight, their eyes too shifty. Others barely concealed their disdain. A few—just a handful—looked sincere, though even their sincerity felt cautious.

Donald, her uncle, looked strangely alone despite being surrounded by his own blood. A sheep among wolves, she thought. No wonder Lady Matilda had retained control even at her age—there was no one else strong enough to hold the house together.

Subtly, Jessica reached for her phone under the table and typed out a message to Ethan.

"I need a clear report on the following people. Immediately."

She listed the names she sensed were more than they seemed. There was no room for naïveté. Not here.

As she hit ’send’, Lady Matilda’s voice rose again, steady and resolute.

"I’ve been growing tired lately," she said, her tone unflinching, "and Donald alone cannot handle the affairs of the Santiagos. So after much thought, I’ve come to a conclusion—Jessica, being a Santiago, will step up as Vice President to support her uncle."

that

slipped from her grasp. She turned to Lady Matilda in

this. Feared the weight those exact words

eyes drifted to Cassandra, who met her gaze with a look of pure venom. Their stare locked like swords clashing mid-air. Cassandra’s

Matilda and forced her voice calm. "I don’t think I can handle this right now. Maybe we should take

shook her head. "You

being unfair?" Cassandra broke in, her

Matilda raised a brow.

while Jessica, a stranger to their inner

Santiago—by blood. And the position she’s taking rightfully belonged to her mother. Nora was my firstborn.

table. No one dared challenge

an official welcoming banquet. And with it, the

of muffled gasps

widened. A formal announcement? A banquet? When had she agreed to

Lady Matilda and she saw the exhaustion hiding behind the steel. The woman looked so

"Please excuse me. I’ll take

her back. As she exited, Jessica and

quietly to Jessica, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. "She definitely wants to speak

and glanced back at him, her voice low. "Aren’t you upset

are you thinking about?" he asked,

gesture triggered a memory

her forehead and the night before she died was the last time she

necklace, and Nora had flicked her forehead

in her mind: "When the time comes, it

stirred in

the present. "Nora was always better at business than me. You stepping up... it lets me

His smile was genuine—relieved.