Chapter 151
Mrs. Hawke never imagined she’d find herself in such an awkward situation. She couldn’t believe that her daughter, whom she had raised with such care and attention, would display such embarrassing behavior. At the Lancaster Group banquet, she chalked it up to Arabella defending the Hawke family’s honor.
But now, Arabella’s repeated bouts of hysteria had her questioning whether it was something in their genes.
The broken engagement was already a sore spot, and Arabella’s antics only added fuel to the fire.
Mrs. Hawke, already miffed with the Zade family, found herself less indulgent toward Arabella than before. What once seemed like mere petulance now looked more like the imprudence of someone like Luna, which irritated her increasingly more.
Arabella hadn’t quite recovered from the abrupt end of the phone call when she felt the weight of Mrs. Hawke’s displeased stare.
She glanced over immediately, wearing a look of hurt and sorrow. “Mom.”
She hoped, as she always had, to appear pitiful and evoke her mother’s sympathy and comfort. That was how it had always been.
And with the Blackwell family calling off the engagement, it was clearly their fault, not hers. So really, she was the one who was wronged.
But Mrs. Hawke shot back with a cold huff, “Do you even have the nerve to call me ‘Mom‘?”
A flicker of fear crossed Arabella’s eyes. “Mom!”
She called again, but Mrs. Hawke had already turned away in anger, heading upstairs.
Alden took a deep breath, his voice low and stern. “Enough. Your mom’s had enough of this. With the Blackwell family breaking off the engagement, you need to figure out what you’re going to do.”
Arabella bit her lip, tear stains filled with her face.
“Dad, it was him who broke it off. Why is Mom angry at me?”
Alden didn’t want to elaborate further, simply saying, “If this becomes a scandal, it’ll be humiliating. I’ll talk to the Blackwells again. You should also think of a way to handle this. If it doesn’t work out, the engagement is
over.”
Arabella was confused. “Dad, he’s the one who wants to call it off. You still want me to marry him?”
After all the humiliation, how could her father still push her towards Theo? Why couldn’t they find her a better
match?
Her father and brothers had always said that if Theo wasn’t good to her, they’d find her a better fiancé. Why was everything different now?
She looked at her father’s grim face and her silent brothers, feeling a growing chill inside. What had changed? Why weren’t her brothers speaking up for her now?
Alden frowned. “Why can’t you? Do you see other ladies behaving like you? Didn’t Theo adore you? Can’t you try to win him back? If this engagement falls through, how do you expect to find another match?”
Arabella turned to Dorian, hoping for some comfort. The latter merely said, “Our company has a project coming up that requires cooperation with the Blackwell family. A marriage union would be beneficial for business. Theo’s been fond of you for so long, no way he’d give up so easily; it would be a shame to call off the engagement.”
Orion couldn’t help but interject, “But, isn’t this a bit unfair to Bella?”
Alistair frowned. “Didn’t she used to like Theo a lot?”
apter 151
Lysander remained silent, but his tacit agreement was evident. Arabella’s face suddenly hardened with
realization.
“Is it because you think of me as just an adopted daughter, with no blood ties to you. Is that why you’ve changed?”
She let out a bitter laugh through her tears. “You all never let me suffer before. If it were Miranda, you wouldn’t treat her like this, would you?”
Chapter 152
