Chapter 197

"You okay?"

A gentle, concerned voice sounded above her.

Aurora rubbed her forehead and looked up to see Lucas asking the question with a blank expression.

"I'm fine."

Facing that familiar face, she couldn't bring herself to say anything more.

After replying, she stepped aside and continued walking into the house.

Lucas reached out and caught her wrist, a flicker of hurt passing through his eyes. "Aurora, can we talk?"

The two of them stood there in silence, caught in a quiet standoff—neither willing to break the fragile balance between them.

But deep down, Aurora knew things between them hadn’t been the same for a long time.

Ever since Wendy came into the picture, there was no going back.

"Lucas, this is my own issue. You don’t need to overthink it."

Aurora forced a smile. "Besides, we got married on impulse, didn't we? It was all for our parents. Why bother caring so much? Does love even matter?"

Lucas studied her face, trying to spot any hint of a lie.

But she masked it too well. If she was bluffing, he couldn’t tell.

"Aurora, are you really going to be this cold?"

Aurora let out a bitter laugh. "You should know that I was never the one who turned cold first."

With that, she shook off his hand and walked straight into the house.

Inside, Wendy had witnessed the entire scene. Her heart practically lit up with joy.

So, they had a flash marriage, and it was all for family interests?

Perfect. That just made her game a whole lot easier.

She just knew it—Lucas would be hers in the end, and hers alone.

"Aurora Walton, you’re just a latecomer. What makes you think you can compete with me? I can’t wait to see the day you fall from grace."

With a satisfied smirk, Wendy quickly sent a message to Joseph: “Pick up the pace on your end. I’ll give you my full support from here.”

Joseph was in bed with Judy when the message came through.

He paused mid-motion as he glanced at his phone.

Judy, clearly annoyed, leaned in. "What is it?"

His eyes darkened, but for the sake of their shared enemy, he held his temper and typed out a reply to Wendy.

Seeing this, Judy clenched her fists, silently cursing in her heart.

Whoever was on the other end had to be some kind of temptress. What kind of woman could have him reaching for his phone in the middle of this?

That’s a new level of shameless.

Without looking at her, Joseph muttered, "Don’t worry about it. I got things to handle."

Once the reply was sent, he tried to resume, but Judy had already lost interest.

Noticing her change, Joseph’s temper flared.

He leaned in close and growled, “Don’t forget who’s paying your bills. Who feeds you? Who clothes you? You’d better remember your place.”

At those words, Judy fell silent, the resentment in her eyes growing deeper by the second.

In the end, she let him do whatever he wanted.

She felt like a broken doll, hollow and discarded.

The next day, Joseph came to see Wendy.

This time, she was actually eager to meet him, almost impatient.

Because it meant they were one step closer to bringing Aurora down.

“I’ve already released the statement. What’s next?” Wendy asked, a little too quickly, her eyes tinged with anticipation.

Joseph gave her a small smile. “Miss Shaws, you weren’t this eager before.”

“What happened? Did something change your mind?”