Chapter 274
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I no longer knew what was real and what was fake.
I wasn’t sure if I just had poor judgment, or if people were just too good at pretending.
It felt like I had never truly known Shaun at all. He was nothing like the refined, intelligent, and kind person I had known.
“Emi, let’s go abroad together! Trust me, I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you and Mr. Holland.”
When Madam Hardwell returned to Hardwell Manor and heard that her daughter–in–law had fainted, her face darkened instantly. She stormed into Timothy’s room.
Before Timothy could say a word, she snapped at him harshly. “What’s wrong with you? Don’t you know Grace is pregnant? How could you make her serve you fruits? She was so exhausted that she fainted! If anything happens to her or the baby, can you bear the consequences?”
Her harsh accusations made Timothy frown. He thought that something felt off.
As far as he knew, his mother had always adored him. As the matriarch of such a prestigious family, she was constantly busy, and the usual practice was to leave the child in the care of nannies and housekeepers. But she hadn’t. She had raised him herself.
Even after he graduated high school and went abroad for university, she spent more than half the year abroad with him.
Her love and care for him were rare in wealthy families. But the way she spoke now didn’t align with the image of a mother who deeply adored her child.
There was undeniable hatred in her gaze. She didn’t look like a mother who loved her son dearly.
A thought struck him, and his eyes darkened as he said coldly, ‘When did I ever make her serve me fruit? And even if something did happen to her, so what? It’s just a woman and a child.
“Even without them, with my status, it wouldn’t be difficult to have many others. Why wouldn’t I be able to bear the consequences?”
Madam Hardwell hadn’t expected him to say such things. The elegant and dignified woman widened her eyes , staring at Timothy in disbelief and disgust.
He looked exactly like her own son, but… he had been raised outside the family since young and he was nothing like her beloved
child.
Her beloved son would never say something so heartless and shameless.
She instinctively wanted to speak, but she quickly regained her composure. “Timothy. What are you saying? Your wife is struggling to carry your child. How can you say that? You can’t act this way ! ”
She paused, then added, “From now on , you must treat Grace and the baby well. Otherwise, I will disown you.”
She acted like a genuinely caring and kind mother–in–law.
Timothy lowered his gaze and remained silent. Although Madam Hardwell’s act was nearly flawless, his keen observation allowed him to catch onto something..
It reminded him of a certain movie he had watched.
In the movie, a man had lived his entire life in a fabricated world. His parents, wife, best friend, everything around him was fake. They were all actors in a large reality show.
Of course, Timothy’s life wasn’t a reality show, but it felt eerily similar.
His mother wasn’t really his mother. His wife wasn’t really his wife, and even the baby she was carrying wasn’t really his.
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He wasn’t even Timothy Hardwell.