Chapter 129
From the moment she first saw Nicholas, her heart had belonged to him.
Especially after her parents had jokingly let slip the childhood engagement between the Lancaster and Blackwood families.
From then on, she had completely regarded Nicholas as her fiancé.
She was convinced that she would marry Nicholas and join the Blackwood family one day.
There was no way her family didn’t know how she felt!
Her family should be standing up for her, or at the very least… feel some sympathy for her years of devotion!
But all she saw were the Lancasters nodding at Nicholas with satisfaction.
Apparently, even though no one in the Lancaster family supported Nicholas’s designs on their precious girl, his clear boundaries with other women was a major point in his favor.
Not a single one of them noticed Isabella’s distress.
Their hearts and minds were completely occupied with Serena.
No one stood up for her. In fact… they seemed to think Nicholas’s public humiliation of her was the right thing to do?
Isabella trembled with anger, her eyes growing redder.
She clenched her fists so tightly that her perfectly manicured nails dug into her palms, barely managing to suppress the overwhelming resentment and sense of injustice that threatened to erupt.
She moved meekly to Catherine’s side, grabbing her arm and deliberately softening her tone, speaking as if she were joking. “Mom… look at Nicholas! Now that Serena is here, he’s treating me like this. But you and Dad used to say you wanted me to p>
She was trying to remind Catherine of what they’d let slip before-that if the Blackwoods ever came to collect on the engagement and their biological daughter was missing, their adopted daughter would have to take her place.
In that case, the engagement should have been hers, Isabella’s!
Catherine felt her adopted daughter’s slight tremble as she held her arm and sighed inwardly.
She gently parted Isabella’s hand, her tone gentle. “Isabella, we never said you should sacrifice your own marriage to stand in for Serena Whether it’s you or Serena, yaur relationships and marriages should be your own choice p>
“Besides, Nicholas did personally and clearly cancel the childhood engagement in front of both grandfathers at
s coming-of-age
ceremony. That’s a fact, and you
need to understand that p>
Isabella’s pupils contracted sharply as she shot a look at Nicholas.
Had Nicholas really canceled the engagement just to avoid any association with her
as his fiancée?
Did he despise her that much?
That realization was even more humiliating than his earlier indifference and dismissal.
It was as if… to him, she was a plague to be avoided at all costs!
The immense shame made the ever-proud Isabella want to run out of the room crying.
But then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nicholas leaning over Serena’s chair, whispering something to her.
The affection in his mesmerizing eyes was so deep and tender.
It was a gentleness she had never even received in her dreams!
A powerful wave of resentment made her bite her lower lip.
No!
She couldn’t leave!
If she left, wouldn’t that just make that country girl even more smug?
If she left, she wouldn’t be able to see just how that country girl was seducing her Nicholas!
Agnes was right. That country girl was indeed full of tricks.
She wanted to see with her own eyes just how Serena was seducing her Nicholas She had to find a chance to rip off Serena’s mask of cold indifference herself!