novelraw Chapter 294: This is the coldest winter she has ever experienced
Chapter 294: This is the coldest winter she has ever experienced
Ignatius Leclair’s dark, ink-like gaze turned toward Beatrice Carter as he signaled Maximilian to hand over the document.
Beatrice looked at the content of the document and was shocked, stammering, "This, this, this... how could this be?" The document of dissolution plainly stated that she was to sever all ties with Delphine.
The Leclair family father and son—one wanted Delphine under his own name, while the other demanded she be disowned.
Even in her stupidity, Beatrice understood the deeper motives behind this.
"I have a peculiar habit," Ignatius Leclair said faintly, curling his lips into a subtle smile. His knife-cut handsome features exuded an imposing aura as he continued, "If I like something, it has to belong entirely to me."
Beatrice’s mind raced. This daughter had always been raised outside and was distant from her. If using Delphine could gain Ignatius Leclair’s approval and the consent of both the Leclair father and son, then even if the old man objected, her position as the Leclair wife would be solidified.
Secretly delighted, she didn’t even think to ask for Delphine’s opinion and was only moments away from nodding her agreement.
"No! You fool, do you even have a brain?" Stone Leclair’s expression darkened as he lashed out at Beatrice, calling her names.
He had never really valued this orphan, but ever since Delphine returned from the South Seas, Ignatius’s attitude had become increasingly bizarre, and even the Squire siblings and Reginald Yeager treated her differently.
She was practically a perfect pawn. Stone Leclair wanted to grasp her tightly in his palm. If Beatrice signed this document, his original plan would be utterly ruined.
"Father, do you think you have the qualifications to oppose me?" Ignatius responded coldly with a deliberate sneer, as if issuing a threat. "After all, your promotion to Imperial City won’t happen until next year."
Stone Leclair’s face turned ashen.
Beatrice, oblivious and relentless, shouted, "I’ll sign it. But I have conditions: my name must be written into the Leclair family genealogy as the legitimate Leclair wife, and my son must have inheritance rights in the future."
"Agreed," Ignatius Leclair replied without hesitation, his voice icy and low.
Beatrice’s face lit up with joy as she quickly grabbed the pen handed to her by an assistant, added her signature, and pressed her fingerprint, severing all ties with Delphine in under a minute.
The faces of everyone in the side hall displayed a mix of emotions.
Ignatius Leclair threw the completed document to Maximilian, saying indifferently, "Take it for notarization."
Finally, the man turned to Delphine. Seeing her pale complexion and bare-lipped reluctance—her gaze steely like a blade—his long fingers restrainedly pressed on her slender shoulder as he spoke in a low voice, "From now on, you’re free, Delphine."
Cruel as it might be, he had already made the decision for her. This was his way of showing her the true face of her so-called mother. Beatrice wasn’t worth her sacrifice.
Delphine’s pale lips tasted of rust. Her gaze fixed on Beatrice, her eyes misty. Her voice was faint and cold, seemingly devoid of feeling: "Today will be the last time I call you mother. I ask you to tell me—who is my biological father?"
She thought of the child she had lost, the one that haunted her in dreams, causing unbearable pain. And yet, her mother had decisively abandoned her within the span of a single minute.
Her heart ached dully, and she simply felt cold. This was the coldest winter she had ever experienced.
Beatrice’s expression changed slightly, flustered and anxious. She said, "Delphine, Mom, really had no choice."
Stone Leclair immediately sensed something was off. He grabbed Beatrice and roared furiously, his eyes bloodshot: "She’s your daughter? Before you were with me, you had a daughter this old?"