The Divorced Military Queen Awakens (by Sadie Baxter) novel Chapter 535

Chapter 535 Who Was Behind It

Petty. The word deepened the frost in Laura’s gaze until it could have cracked glass.

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To them, her old visit had been a footnote, no more disruptive than a fly buzzing near their champagne flutes.

She herself had been comic relief–a provincial cameo they could chew over at cocktail hour.

“Petty, am I?” She lifted her chin. “Then blame Mr. Windore for treating my ‘petty‘ pain with respect. Or are you afraid I might convince him to stop digging–because you’re the one who ordered the servants to keep me out that day?”

“Ridiculous! I… I never gave such an order. I didn’t even know you came,” the accused sputtered, voice wobbling.

“Then how can you be certain my visit was over a trivial matter?” she shot back.

Memory slammed into her–the night she bundled every shred of courage into a single desperate knock.

It had been a crossroads, a plea uttered at her lowest ebb.

The man swallowed hard, words strangling before they reached the air.

A subordinate approached Weston and bowed. “Mr. Windore, we’ve brought in the rest of the people from that day.”

Weston stood at the center of the vast marble foyer, his voice slicing through the hush like the crack of a whip. “Bring every last one of them here, right away,” he said, not shouting, yet carrying an authority that made the chandeliers tremble.

Laura stepped closer, confusion knitting her brows. “Who exactly have you dragged in this time, Weston?”

Weston folded his arms, refusing to elaborate. “When they get here, you’ll understand,” he murmured, the faintest flicker–regret, anger, something darker–ghosting across his features.

Less than five minutes later, footsteps echoed down the corridor and the heavy oak doors swung open. Six people were ushered inside in single file–some still charged with the restless energy of their twenties, others marked by the fine lines of middle age.

Weston caught Laura’s wrist and guided her toward the six bewildered people. “Among them are the guards who manned the villa gate that day, and the servants who received the guests,”

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Chapter 535 Who Was Behind It

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he said. “Look closely. Tell me whether you still remember which one told you I refused to see you.”

Laura froze, blindsided by how far Weston had gone over a single sentence she had uttered only days earlier. He had not only tracked down every guest from that long–ago gathering but had even summoned the servants and the gatekeepers–faces she had assumed would remain footnotes to a forgotten afternoon.

Laura pursed her lips, a single sound of uncertainty catching in her throat. “I…” she faltered, turning her gaze toward the six anxious faces arrayed before her.

She had been certain the years would have erased the features of that messenger from her mind. Yet as her eyes drifted from one person to the next, memory surged back with startling clarity. That distant afternoon had branded itself so deeply into her bones that time had never truly dulled it.

She lifted a trembling hand and pointed at a young woman whose posture shrank beneath the accusation. “It was her.”

The woman–Lily Clarke–flinched. “No, no, you’ve made a mistake! I never delivered any such message,” she cried, her voice skittering across the marble floor like loose change.

Laura’s expression remained composed, as though she had anticipated the denial long before Lily opened her mouth.

“You were the one,” Laura said, calm yet implacable. “Back then, your hair was cut short, and you wore a maid’s uniform. Someone called you Lily. When I reached the gate, you were chatting with the guard, and you bragged that the bracelet on your wrist cost three thousand.”

Even Laura felt a flutter of amazement at the detail spilling from her lips; she had not realized until this moment how precisely she remembered.

Color drained from Lily’s cheeks, leaving her skin almost translucent.

A middle–aged guard stepped forward, eager to distance himself from the brewing storm. “Yes, yes, I remember now. When this young lady arrived to see Mr. Windore, it was Lily who questioned her and Lily who went to inform him.”

Weston fixed Lily with an icy stare. “Oh? If you were the one who announced her arrival, tell me exactly what you told me. Because I remember nothing about anyone asking to see me.”

Lily’s shoulders quivered. “I… I…”

Weston’s voice dropped to a near whisper, all the more terrifying for its softness. “Tell the truth now, and I will merely exile you from Jexburgh. Lie, and when I discover the deception, I will

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Chapter 535 Who Was Behind It

crush your throat so you never form another sentence.”

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Panic shattered Lily’s composure. “I’ll talk, I’ll talk! It was… it was Ms. Rowe who told me to do it. I’m just a servant; I had no choice but to follow orders.”

At the confession, Weston slowly turned his gaze toward a figure standing off to the side. The others followed, every eye in the room converging on the same person.

Claudia Rowe had been Weston’s junior at university–a privileged beauty whose family money opened every door before she even knocked.

Most within their glittering circle had long suspected she harbored feelings for Weston.

Yet, to universal astonishment, Weston had chosen to date Laura instead.

The surprise was not mild. Claudia’s striking looks and celebrated pedigree far outshone Laura’s modest background, and many had assumed she was the inevitable choice.

Someone who was close to Claudia spoke up, voice trembling. “Claudia, tell me this isn’t true… You didn’t really do that, did you?”