The Billionaire Ex-Wife and the Beggar He Became novel Chapter 175

The moment Julian spoke, both tables fell into stunned silence.

Every member of the Shepherd family gaped at him.

Old Mrs. Shepherd's face flushed scarlet, then turned deathly pale, only to redden again. The humiliation she felt was as raw as if she'd just lost her own father.

A lifetime of pride and competition—all of it shattered in an instant.

Old Mr. Shepherd glanced at Julian, then bowed his head, unable to meet anyone's eyes.

The truth was, the Shepherds really had behaved badly about the crucifix.

He'd asked Felicity to buy it back and gift it to the Perkins family as a way to make amends. Fifty years had passed since he'd divorced them, and he'd barely spared a thought for their life since. It wasn't until his wife's birthday that he saw with his own eyes how destitute and pitiful the Perkins family had become; only then did he truly realize the depth of his guilt.

Maybe it was age, or simply a late-blooming conscience.

If not for the Perkins family saving him all those years ago, he would have been falsely accused and lost during that period of chaos. It was the Perkinses who'd taught him carpentry, the skill that allowed him to build his success in the city. And yet, the moment he made it, the first thing he did was abandon the wife who'd stood by him through it all.

The Perkinses never had children. They'd spent a lifetime alone, left to fend for themselves, always the ones people took advantage of.

Old Mr. Shepherd genuinely wanted to apologize, to soothe his own conscience; that was why he'd asked his granddaughter to buy that crucifix.

But now, knowing Perkins had sent Winona to reclaim it, why had Felicity insisted on fighting her for it?

She'd paid a price a thousand times higher than the original, snatching from Winona's hands the crucifix that rightfully belonged to the Perkins family, and then, as if mocking them, presented it with this show of unity, like they were doing Perkins a favor.

How could this be redemption? It was humiliation, pure and simple.

Bullying, just because they could.

Guilt weighed so heavily on Old Mr. Shepherd that he kept his head down in silence.

Old Mrs. Shepherd, though, couldn't see what she'd done wrong.

She and her husband had loved each other their whole lives, harmonious and devoted. He'd cherished her above all else, pampering her so thoroughly that even at seventy-three, she still had the heart of a young girl.

Her husband had already been married when he chose her. By the old ways, that made her the second wife, the "other woman."

In modern terms, even uglier words applied: homewrecker.

Old Mrs. Shepherd, for all her outward warmth and charm, had always been haunted by those labels: second wife, mistress, adulteress. Each was a thorn in her heart.

Every time she thought about it, it hurt.

The only way to pull that thorn out was for that old Perkins woman to die—then she'd no longer be the "other woman," the mistress, the homewrecker.

All she wanted was to see Old Shrew Perkins dead, and maybe, just maybe, earn herself a little praise for being so gracious and forgiving.

But now, Julian had ruined all those plans.

Seeing her grandmother so hurt, Felicity finally snapped out of her daze. Her voice was cold and brittle as she turned to Julian, "Julian, how could you… right in front of my grandmother, take what my grandfather bought and give it to… to the woman who ruined her birthday celebration?"