The Paper Wife’s Empire novel Chapter 15

"You..." Winnie choked, at a loss for words.

Ramona, who had always been quiet and submissive, suddenly seemed to have found her voice. And she even knew to bring up Jotham and the company, making Winnie look like the unreasonable one.

"That’s enough. Once Eulalia decides on a restaurant, just send it to me. I have things to do. I’m hanging up."

Without waiting for a response, Ramona ended the call.

Listening to the busy tone, Winnie nearly lost her breath from the shock.

"That ungrateful girl... Did she just hang up on me?"

Winnie was shaking with rage, so angry she almost hurled her phone across the room.

Eulalia Holt, watching her mother’s outburst, was surprised. "Ramona’s not coming?"

"I blame Jotham for spoiling her! A barren hen with nothing to her name, and she should count herself lucky to have married into the Holt family. But instead of being grateful, she has the nerve to defy me!"

Winnie’s temper flared. She pounded her chest and ranted, any pretense of poise forgotten.

Eulalia rolled her eyes, clearly not surprised at all.

"Mom, I’ve told you before—Ramona’s sweet, obedient act is just that, an act. If my brother, who only ever cares about his own interests, married someone so beneath our family, do you really think Ramona is as harmless as she seems?"

"But don’t worry. There’s no way I’m letting her get away with this."

Eulalia sneered and dialed Ramona’s number herself.

She loved bossing Ramona around, but always kept things cordial on the surface. Besides, her husband, Flynn, was a department manager at Jotham’s company, and more often than not, Ramona’s work needed to go through him.

Eulalia was convinced Ramona was easy to push around. Even if Ramona dared to stand up to Winnie today, it was probably just for Jotham’s sake.

Jotham doted on her, his little sister. If she asked, Ramona would have to agree, whether she liked it or not.

And once Ramona showed up, Eulalia was determined to teach her a lesson, just to vent her mother’s anger.

The phone rang for a long time before Ramona finally picked up.

Eulalia immediately turned on the waterworks. “Ramona, do you have something against me? I thought we got along so well. When my brother asked you to look after me, you agreed right away. But now Mom tells me you won’t even come over for dinner…”

While Eulalia’s pitiful voice droned on, Ramona scrolled through the fluctuating data lines on her computer screen.

Ramona’s tone didn’t change.

Eulalia froze, caught off guard by the sudden shift.

It was true. Flynn had been working late for weeks and always came home looking stressed and exhausted. His performance had dipped sharply; even with support from Jotham’s company, things weren’t what they used to be.

“Ramona, what are you getting at?”

“I’m not sure if Flynn told you, but half of his clients were actually referrals from me. I’ve just been too busy lately, so when he’s reached out, I haven’t had the time.”

Eulalia’s heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, she remembered how often Flynn mentioned Ramona lately—how busy she was, how long it had been since he’d seen her, how he wished she could come by if she had the time.

Half the reason Eulalia resented Ramona was because her husband never stopped singing Ramona’s praises.

Ramona was beautiful, too, hardly the type to go unnoticed by men.

“Ramona, what are you insinuating? Flynn is perfectly capable. He doesn’t need referrals from anyone!”

“Eulalia, your husband’s probably just under a lot of pressure and didn’t want to worry you. But it’s fine, you can always ask him. Most of his clients are my contacts. He wouldn’t deny it.”