The Pretender and The Prince novel Chapter 39

Shania looked Ondine up and down, a sneer on her face. “So, you’re Ondine. You have a pretty face, I’ll give you that. No wonder Ellis fell for you.”

Ondine met her gaze, her posture straight and unflinching. “You’re Ellis’s mother?”

“I am,” Shania said. “Ms. Sterling, shall we go somewhere else to talk?”

A humorless smile touched Ondine’s lips. “I’m sorry, but I have a flight to catch. Whatever you have to say, you can say it here.”

Shania’s face hardened, clearly unaccustomed to being spoken to so bluntly. “Fine, I’ll be brief. You and Ellis have no future together. His father and I have already chosen his future wife. Only Chantal is worthy of being a daughter-in-law to the Sheppard family. So I suggest you give up on your dream of marrying into wealth.”

Her eyes were filled with scorn. “You knew from the beginning that Ellis was just pretending to be poor, didn’t you? I can’t imagine any other reason you would stay with a penniless boy for two years. Ellis told me you even worked to support him.” Before Ondine could respond, Shania continued, “Your little tricks may have fooled Ellis, Ms. Sterling, but they don’t fool me. However, because Ellis is serious about you, I’ve agreed to let him continue seeing you after he’s married.”

A cold laugh escaped Ondine’s lips. “So you admit that besides his money, your son has no redeemable qualities?”

Rage flared in Shania’s eyes. “How dare you speak to me like that?”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Ondine’s face was a mask of contempt. “Now I see why Ellis has such a rotten character, playing with girls’ feelings like that. He got it from his mother. Like mother, like son.”

Shania, used to being treated with deference and flattery, was stunned. She clutched her chest, gasping for air. “You… you insolent…”

“I’m the unlucky one here, wasting my feelings on a dog,” Ondine retorted. “Since you’ve come all this way, let’s settle this. You can pay me back for the money Ellis spent of mine over the past two years. I won’t ask for much. Let’s just call it an even forty thousand.”

“Don’t tell him I came to see you,” Shania warned.

“Don’t worry. I’m leaving Riverdale today. I’ll be blocking him on everything.”

“See that you do.” Shania raised the window, and the Maserati sped away.

…

In the airport’s VIP lounge, Ondine sat chatting with Zaria while Seth worked on his laptop nearby. Zaria glanced at her brother, then turned back to Ondine with a mischievous smile. “Look at my brother, always working. Twenty-five years old and not even a girlfriend to his name.”