The Sleeper's Wrath and His Wife's Strike novel Chapter 35

“Lindsay, don’t you think you owe me an explanation?” Lester used her full name, entirely forgetting the lesson his grandpa had tried to instill in him not long ago.

Lindsay lifted her gaze, fixing Lester with a cool stare. Her tone was edged with annoyance. “What did you just call me?”

Lester faltered, only now realizing his slip. He clenched his jaw, obstinate. “Mrs. Quigley, why did you throw my mother out of the Quigley estate?”

“Good boy.” Lindsay’s lips curled in satisfaction, clearly pleased by his correction.

“But you’re mistaken, Lester. I didn’t throw your mother out. She broke the rules and was punished for it.”

“What did she do?” Lester demanded.

Resting her chin in one hand, Lindsay appeared to ponder the question. “She tried to make sure Yves could never have an heir. Just for that, she should have been sent to the chapel for penance under the old house rules.”

Sending Althea away from the Quigley estate was already the most merciful outcome.

If she had faced another round of family discipline, she wouldn’t have survived.

“And what proof do you have?” Lester pressed, feigning ignorance—though deep down, he’d always known what Althea had done.

He’d initially sent his assistant to take care of the matter, but his mother, frustrated by the slow progress, had gone behind his back and hired mercenaries to destroy the fertility clinic herself.

Lindsay looked him dead in the eye. “You want evidence? If anyone has it, it’s you.”

“Don’t try to pin this on me. There has to be a misunderstanding. My mother isn’t that kind of person.”

Lester’s face turned first pale, then flushed with anger. His hand balled into a fist on his knee, and a dark look clouded his eyes.

“Oh, by the way, if you want your mother to move back into the Quigley estate, there is a way.” Mr. Quigley Sr. deliberately dangled the possibility.

“What is it?” Lester’s hope flickered. As long as his mother was back in the manor, running the household, the perks would keep rolling in—giving him the chance to start over somewhere else.

Mr. Quigley Sr. smiled benignly. “She can come back—if she’s willing to take her punishment. This time it’s twenty lashes.”

Lester’s expression darkened. He felt utterly played.

Last time, ten lashes had nearly killed his mother. Twenty would be a death sentence.