She Turned Her Grief Into Wings novel Chapter 15

"What exactly are you trying to say?" Shera leaned against the console table, crossing her arms over her chest.

He had clearly investigated everything already, yet here he was, deliberately beating around the bush just to get under her skin. How had she never realized how insufferable this man could be?

"If you're here to pick a fight, sorry, but I'm out of energy. If you're here to confirm something, you've already seen enough."

Caden's hand paused on his glass. He didn't respond immediately. After a few seconds of silence, he set the water down.

"My dad's sixtieth birthday is next week. We're heading back to the Hayes Manor."

"I'm not going," Shera refused flatly, without a second thought.

Why would someone like her, with no background and no wealth, attend Dewitt's birthday? To listen to the Hayes elders make snide remarks? Or to play the role of the docile, obedient "Mrs. Hayes" who blindly followed Caden around?

Every time they returned to the manor, Caden would abandon her with the older relatives, letting the nosy aunts dissect her from head to toe before summarizing with, "I really don't know what Caden sees in you."

Three years of this exact routine had left her utterly exhausted. She'd rather spend that time sketching new designs.

"My uncle Marcus and his wife Effie are flying back this year. My dad specifically asked for everyone to be there."

Marcus and Effie?

Shera's brow twitched slightly. She remembered them. They had attended the wedding, maintaining a stony expression the entire time, and hadn't even touched their toast glasses.

Rumor had it that Dewitt and Marcus had never gotten along. When the grandfather passed away and left the Hayes Group to Dewitt, an infuriated Marcus had moved abroad, refusing to even attend the funeral.

Later, when Dewitt suffered a stroke and the company fell into chaos, a fresh-out-of-college Caden was thrust into the CEO position.

Marcus had returned to seize power, rallying a mob of executives to storm the top-floor office.

To secure the shares his grandfather had left behind, Caden had married her in a moment of sheer desperation.

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