Thorns Grow After Betrayal (Celeste and Chester) novel Chapter 169

The room buzzed with whispers and gossip.

Serena snapped, "You're already a mother of two! Can you try not to be so shameless? Because of you, the Fordham family is practically the laughingstock of all of Portside Circle!"

The crowd grew even more incredulous at the news.

"Wait, she's got two kids? She looks way too young for that!"

"Kids or not, she still cheated. Ugh, who knows how filthy she really is."

"Completely lacking in decency—disgusting."

Venomous judgment slithered through the air, subtle and unmistakable.

Celestine finished the last sip of her soup as if none of it touched her.

She glanced toward the entrance, where two more figures hurried in.

A spark of amusement lit her eyes. "Well, now everyone's here."

"Celestine, what the hell are you doing?" Chester's voice was dark, his expression stormy. "Even if you're unhappy, you can't just go off with some random guy! Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"

The moment Serena sent him those photos, he'd had a sinking feeling. And sure enough—Celestine, cheating with another man. While pregnant, no less. The audacity.

Joanna, worried sick after hearing what happened, insisted on coming along—partly to keep Celestine from doing anything reckless, and partly because she needed to apologize, properly and face-to-face.

Chester's resolve wavered at her insistence, so he brought her.

Joanna clung to Chester, who was teetering at the edge of losing his temper. "Chester, maybe it's just a misunderstanding. Don't jump to conclusions. You've been spending all your free time with me these days—Celly must feel lonely."

Celestine calmly finished the last bite of her steak. The way Chester spoke, you'd think she was some irredeemable criminal. No one ever bothered to ask what came before—all they ever did was rush to judge, over and over.

She was so tired of it.

Setting down her knife and fork, she let her weary gaze drift past the four people before her, landing on the woman who'd hurled the nastiest insult moments ago.

"Look closely. That's my husband, over there, and his friend. Do you see anything wrong with this picture?"

The woman, an impeccably dressed socialite in her forties or fifties, blinked in surprise.

And then it dawned on her: the supposed "husband" was standing there in full view, arms wrapped around another woman, right in front of his wife.

That, she realized, was even more outrageous than cheating in secret.