Chapter 4 - The Mother’s Verdict
By nine o'clock the following morning, the news of the canceled Marston-Bennett wedding had spread through the high-society circles of Port Mercy like wildfire across dry brush.
Emma sat in the sunlit breakfast nook of the Marston estate, wrapped in a soft cashmere sweater Adrian had arranged for her, holding a cup of hot chamomile tea. The storm from the previous night had passed, leaving behind a crisp, crystal-clear autumn sky over the harbor.
The heavy double doors of the kitchen swung open, and Thomas entered with a silver tray bearing a ringing smartphone.
“Miss Bennett,” Thomas said respectfully. “Your mother is calling for the seventh time this morning. Should I continue to inform her you are unavailable?”
Emma looked at the screen. MOM flashed across the lit display.
She sighed, setting her teacup down with a quiet clink. She knew she couldn't avoid her mother forever.
“I’ll take it, Thomas. Thank you.”
Emma picked up the phone and swiped the screen.
“Hello, Mom—”
“Emma Katherine Bennett!” her mother, Eleanor, shrieked into the speaker before Emma could even finish her sentence. “Where on earth are you?! What is going on?! Cole’s mother just called me in tears saying the wedding is canceled! The caterers called me asking if they should stop preparing the smoked salmon! Have you lost your mind three days before two hundred guests arrive?!”
Emma closed her eyes, squeezing her phone tightly.
“Mom, calm down. The wedding is canceled because Cole was cheating on me.”
A sharp, stunned pause echoed over the line, lasting no more than three seconds.
“Cheating?” Eleanor repeated, her voice dropping into a sharp, skeptical register. “Emma, men get nervous before major commitments! Cole is a Marston! He has enormous pressure on his shoulders running those shipping firms! Whatever little fling or mistake he made—”
“It wasn't a little fling, Mom,” Emma interrupted, her voice trembling with rising outrage. “He was sleeping with Tessa.”
Silence hit the line again. This time, it stretched out for ten agonizing seconds.
“Tessa?” Eleanor gasped, her tone changing instantly from angry to panicked—but not the kind of panic Emma had hoped for. “Emma... are you sure? Did you misinterpret something? Tessa would never—”
“I caught them together in a luxury suite at the Harbor Crown yesterday afternoon, Mom,” Emma said, tears finally spilling over her eyelashes. “Tessa sat on his lap and told me to my face that he chose her. They’ve been having an affair for five months.”
Emma waited for her mother’s outrage on her behalf. She waited for her mother to curse Cole, to condemn Tessa, to offer her daughter the loving, protective shelter any mother should offer a shattered child.
Instead, Eleanor let out a long, frustrated breath.
“Emma... you know how sensitive Tessa is,” Eleanor said softly, her words hitting Emma like a series of physical blows. “Tessa has always felt like she lived in your shadow. You were the successful pediatric nurse, the responsible older daughter... Tessa has struggled so much with her self-esteem!”
Emma sat frozen in her chair, unable to believe her own ears.
“Mom... are you seriously defending her right now?”
“I’m not defending her, Emma!” Eleanor snapped defensively. “I’m being realistic! You’re thirty years old! You know how men like Cole Marston are! If Tessa turned his head, it’s because you were always working those sixty-hour shifts at the hospital! You neglected him, Emma! A man like Cole needs attention! If you had just compromised more, if you hadn't been so focused on your career—”
Before Eleanor could finish her sentence, a large, dark hand reached out from behind Emma and calmly slid the smartphone out of her hand.
Emma turned her head in shock.
Adrian stood behind her, impeccably tailored in a crisp charcoal suit, his face carved from dark, terrifying stone.
He placed the phone to his ear.
“Mrs. Bennett,” Adrian said, his deep, authoritative voice cutting through the speaker like a butcher’s cleaver.
The line went completely dead on Eleanor’s end for a moment.
“Who... who is this?” Eleanor stammered, instantly intimidated by the sheer power radiating through the phone line.
“This is Adrian Marston,” he stated coldly. “I have been standing here listening to you berate your daughter after she was betrayed by two people who owed her their complete loyalty.”
“Mr. Marston!” Eleanor squeaked out, her voice suddenly trembling. “I... I was just trying to explain to Emma that family matters should be handled privately—”
“You are no longer fit to speak to Emma,” Adrian interrupted, his tone so sharp it could cut glass. “You have shown yourself to be a pathetic, neglectful mother who sacrifices her eldest child’s dignity to appease a selfish brat.”
“How dare you speak to me like that?!” Eleanor gasped, trying to summon some dignity.
“I dare because I control every aspect of this situation,” Adrian rasped. “Listen to me very carefully, Mrs. Bennett. Effective immediately, all financial funding provided by the Marston foundation to your husband’s local business account is terminated. The private security details assigned to your property for the wedding are withdrawn. And if you attempt to contact Emma again to guilt, shame, or manipulate her, I will personally file a restraining order against you and your youngest daughter.”
“Mr. Marston, please! You can't do this to our family!” Eleanor wept into the phone.
“I have already done it,” Adrian said smoothly. “Good day, Mrs. Bennett.”
He hung up the phone without waiting for a reply and handed the device gently back to Emma.
Emma sat motionless, staring at him in utter disbelief, her chest heaving as tears streamed down her cheeks.
“You... you cut off my father’s business funding?” she whispered.
Adrian looked down at her, his eyes softening as he pulled a pristine white silk handkerchief from his breast pocket and handed it to her.
“Your father’s account was being quietly subsidized by Cole using Marston charitable grants to keep your mother happy,” Adrian explained gently. “I will not allow my family's wealth to empower people who abuse you, Emma.”
He pulled out a chair beside her and sat down, leaning his broad elbows onto the table.
May you like
“You don't have to carry their toxicity anymore, Emma,” Adrian murmured, his voice infinitely soft. “From this moment on, no one touches you. No one blames you. You are under my protection.”
Emma buried her face in the silk handkerchief, sobbing quietly as five years of suppressed pain, neglect, and heartbreak finally washed out of her system—all while the most powerful man in Port Mercy sat quietly beside her, watching over her like a dedicated guardian.
