Marriage with my daughter's father: Darling please be gentle - Chapter 179

Chapter 179: Chapter 179: I’ve got my ways
“Why did you marry her if you planned to get rid of her in the cruelest way?” Lily asked, her eyes piercing into Roger’s soul, her voice unwavering and full of hurt.

Roger stiffened under her gaze. He had always been the kind of man who buried his emotions deep, letting silence be his shield. His siblings understood his silence, often hearing what he never said. But with Lily… he couldn’t keep it buried. Not anymore.

He had messed up—he knew it. He failed her when she needed him the most. And now that fate had given him a second chance with the woman he never stopped loving, he couldn’t afford another mistake.

“Rita was a family friend—someone who practically grew up with me,” Roger began, his voice laced with regret. “When that night happened… my grandfather demanded I take responsibility.”

His tone softened with the weight of guilt, and Lily’s expression flickered with something other than anger—something that almost resembled understanding. But she refused to let her guard down. Not yet.

She needed to hear it all. She deserved to know what he went through after tearing her heart apart.

“I wanted to refuse,” Roger continued, his voice breaking slightly. “I wanted to run back to you. But by the time I gathered the courage, you were gone. You had left, and all I could think was… I failed you.”

Lily’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears. She looked away, blinking rapidly.

“Rita sent me those pictures of you two,” she said quietly, her voice trembling as the painful memory surfaced.

Roger’s breath caught. Her words echoed in his mind like a sudden storm.

“She did?” he asked, stunned.

Lily turned to face him, pain flashing in her eyes.

“Yes. That’s how I found out,” she said bitterly. The memory alone was enough to reopen wounds she thought had scarred over. But since she had brought it up, she forced herself to swallow the truth, even if it tasted like poison.

Roger sat frozen, his mind still reeling from Lily’s revelation.

He was transported back to that day when his grandfather summoned him, demanding he take responsibility. Even then, Roger had second thoughts. He wasn’t ready to give up on Lily. But then Rita told him Lily had left without a word… and everything inside him shattered.

Never once did he suspect that Rita had orchestrated it all, that she was the reason Lily walked away without confronting him.

“Ma’am, sir, your order,” the waiter’s voice cut through the heavy silence, grounding them back to the present. Plates clinked as breakfast was served.

Neither moved.

Lily stared at her plate, lost in thought. Across from her, Roger did the same. The truth was beginning to surface, and with it, the painful realization that the fracture between them had been built on lies.

Rita had manipulated the situation, planted the seeds of doubt, and watched as it bloomed into heartbreak.

Still… the memory of Rita and Roger together burned in Lily’s mind.

“I remember Rita never showed any interest in you,” she said, her voice low. “But then you two—” She looked up at him, her words trailing off, suspicion swirling in her mind. But something kept her from finishing that thought.

Roger’s eyes dropped, flickering with shame.

“I don’t know when or how it happened,” he admitted, his voice raw. “But trust me, Lily. I never volunteered. I never wanted it. I didn’t feel anything for her—not then, not now, not ever. The only person I ever wanted… was you.”

Lily’s heart clenched. His voice—so sincere, so heartbreakingly familiar—hit her like a wave. Every word struck deep, like Cupid himself had carved them straight into her chest.

But she couldn’t let herself fall. Not yet.

She needed the truth—the full truth. She needed to understand why Rita would go to such lengths to drive them apart. What did she gain from it? What else had been hidden from her?

So Lily swallowed the lump in her throat, forced her hands to stay steady, and masked the storm within.

She had to keep her composure. Only then would she find out everything Rita had done—and why.

***

Winter stared at the medical reports Gina had managed to get from the nurse—proof of Agnes’s pregnancy. She gripped the papers tightly, her eyes scanning the details in silence while Gina sat across from her, waiting for a reaction.

Finally, Winter exhaled and set the reports down with a soft thud.

“She’s still unsure if Eric will stay,” Winter said, her voice cool and steady. “She’s holding onto this pregnancy, waiting for the right time to use it.”

“And she thinks that’ll keep him?” Gina scoffed, a bitter laugh escaping her lips. “That man can’t even commit to a damn coffee order, let alone a woman and a child.”

Winter met her gaze, unamused. “He won’t stay. A man like Eric—someone who doesn’t even know what he truly wants—can never offer permanence. Sooner or later, he’ll discard Agnes too.”

Gina leaned forward, nodding in agreement.

“The only reason he’s tolerated her this long is because of the name—because she’s a Greyson,” Winter added, her tone sharp.

She’d studied Eric long enough, watched his carefully calculated moves. Everything he did was strategic and manipulative. He didn’t love Agnes. He loved her last name, the weight it carried, and the doors it opened.

“How about we expose her little secret?” Gina said suddenly, her voice calm but her eyes sharp with intent as they locked onto Winter’s.

Winter raised a brow, cautious. “And how do you propose we do that?”

A sly smile tugged at Gina’s lips. “Trust me. I’ve got my ways. Besides, I’ve got a score to settle with her.”

There was something in Gina’s gaze. Cold, calculated—that made Winter pause. It wasn’t just spite or jealousy. It was personal. Deep.

Winter recognized that look instantly. The kind of vengeance that wasn’t impulsive—it was earned.

She normally wouldn’t waste her time involving herself in petty retaliation, especially against people she deemed irrelevant. But in her world, even the most inconsequential players had a role to play. And time had taught her that the ones she dismissed often turned out to be holding the final pieces of the puzzle.

Agnes had made herself relevant the moment she crossed paths with Eric—and now, she was a part of the web Winter was determined to untangle.

So, after a brief pause, Winter gave a single nod. “Alright. Let’s make sure she doesn’t get to use that child as leverage.”