Marry My Billionaire Second Husband - Chapter 281

Chapter 281: Heaven
In the face of Annalise’s panic, Benjamin Hawthorne only shrugged with deliberate nonchalance.

“What is this reaction?” Annalise demanded, reaching forward to grab her cheating, adulterous husband by his collar. “Where is my baby girl now? What did you do to her?”

“Who knows? If the gods are good, her soul would have already reincarnated elsewhere, away from your presence,” he said without blinking.

Before Annalise could open her mouth and scream at him further, Benjamin Hawthorne ruthlessly pried his wife’s hands away from his collar and flung her aside, causing her to stumble and fall.

Amelia winced at the loud thud her body made when it hit the floor; she had no love for Annalise, but this was simply too pitiful for anyone to witness.

Annalise was similarly stunned at his cavalier attitude. There would be bruises forming on her limbs after today’s encounter, but she couldn’t care less about her own body.

Where was her baby girl?

How could Benjamin not care?

“You bastard! Tell me where she is right now!” Annalise shrieked as she launched herself off the floor in an attempt to wring her sorry excuse of her husband. She refused to believe the implications of his words. Her baby girl could not be dead.

“Benjamin Hawthorne, do you have no heart?” She demanded hotly as tears began to stream down her face. Her voice was getting choked up. “You may hate me, but my daughter… She’s also your daughter too! Don’t you remember? How could you not know what happened to her?”

Then, Annalise realized something. Emmeline wasn’t the first choice on her list of names to give her daughter, but Benjamin had insisted on it, claiming that it sounded better than her pick. She wanted to call her daughter ‘Elise’, or ‘Eleanor’.

Did her husband insist on the name ‘Emmeline’ because Catherine wanted it?

That thought made her shake with anger. Her husband’s silence was grating.

“Benjamin Hawthorne! Answer me! Did you insist on the name Emmeline, because she wanted it?” Annalise pointed a shaking finger at Catherine, who was standing on the sidelines with a small smug smile on her face. The stench of satisfaction was wafting off her, and Annalise wanted nothing more than to storm forward and slap her former best friend in the face.

Catherine Laine smiled sincerely and clapped her hands. “That is correct. Well done, Annalise. I always knew you were a smart one,” Catherine said. “Just not as smart as me. Since it has gotten to this point, I see no reason not to tell you the truth.”

She strode towards Annalise and loomed over her, her eyes glinting victoriously with malice as she stared down at the one woman who dared to take what was hers, simply because she was born into a better family.

“Yes, Annalise, I am having an affair with your husband. But before you start screeching about love and faith and trust, just know that if Horace Hawthorne had accepted me into the family, you would have never had the chance to even breathe in his general direction.”

She continued, “After all, I was his first and only girlfriend. You only came later, because dear old Horace Hawthorne needed to marry Benjamin off to someone to stop him from chasing dear old me.”

“That’s… That’s impossible!” Annalise stepped back, her eyes wide with shock.

She had never expected the both of them to have such a long history with each other. She had simply assumed that Catherine and Benjamin had met sometime after Annalise married Benjamin and decided to have an affair.

“How did you even know―”

Annalise knew enough of Catherine Laine’s humble background, which was why she wasn’t guarded against her, to begin with. Everyone knew that anyone from the poorer classes wouldn’t have the guts to betray someone from upper-class society.

Catherine had been nothing more than a working-class lady when she married Charles Montgomery. It was Annalise who decided to befriend her and bring her into the fold when every other heiress was turning their nose up at her intrusion into their circle!

And this was how she was repaid?

Forget a knife in the back, Catherine had slammed an entire bulldozer over her!

“All this time… all this time…” Annalise staggered back weakly as her mind began to recontextualize everything. “You’ve been lying to me. All this time. You… the both of you… manipulated me.”

Now that she knew the truth, Annalise couldn’t help but recall how their friendship started. It was Benjamin who hinted that she should befriend Catherine, claiming that a close partnership with the Montgomerys was good for the Hawthornes.

It was Benjamin who mentioned that since Catherine was new, she would be more grateful for any help she could get. If Annalise helped her, she would certainly return the favor tenfold. With Charles Montgomery often out of the country for work, Annalise could easily befriend the lonely wife and use her to bolster her own connections.

Like a fool, she believed him. Hook line and sinker. She approached Catherine at one of the parties intending to spin her into her web, and found her to be a delightful person.

It was as though they were meant to be best friends. Annalise was pleased. She thought she would have to tolerate befriending someone she hated. But that wasn’t the case.

In fact, Catherine became as important to her as Benjamin was, if not more.

When she was pregnant with her first child, she was frightened she would lose it. Pregnancy was new and terrifying, and it was Catherine’s presence that made everything bearable. Her best friend was fully supportive while Benjamin was apathetic to the new life growing inside her. Catherine had read her prenatal books, looked up nutritional supplements, and held her when her mood swings got bad.

Back then, Annalise could only think she was so fortunate, so blessed to at least have such a good friend looking out for her.

Years later, in her cold marriage with Benjamin, Annalise comforted herself with the knowledge that at least she had Emmeline, a daughter who was as accomplished as she was beautiful, and Catherine, a best friend she could count on through thick and thin.

“You… Catherine Laine, how could you betray me like this!” Annalise screamed, pure heartbreak in her voice. She realized she had no expectations for her husband’s behavior because he hadn’t been loving towards her to begin with.

But Catherine… Catherine was her best friend. Even if she loved Benjamin first, surely their years of friendship should have counted for something!

“Catherine, for all the times I’ve helped you in the past, for all the love and care I’ve showered on your precious daughter… you’d better answer me truthfully. Where did you hide my own daughter?”

Catherine only smiled and said a single word.

“Heaven.”