Chapter 3; Married To Their Golden Son

Anastasia's POV

I watched as Serena played the victim, tearfully telling Tristan how I had bullied her simply because she asked me not to get angry that she was crashing at my place. And Tristan? He didn't even bother to verify the truth.

“Why are you doing this to me, Anastasia? I thought we had outgrown this. Why are you still picking on me?” Serena asked, clutching her bleeding hand while Tristan carefully held it to stop the bleeding.

“But I didn't do that...” I started, only for Tristan to cut me off.

“You have really crossed the line this time!” His words hit me harder than any slap ever could.

I wanted to scream at him.I opened my mouth, then closed it again. Nothing I said had ever changed his mind before.

The cycle of Serena playing the victim had begun all over again.

“She bullied Mummy! She's evil! Evil!” the little boy cried as he ran to Serena's side.

“Don't blame, Aunt Anastasia,” Serena said weakly, wincing as she held onto Tristan. “She just lost her temper for a while.”

Tristan shot me one last icy glare before scooping Serena into his arms and rushing out of the house.

But not before leaving me with a warning. “Wait for my return.”

Everything happened so quickly that I remained standing there, completely transfixed, trying to process what had just happened.

Even though I had done nothing wrong…There was no way I could ever win against Serena with Tristan around. He had never listened to my side before. Not even when I cried.

Not even when I defended myself with every ounce of strength I had. So why had I foolishly believed today would be any different?

“Welcome back, Serena...” I whispered bitterly, blinking away the tears threatening to spill. “What a warm welcome you've given me.”

I quietly walked out of the kitchen.

That night...Tristan didn't come home again.

I barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him carrying Serena in his arms while looking at me as though I were a complete stranger.

By morning, I knew I looked like a mess. My eyes were swollen. My head ached.

Meanwhile, I was certain the people responsible for making my life miserable had enjoyed a peaceful night's sleep.

At least I didn't have to see either of them that morning. “They left early,” Nia informed me when I asked where everyone was. “They asked me to tell you they're going on a family picnic, and they won't be back for dinner.”

Family picnic. Those two words pierced straight through my heart.

Family…If Tristan already had a family...

Then where did that leave me? Where did that leave the tiny life growing inside me?

“Okay,” I muttered quietly, forcing myself to remain calm. But before I could sink deeper into my thoughts, Nia suddenly spoke again.

“And don't forget to prepare for tonight's dinner at the ancestral mansion.”

My heart skipped a beat.

“I forgot about it...” I whispered.

My fingers numbed as I remembered that. That was bad, how could I forget that? The monthly dinner at the Brooke ancestral mansion was my greatest nightmare.

Every single month, without fail, the Brooke family gathered there for dinner. It had become a family tradition long before I married Tristan, and for the past five years, I had attended every single one.

I wouldn't have dreaded it so much if those dinners had ever gone well. But they never did. My in-laws hated me.

Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say almost everyone in that family hated me. The only exception was Old Master Brooke, who had always been kind to me because he and my grandfather had been close friends after serving together in the military.

Everyone else looked at me as nothing more than a social climber. A leech who had used their son to climb the social ladder.

“Then I'd better start getting ready,” I muttered, panic already setting in as I hurried upstairs to change.

I would be attending alone. Just like always. Tristan had never accompanied me to a single family dinner. Not once in five years.

His absence had only convinced everyone that our marriage was hanging by a thread and would eventually fall apart.

The chilly evening breeze brushed against my skin as I stood before the enormous Brooke ancestral mansion. The towering estate looked just as intimidating as it always had.

After taking a deep breath and giving myself one last silent pep talk, I stepped inside. The little confidence I had gathered vanished the moment I came face-to-face with my mother-in-law.

“Good evening, Mother,” I greeted politely with a small smile.

She merely huffed in response. Instead of looking at me, her eyes searched behind me. I already knew who she was looking for.

“Where's your husband?” my mother-in-law, Gladys, demanded, her voice dripping with displeasure.

I bit the inside of my cheek. It was the same question. The same rehearsed answer, the same humiliation every single month.

“My husband couldn't make it because of work, and—” I didn't even get to finish.

“Are you still determined to hold onto this dead marriage?” she snapped. “Tell me, how can you even call this a marriage when your husband hasn't honoured a single family tradition just to save your face as his wife?”

I quietly lowered my head. There was nothing new about this. Every visit ended exactly the same way. She criticised everything.

My dress, my hairstyle, the way I stood, the way I spoke, even the way I breathed seemed to offend her. Yet none of those things were truly the problem. The real reason she despised me was because her precious son had married me. Perhaps my greatest crime had simply been becoming Mrs Brooke.

“Why are you wasting your breath on her, Aunt?” one of Tristan's cousins scoffed as she walked past us. “It's not like anything's ever going to change.”

My mother-in-law sighed dramatically.

“I really can't bring myself to like—”

She stopped mid-sentence. Her entire face lit up with excitement as she stared beyond me.

“Serena... is that you?” she exclaimed.

Her voice immediately drew everyone's attention.

The relatives who had ignored me since I arrived all turned towards the entrance.

“Serena's back!”

They practically chorused the words in delight. I turned stiffly to see what they were all looking, and there they were, Serena, and Tristan

Walking in hand in hand...Tristan Brooke has never held my hand before, my heart sank at this thought.

So it was true. They had come here…Together.