The Billionaire's Bought Bride and Instant Mom Chapter 176

Aveline

Eleanor's face went pale, her hand instinctively reaching for the back of her chair for support.

"I used to imagine," Vivian continued, tears flowing freely now, "what it would be like to have someone who would bake cookies with me, who would listen to my problems, who would love me unconditionally the way grandmothers are supposed to love their grandchildren. I dreamed about it every single day."

"Vivian..." Eleanor whispered, but Vivian held up a hand to stop her.

"And then, when I finally found you, when I finally got my grandmother, I discovered that all that love I'd been dreaming about for eighteen years was already taken. You look at her with the eyes I always hoped someone would look at me with. When she walks into a room, your whole face lights up. When she's hurt or upset, you feel her pain like it's your own."

The raw honesty in her voice was destroying any pretense of anger I might have maintained. Even my cynical assumption that this was all performance was crumbling in the face of such genuine anguish.

"I know I'm your biological granddaughter," Vivian said quietly. "But she's your real granddaughter. The one who got your love when it mattered. The one who has your heart."

Eleanor was crying now, silent tears streaming down her cheeks as she absorbed the full weight of what Vivian was saying.

"So yes," Vivian said, already moving toward the door again, "I'm going to live the life that someone like me deserves. Two damaged people living in the shadows, where we belong."

"Vivian, stop!" Eleanor's voice cracked with desperation. "You can't do this! You can't throw your life away!"

I watched this scene unfold with a mixture of disbelief, frustration, and something else I didn't want to acknowledge—guilt. Everything Vivian had confessed was exactly what I'd suspected all along, but hearing her raw honesty about growing up without grandmother's love, about watching me receive everything she'd dreamed of, hit deeper than I'd expected. Her decision to leave with Dwayne was genuinely unexpected, but what unsettled me more was the genuine pain behind her words.

For some reason I couldn't quite explain, the thought of her falling into complete despair bothered me.

"If you want to be a coward, then go," I called out, my voice cutting through Eleanor's pleas. "Run away like you always do. You've never been brave enough to face your problems, so why start now?"

Vivian froze at the door, her hand on the handle.

"I'm warning you," she said without turning around, "I was planning something against you just days ago. Don't push me to change my mind about leaving."

I couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not worried about your courage to actually go through with anything. You know what? I actually prefer it when you're trying to scheme against me. At least then you had some fight left in you."

"What?" She turned around, confusion and anger warring on her face.

"Think about it," I said with deliberate casualness. "Once you're in Europe, you'll never get to see me succeed. You'll miss out on all my happiness. Won't that be incredibly boring for you?"

"Aveline, stop," Grandma Eleanor said sharply, clearly disapproving of my tactics.

But before I could respond, Eleanor had moved to take Vivian's hands in her own, tears streaming down her weathered cheeks.

"Vivian, listen to me," she said urgently. "I don't care about your mistakes. I don't care about your lies or your schemes or even your feelings about Aveline. I want you to stay here for one month. Just one month."

Vivian started to shake her head, but Eleanor continued.

"Stay for me. Let this old woman try to show you the love I should have given you all along. One month to let me try to make up for failing you. After that, if you still want to leave, I won't stop you."

The tears were flowing freely down Eleanor's face now, and I felt my own eyes burning with unshed emotion.

"One month," she repeated. "Let me prove that you matter to me. Let me try to save you from making the biggest mistake of your life."

Vivian's carefully maintained composure finally cracked. She collapsed to her knees in front of Eleanor, sobbing like a broken child.

"I'm sorry, Grandma! I'm so sorry for everything!"

Eleanor immediately knelt down beside her, pulling her into a fierce embrace. "It's okay, sweetheart. It's going to be okay."

Through her tears, Eleanor looked up at me. "Aveline, don't worry. I'll watch her every moment. I won't let her contact Dwayne, and if she tries anything against you—"

"Grandma," I interrupted, my voice thick with emotion I was struggling to control. "It's fine. Honestly, I'm more worried about her giving up the will to fight than I am about her actually succeeding in any schemes."

I turned toward the hallway, needing space to process everything that had just happened. "I'll have the staff prepare the room next to yours, Grandma. She can stay as long as she needs to."

As I walked away, I could hear Vivian's muffled sobs and Eleanor's gentle reassurances. Despite everything—the lies, the betrayals, the genuine threats—I couldn't shake the feeling that what I'd just witnessed was the first honest moment Vivian had ever shared with our family.

Whether that honesty would lead to redemption or destruction remained to be seen.