“Does she know?”
“Know what?”
“About the woman you would not stop grieving for?”
Juliet frowned.Eliza?
“Yes. I told her about Eliza. We are clear on the front.”
“Well, did she know you were using her as a placeholder for the dead girl?”
Juliet clamped her hands tight over her mouth to avoid her gasp from being heard. What?
“What are you talking about?”
“Do not give me that look, Weston. We both know you only started to pay attention to her because you desperately want her to fill the hole Eliza left in your heart. You know that is all she will be. That is all she will ever be good for.”
“That is not true.”
“You may think you're in love with her now, but deep down, you know this is only because you see she resembles Eliza in her personality.”
Juliet's ears stilled. This was staggeringly unbelievable.
“Buy her all the roses in the world, have long talks in the garden with her all you want, but know this. She will always,alwaysbe a replacement.”
Silence so thick that it bothered Juliet slowly descended. Why wasn't he saying anything? Why wasn't he denying the gross allegations his mother was making against her? Was that really what he thought of her? A replacement? Her knees began to grow weak from shock and disappointment.
“I am done with this conversation.” She heard Weston finally say.
That wasn't a denial.
“At least, you would have found a more worthy replacement in Lady Helena. She was interested in you, too, and I had practically handed her to you on a silver platter. All you had to do was say yes, and she would have been yours. You would've been a husband to her instead of the conspiring wallflower that haunts the garden like an evil spirit.”
Juliet began to step back slowly. She had heard enough. It could not get any worse than this. Even if it did, she didn't want to witness it. She was beginning to grow overwhelmed. Her presence had always been a source of discomfort to her mother-in-law. That much was evident. She couldn't do anything to change it, no matter how hard she tried. That fact was slowly beginning to dawn on her.
“Even if she wears the most expensive dresses in the world and tries to interact with people so she can seem human, youand I both know she will never match up to Helena. She would never be half the Marchioness Helena would've been.”
And that was it. The last straw. The nail in the coffin. An exasperated groan escaped her mouth. One Weston immediately heard. She could hear his footsteps frantically grow louder. She could have left then. She could have even disappeared as the doorknob began to twist, but for some reason, her feet remained bolted to the floor.
She watched with sheer shock as Weston pulled the door open and caught her right before him. She watched the confusion on his face slowly grow to surprise, then to shock as the realization hit him.
“Juliet—” Weston called, unable to push more words out of his mouth.
Juliet swallowed hard, staring intensely at her husband.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Weston couldn't begin to speak. Nothing came forth. Nothing that could justify all Juliet had heard.
“Am I a replacement?” Juliet asked, afraid of whatever her husband was going to say.
“Of course not. This is only a lame attempt from my mother to get into my head.”
Juliet said nothing. She wanted to believe him. Shedesperatelywanted to.
“Juliet, please.” Weston called and tried to reach for her hands. She stepped back. He froze, staring at her.
“I am never going to be good enough, am I?”
