Chapter 19

"She's not looking back, Ash," Felix remarked slowly.

Ash was stunned. He hesitated before asking, "Didn't she come to ask both of you to intervene and stop our divorce?"

"No. It wasn't a plea—it was an announcement. She said she's never going to see us again." Felix waved tiredly. "You've been terrible to her from the beginning until now, so congratulations. She no longer cares about you.

"From now on, you're free to marry whoever you like. Eleanor and I won't meddle in this affair anymore."

It was an open secret: the old Thierry couple despised the Vanderbilts for their role in Julia's death. That disdain extended to Ash, their own grandchild.

But Ash was the one they hated the least. He was all they had left of Julia.

How could they hate him as much as they wanted when they had loved his mother so deeply?

Felix chose not to tell Ash the truth about Justine's love for him. Being someone's inferior substitute was undignified.

And Ash was critically, fatally proud.

Since the t