The Perfect Wife's Perfect Revenge novel Chapter 566

If this had been back in Greenvale, Hawthorne would never have agreed to such an invitation. But Victoria’s sharp gaze pinned him in place, a look that felt equal parts threat and scrutiny, as if she were silently weighing whether he was safe enough to be around Gwyneth.

He’d always been the one doing the evaluating, not the other way around. Yet the Langford couple—Victoria and her husband—were clearly cut from the same cloth, making him feel distinctly uncomfortable.

Confronted by Victoria’s face, he found himself suddenly at a loss for words.

She looked so much like Gwyneth that it was impossible to muster any real resentment.

“If you’re willing to stay, that’s fine. And if you aren’t, I’ll leave with you.” Gwyneth blurted this out right in front of Victoria, who by all rights should have been upset—but instead, she looked as if she might laugh or cry.

Victoria grabbed Gwyneth’s hand. “You just got home, and now you want to leave? Or is it you don’t want us to have guests at all?”

Victoria was determined not to let Gwyneth slip away again.

Gwyneth looked at Hawthorne, hoping he’d say something.

“All right,” he replied.

Victoria let out a relieved sigh, while Gwyneth choked on her own disbelief.

Was this really the same man she’d always thought of as her uncle Leonie’s reclusive younger brother? Where was his pride, his backbone?

“Thorpe’s stronger than he lets on. If you ask me, he’s going to be just fine,” Hawthorne said, leaving Victoria momentarily embarrassed by his bluntness.

He’d spelled things out so clearly—if Gwyneth still didn’t get it, she’d be letting down both her parents.

Gwyneth turned to her great-grandfather lying in the hospital bed and, in a voice soft yet tinged with childish indignation, called out, “Grandpa, how could you trick your own family?”

Thorpe kept feigning confusion, then finally cracked open an eye and glanced between Gwyneth, Victoria, and Hawthorne. The shrewdness in his gaze was barely concealed as he yawned. “Gwyn, you’re still here? And Vicky’s here too.”