Chapter 88 The Wheelers Realized the Truth
Ryan hadn’t been surprised when Ginny shared her suspicions. He’d more or less guessed this was how things would play out. the moment he first heard what had happened.
“You come up with a plan yet?” he asked.
Knowing how fiercely the Wheeler family protected their own, he figured that even if Melody was clearly in the wrong, they’d still make things as difficult for Ginny as possible.
And they weren’t just anybody. They were the wealthiest family in California. If they were determined to ruin Ginny, she’d be at a serious disadvantage. Things could easily spiral out of control
for her.
But Ryan kept that to himself. Now wasn’t the time to pile on. He could tell Ginny was already exhausted–emotionally and
otherwise.
“You’re home now,” he said gently. “Try not to think about it too much. Take a hot shower, get some rest. Whatever needs dealing with–leave it for tomorrow.”
Back at the emergency room, the hallway had quieted down. Chandler sat on a chair, silently replaying the words Ginny had thrown at him earlier.
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Chapter 88 The Wheelers Realized the… (*) Lucky Draw
She had warned him once before that Melody might not actually be pregnant. He’d had his doubts too. But each time, he’d brushed the thought aside instead of digging deeper.
Now, looking back at all the little details he’d ignored, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Ginny might have been right all along.
And if she was… then all this time, he’d been blaming the wrong person. He’d believed someone who had deliberately set Ginny
- up.
The Wheeler family wasn’t paying him any attention now. Jake noticed their mother had been gone a while, still on the phone in the hallway, and got up to check. Kevin stood as well.
“I’ll go with you.”
As they walked, Kevin asked, “Did you see Mom’s expression earlier?”
He hesitated, then added, “Jake… what if Ginny was telling the truth? What if Melody really isn’t pregnant? What if this whole thing was a setup?”
He’d seen it too–how off their mother had looked. But he hadn’t dared say it aloud until now, when it was just the two of them.
Jake glanced around, made sure they were alone, and then spoke in a low voice.
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Chapter 88 The Wheelers Realized the…
Lucky Draw
“True or not, we’re already in too deep,” he said. “What matters
now is protecting Melody.”
Kevin looked uneasy. It didn’t sit right with him.
But Jake understood. He knew this wasn’t right either.
But Melody was their sister. What were they supposed to do- hang her out to dry for someone else?
If this had been caught in time, maybe they could’ve stopped
her. But now?
Now the damage was done. And all they could do was shield her from the fallout.
“You already know?” Their mother’s voice caught them off guard. She stepped out of the hallway just in time to hear what they were saying.
The brothers exchanged a glance, then nodded. The three of them made their way to the stairwell.
“I’ve lived a long time,” their mother said quietly. “And this is the first time I’ve done something so against my conscience. But you’re right. Melody is family. And the reason she went this far was because she loves Chandler. If we don’t stand by her, who
will?”
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Chapter 88 The Wheelers Realized the… Lucky Draw
She paused, sighed. “We won’t actually press charges against that girl. Just scare her a little. Get her to leave Chandler sooner rather than later.”
Jake agreed. That had been his plan too.
“Who were you calling just now?” he asked.
His mother had been gone a while, and she didn’t look quite right. He was worried something had happened.
There had been a call, but she didn’t tell them who it was.
Instead, she urged them to head back to the ER to wait for news on Melody. Meanwhile, she planned to speak with Chandler herself to gauge his thoughts, and if possible, pin the blame for the miscarriage squarely on Ginny.
If he still cared about Ginny, this would be the perfect pressure point. Either way, it would force him to take responsibility for her daughter.
It wasn’t the outcome she wanted. But for the sake of her daughter, she was willing to go through with it.
“Chandler,” she said gently. “I know this is hard on you too. Melody’s in there, and we still don’t know what’s going to happen. We’re really worried. And you know, none of this would’ve happened if it weren’t for you and your wife.”
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Lucky Draw
Her eyes reddened as she went on.
“Melody has never had it easy. She might be our daughter, but she was taken from us when she was just a baby.
“It took us years to find her. And ever since we brought her back, we’ve done everything we could to make up for lost time. To give her the kind of life she deserved–happy, carefree, without hardship.
“Before she met you, things were going so well for her.
“But then she met you–came back to this country and ran into you. And from that moment on, it was like she changed. Her whole world became about you. You saw that, didn’t you?
“We didn’t want to get involved at first. You are already married. And it didn’t matter how well off you were or what your
background looked like—we weren’t going to consider you for
her.
“Melody’s never been married, after all.
“But she likes you. And since she likes you, we were willing to overlook all that. We told ourselves: as long as you treat her well, that’s enough.
“But look at everything that’s happened. One thing after another. Tell me, how are we supposed to feel at ease with this?”
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