Betrayed By Husband, Stolen By Brother In Law Chapter 332: Caught

lody’s breath caught in her throat.

The words hung heavy in the air, and for a second she could barely process them. Why are you pretending to be lanie, lody?

Her mind spun. How? How could her mother know? Had she slipped sowhere? Missed sothing obvious? Had she stood differently? Spoken too warmly? Her thoughts were racing—searching for the answer, desperate to regain control.

No. No, maybe it was a guess. A bluff.

She swallowed hard and forced herself to breathe, her face tightening as she tried to control her heart rate and lied through her teeth. "I... I’m lanie. Are you mistaken about sothing?" she said quickly in a voice firr than she felt inside. "You said so yourself... I called you Mom, didn’t I? I understand why you might want to be lody. After all, you have raised her and loved her for all these years...."

lody tapered off as Marianne didn’t flinch or react and gave her a long, calm look, then slowly got up. Without saying a word, she walked over to the door, turned the lock with a soft click, and then returned to the stool beside the bed.

lody tensed.

From her purse, Marianne pulled out a small zip pouch and opened it. "Let tell you sothing about your mother, lanie" she said in a quiet. "She has always loved peanuts. Especially the spicy kind."

lody watched in silence, every nerve in her body on edge as Marianne unzipped the pouch and tipped it upside down into her palm. A small pile of roasted peanuts slid into her hand.

"But what a fool I am," Marianne added lightly, glancing at the empty pouch. "I forgot my EpiPen today."

Her words were almost playful. But the tension beneath them was anything but.

lody’s heart slamd in her chest as she stared at the peanuts. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. She knew this was a test—a trap, even. But her body didn’t wait for her brain.

As soon as she saw Marianne lift the peanuts to her mouth, sothing in her snapped. "Mama, no!" she shouted, grabbing her mother’s wrist and smacking the peanuts out of her hand in a sharp, panicked motion. They scattered across the floor with a dull clatter. "You’re allergic to peanuts! How can you be so careless?"

The room stilled.

lody’s hand was still frozen in the air between them. Her chest heaved once. Twice. Then she let out a choking breath, and the panic that had been threatening to break spilled over.

Tears welled in her eyes and poured down her cheeks before she could stop them. "I didn’t an to-" she whispered, but the words broke into a sob. "I’m sorry. I didn’t want to lie. I just- I didn’t know what else to do."

Marianne didn’t speak right away. She just sat there, her hand still extended where the peanuts had been, her expression unreadable.

Then she leaned forward, slow and asured, and cupped lody’s cheek. "Thank you for caring enough for your Mom, lody. Now, tell , why are you lying about being lanie? And where is lanie?"

lody covered her face with her hands. The dam had broken. The lie had crumbled. There was no more pretending. If Marianne Thomas had been angry, lody might have been hold onto the lie. But, instead, Marianne took her hand in hers and patted it softly, "Co on, tell mama everything. From the beginning."

lody trembled as Marianne held her hand gently, her thumb moving in small, slow circles across her knuckles. That one simple gesture was so familiar and so safe that it finally cracked the last of her defences.

Her voice ca out broken. "I... t soone, Mama. A man. About a year ago."

She didn’t look up. Couldn’t. Her fingers dug into the bedsheet as if anchoring herself. "It felt like... like love at first sight. He was kind, attentive. The way he looked at , the way he listened, I thought I’d found sothing real. He was caring... and possessive. The kind that made it feel flattering at first. Like I mattered to him more than anyone else in the world."

Her words tumbled out faster now, as if saying them made the weight easier to carry."I was ensnared before I even realised it. I thought I was lucky.. That soone had seen ... chosen . That was when I told you about him, if you rember."

Marianne stayed quiet, letting her speak which made lody cry harder.

"After a few months of dating, he invited to his villa," lody continued, her voice lowering. "It was this remote, beautiful place-like sothing out of a movie. And I... I said yes. I didn’t even think twice."

She let out a shaky breath, her nails pressing crescent-shaped marks into her palms. "But once I got there... things changed. Slowly at first. He started finding ways to stop from leaving. He’d say he missed too much, that the outside world didn’t deserve us. That we were better when it was just the two of us."

"At first, I believed him. I was happy that he wanted all of . And enjoying our ti together. That he cared enough to want to spend every second together. But then..."

Her voice cracked. "One day, one of my colleagues called . Just to ask when I was returning. It was a woman I’d worked with briefly-a harmless call. But when he found out..."

lody’s whole body shuddered as the mory surfaced like a cold wave. "He went crazy, Mama. He scread, shattered things. And then... he hit . Slapped so hard I couldn’t hear out of my ear for a full day. I tried to protest, to stand up for myself-but it was like the man I loved had vanished. I didn’t even recognise his face anymore."

Her voice dropped to a whisper. "After that, I wasn’t allowed to speak to anyone. Not even friends. He took my phone, locked the landline. The only people I was allowed to talk to... were you and Papa. And even then, only when he was in the room. He’d smile, act sweet while I spoke to you both-but the mont the call connected, he’d watch like a hawk."

She looked up then, her eyes swollen and red, the skin beneath them blotchy. "Mama... I barely escaped from there."

And with that, the last of her composure broke. lody dropped her head into her mother’s lap, sobbing uncontrollably. "I didn’t know what else to do. When those people ca for us in the car, I just had an intuition. That he’d sent them for . So I... I used lanie’s na. I thought I could hide behind it, just for a while... I never thought it would go this far. But... you don’t have to worry. lanie will return soon. Once he recognises she is not , he will let her leave. And then, I will ask her for her forgiveness."

Marianne sat there, stroking her daughter’s hair in slow, comforting motions, her own face pale with the weight of the confession.

"You should’ve told us," she said softly, but without accusation.

lody let out a bitter laugh through her tears. "How could I, Mama? All I wanted to do was forget about him. Pretend that I never knew him..."