Chapter 164: Beatrice Planting Seeds Of Doubt
Victor’s face was red, veins bulged in his temples, and his grip on Steven’s collar was tight enough to make him wince.
"Uncle Victor!" Beatrice cried, stepping forward. "Let him go! He didn’t do anything wrong!"
Victor turned his eyes on her.
"Didn’t do anything wrong? You’re sneaking boys into this house while I’m out working to keep a roof over your ungrateful head? You disgrace the Langley na!"
"That’s not fair!" Beatrice replied back, her voice started shaking.
"I’ve done everything you’ve asked of —everything! You have no right to treat
like this."
Victor released Steven with a shove, causing him to stumble back.
"Get out," he growled. "And don’t you ever co near my niece again."
Steven hesitated, glancing at Beatrice, who gave him a pleading look. "Just go," she whispered, her lips began to tremble.
Steven nodded, retreating toward the door.
Before he left, he shot Victor a dark look. "You’re a miserable man."
Victor ignored him, turning back to Beatrice once they were alone.
"What were you thinking? Do you want to end up like your mother? A failure who threw her life away on so worthless man?"
Beatrice’s heart sank at the ntion of her mother.
Victor never missed an opportunity to remind her of the woman who’d abandoned her when she was just a child.
"I’m not her," Beatrice said in a low but defiant tone. "And Steven isn’t worthless. He cares about ."
Victor sneered. "Cares about you? That boy sees an easy mark, just like every other man out there. You think they care about you? No, Beatrice. They care about what they can take from you."
Beatrice’s fists clenched at her sides. "Not everyone is like you."
The words slipped out before she could stop them, and the second they did, she knew she’d crossed a line.
Victor’s hand struck her cheek with a slap, the force of it sending her stumbling back.
Tears sprang to her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.
She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
"You ungrateful little brat," Victor hissed. "I’ve sacrificed everything for you, and this is how you repay ? Maybe I should’ve left you on the streets like your mother."
Beatrice stared at him, her cheek stinging, her heart started breaking.
She’d spent her entire life trying to earn his approval, to prove she was worth sothing.
But in that mont, she realised it would never be enough.
She retreated to her room, locking the door behind her.
Her tears finally fell as she sank onto the bed, clutching a pillow to her chest.
Victor’s words crushed her, but there was sothing else gnawing at her—sothing darker.
For so reason, she couldn’t stop thinking about Helen.
Helen Hax.
The perfect Helen Hax.
Beautiful, wealthy, loved by everyone, and worst of all, adored by Victor.
He was always comparing them.
"Why can’t you be more like Helen?" he’d sneer. "She’s everything you’re not."
Beatrice’s hatred for Helen wasn’t born overnight.
It had grown slowly, like a disease, fed by years of comparisons and belittlent.
Helen had everything handed to her on a silver platter, while Beatrice had to fight for scraps.
And now Helen had Henry. Handso, charming Henry, who doted on her like she was the only woman in the world.
The way he looked at her made Beatrice’s stomach twist with envy.
Why did Helen get to have it all?
Beatrice heard the whispers on campus—Henry was planning to propose.
The thought made her blood boil.
Helen didn’t deserve him.
She didn’t deserve the happiness that had been denied to Beatrice her entire life.
The plan ca into Beatrice’s mind almost effortlessly, as if it had been waiting for the right mont to surface.
She would sabotage Helen’s relationship with Henry.
She’d take away the one thing Helen couldn’t replace—her love.
A week later, Beatrice spotted Henry sitting alone in the campus café, his usual smile was replaced with a distracted air.
She saw her opportunity and seized it.
"Hey, Henry," she said, sliding into the seat across from him.
Henry looked up, surprised. "Beatrice. What’s up?"
She offered him a warm smile, the kind she knew made people lower their guard.
"Just wanted to talk. I’ve been aning to congratulate you."
"Congratulate ?" he asked, confused.
"On your upcoming engagent, of course," she said, her tone seed lighter.
"Everyone’s talking about it. Helen’s a lucky girl."
Henry shifted uncomfortably. "Well, nothing’s official yet. I haven’t even asked her."
Beatrice leaned in, pretending to be concerned.
"Are you sure you want to? I an, Helen’s amazing, don’t get
wrong, but... well, there are so things you should probably know before you make a decision like that."
Henry frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Beatrice hesitated, as if hesitant to speak. "I probably shouldn’t say anything. It’s not my place."
"Beatrice," Henry said firmly. "If you know sothing, tell ."
She sighed, as if the world were on her shoulders.
"I overheard Helen talking to soone the other day. She said she wasn’t sure about you. That she might leave to take a job overseas if the opportunity ca up."
Henry’s jaw tightened. "What? She never ntioned anything like that to ."
Beatrice reached across the table, placing a hand on his arm.
"I’m sorry, Henry. I just thought you deserved to know. You’re a great guy, and you shouldn’t waste your ti on soone who doesn’t appreciate you."
Henry pulled his arm away, his eyes narrowed. "Why are you telling
this?"
"Because I care about you," Beatrice said softly. "You’re one of the good ones, Henry. You deserve soone who sees that."
Her words planted a seed of doubt in Henry’s mind.
Over the next few days, he found himself questioning everything.
Was Helen really planning to leave him? Was he just another fleeting Chapter in her chard life?
But Beatrice didn’t stop there.
She began dropping subtle hints to Helen as well, suggesting that Henry wasn’t as committed as he seed.
"You know," she said casually one afternoon, "Henry’s been spending a lot of ti with Olivia lately. She’s from his social circle, isn’t she?"
Helen laughed, dismissing the comnt. "Beatrice, I trust Henry. And I trust our relationship."
But the seed had been planted, and it began to grow.
The cracks in Helen and Henry’s relationship widened as Beatrice’s lies took root.
When Henry finally confronted Helen about her supposed plans to leave, she was blindsided.
"What are you talking about?" she demanded. "I’ve never said anything like that."
"Beatrice told ," Henry replied back. "She said you were considering taking a job overseas. That you weren’t sure about us."
Helen’s eyes widened. "Beatrice? Why would you believe her? She’s always had it out for !"
Henry hesitated...
"She sounded sincere. And lately... I don’t know, Helen. You’ve seed distant."
Helen’s heart broke as she realised how deeply Beatrice’s poison had seeped into their relationship.
"Henry," she said softly, "I love you. I’ve never thought about leaving. You have to believe ."
But Henry’s trust had been shaken, and no matter how much Helen tried to reassure him, the damage had been done.
Beatrice watched from the shadows as their relationship started to fall apart.
For the first ti in her life, she felt powerful.
She had taken sothing from Helen—sothing she could never get back.
But as she stood alone in the darkness, a hollow ache settled in her chest.
Victory tasted bitter, and for a fleeting mont, Beatrice wondered if she had truly won at all.
Henry and Helen didn’t speak for two days, until...
Henry was sitting on a bench, head in his hands, looking like a man pushed down by regret.
When Helen approached him, her blue eyes were red with hurt, he barely looked up.
"Henry," she said, her voice trembled with suppressed emotion. "We need to talk."
He straightened, "Helen... I—"
"Save it," she interrupted, holding up a hand.
"I trusted you, Henry. I gave you my heart. And you... you believed her? Beatrice of all people?"
Henry flinched at her words. "I thought I was doing the right thing," he said weakly.
"She made it seem so... convincing. I didn’t want to lose you."
Helen laughed bitterly, shaking her head.
"Lose ? Henry, the only thing you’ve done is push
away. I told you how much I cared about you, how much I believed in us. And the second soone plants a seed of doubt, you throw it all away?"
"I’m sorry, Helen," he said, standing up and reaching for her hand. "I was wrong. I should’ve co to you first. I let my insecurities get the better of ."
Helen yanked her hand away, her voice broke as tears welled in her eyes.
"You didn’t just hurt , Henry. You destroyed the trust we had. You let soone else’s lies poison what we built."
Before he could respond, Helen’s anger erupted.
Her hand ca up, and she slapped him hard across the face.
"Don’t you ever contact
again," she said, shaking with finality. "You made your choice. Live with it."
Reviews
All reviews (0)