Chapter 309
Stuart's face darkened, a storm brewing in his gaze that silenced the room instantly.
Even Lorna, who'd had a bit too much to drink, seemed to sense the danger and clamped her mouth shut.
Morwenna was about to explain that she'd merely married into the Hetfield family; it wasn't like she had free reign over Stuart's finances. She wanted to clarify that.
But before she could get the words out, Stuart suddenly grabbed her wrist, "Morwenna, you focus on your studies. As Stuart's wife, you do not need to work part-time at the university, nor do you need to skimp and save."
"It's not that, Stuart. I just thought to use my free time to make a little extra cash, to pay back the money I borrowed from you."
Under Stuart's icy demeanor, Lorna couldn't help but whisper, "How much does she owe, anyway? We're all family here. Do we really need to keep score? Morwenna's been delivering packages on campus, lugging hundreds of pounds a day, just to make a few bucks, and she's getting bullied for it."
Stuart's gaze snapped to Lorna, his eyes narrowing, "Who's been bullying her?"
Startled, Lorna burped from the alcohol and found herself momentarily speechless.
The chill in the room deepened.
Norbert, too, looked serious and remained silent.
Keira, her eyes reddening, suddenly spoke up, "It's my fault. Sandra Roberts has been bullying me, and Wenna stood up for me. That's why they've been making things hard for Wenna. I was too scared to fight back. I couldn't do anything to help, even though I'm the Phillips family heiress."
Lorna quietly agreed, "Exactly, it's your fault. Morwenna told you to stand up for yourself, but you just took it, acting like a scaredy-cat despite being from the Phillips family."
Keira lowered her head, tears streaming down.
Dahlia sighed, not having expected things to escalate like this.
With a sense of resignation, Dahlia took over the conversation, "There's this student, Sandra, who Morwenna hit for bullying Keira. Since then, she's been making life difficult for Morwenna at every opportunity, especially during the freshman welcome party, and often orders heavy items for Morwenna to carry, just to trouble her."
Morwenna tugged at Stuart's sleeve, "It's okay. They can't really do much to me; at most, they make me carry some stuff. You know I'm strong."
Stuart tightened his grip on her hand, "Morwenna, what are you trying to do? Even if you're being bullied, you're still trying to make money to pay me back. Do you want to draw a line between us and leave?"
If Stuart had just looked into it, he could have easily found out about Morwenna's situation at the university. But since he decided to trust Morwenna, he never investigated.
Of course, that wasn't Morwenna's intention.
She wanted to pay Stuart back not to distance herself but to interact with him on equal footing.
It wasn't about not caring; in fact, it was because Morwenna cared too much.
But Stuart couldn't see that.
At that moment, Stuart looked downright menacing.
Morwenna felt a sudden rush of heat to her head, her thoughts drifting to Adelaide as she struggled against his grip, "I have to pay back what I borrowed, Stuart. Let me go."
Stuart was never truly at peace, always fearing that Morwenna didn't belong to him, that she would leave him someday.
Now, he seemed like a ticking time bomb, neatly dressed in a suit and tie but resembling a demon about to be unleashed. Suddenly, Norbert spoke up sternly, "Stuart, let go of Wenna."
Stuart turned, his furious gaze meeting Norbert's, but he didn't loosen his grip.
Norbert's face turned sour.
When Stuart was truly angry, he was beyond anyone's control.