Married To My Ex's Brother, Reborn Miraculously-Chapter 178: The blame game

A heavy silence settled over the grand hall as Augustine and Anne disappeared behind the door with Dimitri. The earlier chaos had faded, but the aftermath hung thick in the air.

Jeanne collapsed into a chair nearby, her eyes clouded with fury and shame. Her chest rose and fell with uneven breaths, the sting of humiliation twisting her heart painfully.

Denis, meanwhile, stood frozen in place, eyes glazed over with disbelief and regret. He looked like a man struck by lightning—still standing but burned within.

The truth hit him like a punch to the gut. Tania had deceived him from the very beginning, weaving a web of lies. She had played the role of the wounded innocent, twisting facts and painting Anne as the villain.

And he had fallen for it. She had pretended to be the wronged one, weaving a convincing web of pain and victimhood. And he? He had swallowed every word. Every tear of Tania’s had convinced him that she had been wronged.

He had turned his back on Anne, the woman who had once loved him wholeheartedly, only to be met with his cold indifference and relentless accusations. He hadn’t even paused to listen to her side of the story.

Anne had pleaded with him to believe her and tried so many times to defend herself. But he had chosen to walk away, blinded by a truth that never existed.

How could he have been so blind? So naive?

His insides twisted with guilt. What had he done?

Regret surged through him like a tidal wave, crashing into every memory of Anne he had pushed aside. He had shattered her trust, buried her under false accusations, and treated her with cold cruelty. He had driven her away, and now she was gone—really gone.

Her parting words still echoed in his ears, laced with icy finality. Her eyes, once soft, had turned to steel, filled with disappointment and heartbreak. She had made it clear: there was no space for him in her life anymore.

The thought of losing her forever clawed at his chest. He felt her slipping through his fingers, drifting further with each passing moment. But he wouldn’t give up. He had lost her once through his ignorance. He wouldn’t lose her again. He would fight for her. Whatever it took. He would make her believe in him again.

"You are nothing but a fool," Gabriel’s voice cracked through the silence like a whip, dragging Denis out of his spiraling thoughts. "You couldn’t even see through her. You swallowed her lies whole. You didn’t even bother to find out if she was really pregnant. But Augustine uncovered her past just like that."

Denis’s face contorted, fury bubbling just beneath his skin. Every word his father spoke was true, yet it stung. He had been blinded by the nostalgia of Tania’s return. He hadn’t questioned where she had been, what she had done in those years. All he had cared about was rekindling what once was, and in that blind pursuit, he had betrayed Anne without a second thought. freeweɓnøvel.com

Now, he regretted his every action. If only he could turn back time, if only he had listened to Anne once, Tania wouldn’t have manipulated him and fooled him.

"This is a disgrace to the family," Gabriel went on, his tone growing colder. "This entire debacle is because of your negligence. You let a woman walk all over you. You brought shame to the family name. You’ve proven yourself to be nothing but a disappointment."

The words bounced off marble walls and into the pit of Denis’s heart. His head throbbed, his temper flaring until it could no longer be contained.

"Why are you blaming me?" he shot back, his voice echoing louder than Gabriel’s. "You are the one who forced this engagement on me. I told you I wasn’t serious about Tania. I said I’d take responsibility for the child, but I never wanted to marry her."

He stepped closer, eyes blazing with long-suppressed frustration.

"You never cared about what I wanted," Denis growled. "All you saw was Grandpa’s shares. It was never about me. You never cared about what I wanted. You used me as a tool, just like Tania did."

For a moment, silence hung between them. Both stood there, glaring at each other.

"You are blaming me instead of owning up to your mistakes," Gabriel shot back with fury. "You were the one dating her, showering her with expensive gifts and jewelry. Don’t pretend you were some innocent bystander. If you truly didn’t care about her, she would’ve never gotten the chance to sink her claws in. Her intentions were crystal clear—she wanted into this family, and she played her cards perfectly. And you? You walked right into her trap. You never even bothered to dig into her background."

Denis’s eyes burned, simmering with defiance. Fury and betrayal surged through him like wildfire.

"I did know her background. That’s why I never took it seriously," he snapped. "It was always casual for me. But you forced the engagement to serve your own agenda. Don’t lay this at my feet. What happened today is on you."

Before Gabriel could speak again, Denis turned and strode away.

"You, come back," Gabriel bellowed. "I’m not finished with you."

But Denis didn’t break stride. He didn’t glance back, didn’t slow down. The heavy doors slammed shut behind him.

"Look at this unfilial son!" Gabriel thundered as he turned his scowl on Jeanne. "He has become more and more defiant, and it’s because you coddled him. This is all your fault."

Jeanne stared at him in stunned disbelief, her eyes narrowing with quiet outrage. "You always know how to throw blame around. But you never once stop to look in the mirror. You never admit when you are wrong."

Tears shimmered in her eyes, and with a trembling hand, she wiped them away. Rising to her feet, she squared her shoulders and met his gaze defiantly. "Yes, Denis made mistakes," she admitted. "He failed to see her for who she really was. But we were just as wrong."

She took a step closer to Gabriel, her sorrow now fused with quiet fury. "We didn’t verify anything. We believed the report she had presented to us, and didn’t question a single thing. We never even confirmed the pregnancy was real. What if her pregnancy wasn’t fake, but the baby wasn’t Denis’s? Do you realize how much worse this could have been?"