Tempted Trapped and Too Late to Run

Once the hall emptied out and it was just the two of them, the old lady let out a long sigh. "The Head Elder-he's actually your uncle, your father's older brother. Hardly anyone knows this, but he and your father never got along. Actually, it was pretty awful between them. They cut ties years ago. If it weren't for you, your uncle probably would've ignored the Ferguson family here in Country Z forever. There are just too many branches of the family. Do you even know why your father married me?"

Dylan glanced up, caught off guard. He honestly didn't know. No one ever talked about the previous generation-it all felt too far away.

The old lady's expression darkened. "At your father's eightieth birthday, your uncles told you and Colin not to turn against each other over a woman. They weren't just talking for the sake of it. Your father and his own brother ruined their relationship over a woman. He was never supposed to marry me. The Ferguson and Chester families overseas have kept their distance for years, never working together. And the current matriarch of the Chester family? She was your father's first love. The two of them were torn apart."

She hesitated then, her face clouding with old secrets she'd never wanted to say out loud-but she pressed on, needing Dylan to understand.

"Back then, your father and Sydney were in love. As for me... Have you ever heard me talk about my own family in all these years I've been in the Ferguson family?"noveldrama

Dylan didn't answer, just stared at the ring on his finger.

The old lady understood. She went on, "There's more than a decade between your father and me. When was still just a teenage maid,

in. She pitied me, cared for me, kept me with her in the Chester household. She and your father were supposed to have a happy ending, but she was too dazzling-your uncle liked her too. The night before the

Chester family matriarch took n

engagement, your uncle sent me to your father's room and went himself to see the Chester matriarch. She was proud, so even after spending a night with your uncle, she wouldn't pick either of them. In the end, she turned around and married into the Chester family on her own terms."

"After that, your father and uncle became sworn enemies. Sydney sent your father a letter and cut all ties with him. Your uncle plotted and schemed, but got nothing out of it. The feud was the talk of the family for years. As for me and your father-we kept up appearances, but we were never close. I always said I wanted to prove myself, to return to the Ferguson family in North America with my head held high. You know, Dylan, people get caught up in things. Just like your presence in the Ferguson family has always outshone everyone else. When your father was young, your uncle overshadowed him, even ruined his marriage. All these years later, they're still rivals. You're the piece your father puts forward; the other elders all support you, but your uncle keeps trying to block you. Why does your father care so much about that position? Because if his son doesn't get it, it'll go to someone tied to your uncle. No one really knows how many moves your uncle has made behind the scenes."

She paused, looking at Dylan.

"I always said wanted to prove myself. Sydney once pointed in my face and called me ungrateful, said betrayed her with outsiders. I couldn't defend myself. I was only seventeen, and I did love your father. a polite, distant marriage, I've tasted the bitterness of those choices. I should have been grateful to Sydney for taking me in, but I always wanted to outshine her. The pain of loving someone and not getting them-1 felt it even before you did. Dylan, do you really think I don't get it? The Ferguson family was never full of hopeless romantics. Even if your father loved Sydney, to men like them, women are still just women. They didn't become enemies over love—it was about pride, about refusing to back down."

But after so many years you father.