Undaunted Love (PART TWO): Banished Saga, Book 3.5 Read Online Free PDF

just as likely to have led to his early death?” Colin said with a vicious snarl. “You only wanted him for security and for the prestige he could bring. You never cared for the man nor his family.”
    “You see, Mrs. Wright?” Mrs. Smythe simpered into her handkerchief, her voice taking on the sugary tone I despised. “These are the remaining members of Sean’s family that I’m to look to for comfort in my grief. I must find solace and strength on my own.”
    “I am only thankful that such a woman never became a member of my family,” Mrs. Wright said as she glared at me. “Shameless, useless girl, only bringing pain and heartache to those around her.”
    “The feeling is mutual,” I snapped.
    “Was Patrick informed of Da’s death?” Colin asked as he gripped Mrs. Smythe’s elbow. She glared at him, but he refused to release her. “I’m shocked he wouldn’t travel the short distance from New York City.”
    “I cannot recall who I informed in my state,” Mrs. Smythe said as she cried.
    “Save your tears. We know you for the conniving woman you are.” Colin glared at her with eyes the color of glowing blue ice. “You purposefully held the ceremony on a day when you thought we wouldn’t be able to attend. You didn’t tell our brother of his father’s death. Why, Mrs. Smythe?”
    “You left!” she hissed. “You left. You have no right to any consideration after the way you treated your father and me. The three of you, all ungrateful children, abandoning your home and your duties. Always your duty to your family first. But, clearly your mother, such an unprincipled, wild woman, incapable of raising children, failed to instill that basic tenet in you. Thus, you deserve to suffer, knowing your father died missing you and was buried without you.”
    I gasped, and Colin shook with rage. “How dare you bury him away from our mother.”
    “Do you honestly believe I was to have him buried next to her, with no place for me? Besides, when I spoke with your grandparents, they were only too pleased to have one more space in their plot for a deserving member of their family, not an upstart blacksmith who had no right to marry their daughter.”
    “You vile woman. I will forever rue the day you married my father,” Colin said.
    “You may call me what you like, Colin. It does not bother me. I know what it takes to survive in this harsh world, much more than you do.” She glared at the two of us before pivoting and storming away, Mrs. Wright on her arm.
    I shook and reached out to grasp Colin’s steady arm. “What did we ever do to deserve her?”
    “Nothing,” Colin said. “Just had the misfortune of having a misguided da.” He noted my shaking. “Ignore her, Rissa. Nothing she says is true.”
    “I know. But seeing her fills me with rage, Col. At the way she attempted to ruin my life and never feel any regret about what she did.”
    “Never fear. She’ll receive her comeuppance.”
    “It can’t occur soon enough,” I said as we moved to rejoin Savannah, Lucas and the rest of the family.
    ***
    “WELL, DEARS, HOW WAS IT?” Sophie sat on a settee in her front living room, a roaring fire adding ambiance to the room.
    “Sophie?” I said from the doorway.
    Her head jerked toward me, and a satisfied smile flitted across her face as she rose. “Ah, my girl. You arrived in time, I hope?”
    I nodded as I fought tears and rushed into her arms for a long embrace.
    “There, there, no tears on my account,” she murmured.
    I shook my head no and backed away. “Forgive me,” I whispered. “Sophie, I don’t know as you remember Colin.”
    “Mr. Sullivan, welcome to my home. I hope you find it as comfortable as that luxurious hotel in Minneapolis.” She waved to the furniture around the room and Colin, Savannah, Aunt Betsy and I settled.
    “How was the weeping widow?” Sophie asked with a raised eyebrow.
    “Attempting to appear sad but failing on all counts,” Colin said.
    “I’d think