Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Hosea rushed in, alarmed by her daughter’s hysterical state. But Fred rose first, polling his wife
away.
“Let him handle his own mess.
BANG: The door slammed shirt behind them
Alone in the suddenly silent study, Hedy stared at Lance through her tears, her heart shattering intry
pieces.
For a moment, she questioned if all the years she poured into him had been completely wasted.
She always knew they couldn’t be public, given their relationship.
But that hadn’t mattered to her. All she needed was his love–his exclusive love.
That’s why she’d happily let him sabotage her blind dates, allowed him to pull her away from other men, even encouraged him to abandon his newlywed wife for her.
When news broke that Anthea had divorced Lance and left the country, Hedy had been overjoyed.
Finally, she thought, they could be together openly.
But now this? Lance claiming he only saw her as a sister? That he had feelings for Anthea?
No. Absolutely not. Lance could only belong to her!
Fred never learned exactly what happened between them that night. All he heard was a furious. shout followed by a woman’s terrified scream.
When Fred and Hosea rushed over, they found two naked figures–one sitting on the bed, the other wrapped in torn clothes, fallen to the floor, sobbing.
By the next morning, the scandal had exploded across New York society: the Rhodes heir planning to marry his own stepsister.
The father and son marrying mother and daughter became the choicest gossip in their social circles.
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Chapter 14
Back in his study, Lance had already smashed everything in sight, his face livid with anger.
“You knew she tried to drug me!” he spat at his father. “You knew it falled, so why are you forcing
me to marry her?”
Fred didn’t look at him, his tone eerily calm. “You’ve already hurt one woman. I won’t let you destroy
another’s.”
“Lance, I’m getting old. I just want to see you settled.”
These words fell on deaf ears. Lance glared at his father for a long moment before storming out
“Anthea is the only wife I’ll ever acknowledge!”
Across the Atlantic, the scandal reached the Orlando family. Toby and Stacy were stunned by the news that Lance and Hedy were getting married.
“So when you told us he loved someone else,” Stacy finally managed, “you meant Hedy?”
Anthea had long known about Lance and Hedy’s relationship, so she just nodded calmly.
BANG!
Toby slammed his fist on the table in anger. “Those Rhodes bastards!”
“Now it all makes sense–why they pushed so hard for that marriage! They wanted our daughter to be their family’s cover–up!”
Stacy’s face darkened as she laughed bitterly. “How calculating. Whether or not they succeeded in separating Lance and Hedy, all the blame would fall on Anthea. They’d stay clean while my daughter got painted as the villain!”
Anthea thought the same.
Wasn’t that exactly what happened? The Rhodess had forced Lance to marry her, yet Lance had blamed her for everything, ultimately causing her such despair that she died.
Thank goodness she’d broken free from this toxic relationship in this lifetime. From now on, neither Lance nor any of the Rhodess would have anything to do with her.
Toby and Stacy, however, only grew angrier. They immediately wanted to fly back and confront
Choose to Let Go
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Chapter 14
Lance personally.
Anthea hastily stopped them, spending considerable time convincing them to abandon the idea.
Just as Toby and Stacy had finally calmed down, the butler entered with an uncomfortable
expression.
“Sir, madam, miss, there’s someone at the door claiming to be the young lady’s husband…”
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