Chapter 6
The world went quiet.
Fiancée.
I looked at Daniel.
His face was white.
"Victoria," he said. "What are you doing here?"
"You said we'd celebrate," she said. She held up her left hand.
A diamond ring glittered on her finger.
Big. Expensive.
Bigger than the one Daniel had given me.
"Celebrate what?" I asked. My voice sounded distant. Like it belonged to someone else.
"The divorce," Victoria said. She smiled again. It was a cold, perfect smile. "Daniel told me you two were done. That you'd be signing the papers any day now."
I looked at Daniel.
"Is this true?"
He opened his mouth. Closed it.
"Sarah, I can explain—"
"Explain what?" I said. "That while I was packing our daughter's things last night, you were already planning to marry someone else?"
"Linda introduced us," Victoria said. "Three months ago. She said you and Daniel were having problems. That it was only a matter of time."
Three months.
He'd been seeing her for three months.
While I was worrying about bills.
While I was planning Emma's birthday party.
While I was trying to fix our marriage.
"Linda planned this," I said. "Didn't she?"
Victoria's smile faltered slightly.
"Linda just wants what's best for Daniel," she said. "And for the Harrington family. You were never really one of us, Sarah. You never fit in."
I looked at Daniel.
"Did you sleep with her?" I asked.
He wouldn't meet my eyes.
"Sarah—"
"Did you?"
"Yes," he whispered.
I nodded.
Somehow, that hurt worse than the slap.
Worse than the bank account.
Worse than finding out our marriage had been arranged by his mother for revenge.
Because that choice had been his.
All his.
"I hope you two are very happy together," I said.
I turned and walked out of the café.
I didn't look back.
I didn't see Daniel call after me.
I didn't see Victoria's triumphant smile.
I just walked.
My father's security car pulled up beside me.
The window rolled down.
"Mrs. Harrington—"
"Sarah," I corrected him. "Just Sarah."
"Sarah," the driver said. "Get in. Your father wants you home."
I got in the car.
I didn't cry.
Not yet.
I felt numb.
Completely, utterly numb.
When we got back to my father's house, he was waiting for me.
He took one look at my face.
And he knew.
"What happened?"
"Daniel has a fiancée," I said. "Victoria. Linda introduced them three months ago. They're waiting for the divorce to be final."
My father's face hardened.
"She moves fast," he said.
"There's more," I said. "Daniel confirmed it. Linda chose me. She made him marry me as part of a plan to destroy you. To get revenge for Richard."
He nodded slowly.
"I suspected as much," he said. "But I could never prove it."
"Daniel also said he saw Linda the night his father died," I said. "She was washing a bottle. And she threatened him. Told him if he said anything, he'd end up like his father."
My father was quiet for a long moment.
"That's new evidence," he said. "If Daniel would testify—"
"He won't," I said. "He's terrified of her. He always has been."
"Then we need to find another way," he said.
He handed me a folder.
"My investigators found this this morning," he said.
I opened it.
Inside were bank records.
And a name.
Victoria St. Claire.
"She's not just some woman Linda found," my father said. "She's Linda's niece. Her sister's daughter."
I stared at the papers.
"She's family."
"She's also been on Linda's payroll for five years," he said. "Linda has been paying her $8,000 a month. To do what, we don't know. But my guess is, she's been groomed for this. To marry Daniel. To produce a 'proper' Harrington heir. One that Linda can control completely."
I thought about Emma.
Linda's granddaughter.
The child she'd never thought was good enough.
Because she was half me.
Half the daughter of the man Linda hated.
"She wants Emma out of the picture," I said.
"She wants Daniel to have a new family," my father said. "One that's pure Harrington. One that owes her everything. And Emma… she's a reminder of you. Of me. Of everything Linda wants to erase."
I felt a cold fear settle in my chest.
"She won't try to take Emma from me," I said. "Will she?"
My father looked at me.
And he didn't say anything.
That was answer enough.
My phone buzzed.
An email.
From Linda's attorney.
Subject: Custody Petition - Harrington vs. Carter
I opened it.
May you like
And I read the first line.
*The Petitioner, Linda Harrington, hereby petitions the court for full custody of Emma Grace Harrington, on the grounds that the child's mother, Sarah Carter, is mentally unstable and unfit to parent.*
