The Man Who Can't Let Her Go novel · Chapter 15 of 24
Chapter 15: The Empty Chair
Lydia played three more files before the laptop's battery died.
In every one, Cissy's voice was warm and certain.
In the second she told Hayden that his wife hoped he would rot.
In the third she told Lydia that Hayden had changed his number and would not say why.
Each call had been recorded from Cissy's end, with the date in the file name.
Hayden sat on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.
One file near the bottom he did not let her open.
It was labeled with his own initial and a month, and he put his palm flat on the lid before she could reach for it.
"Not tonight," he said.
She looked at his hand and did not ask.
On Friday morning she walked into Henrietta's room with a thermos of tea and found two visitors already sitting at the bedside.
One was Hayden's aunt, in a navy coat, with her handbag held on her knees.
The other was the gray man from the Alder Club bar, who had told Hayden that Lydia had no place there.
He was on the board of VanAlen & Co.
"Ah," said the aunt, without turning her head. "The runaway."
Henrietta lay against her pillows with her eyes half closed.
"I'm so glad you're here, Lydia," she said. "Sit by me. She was about to tell me something."
"I was telling you that Cissy has been wronged," the aunt said.
"Cissy is a brilliant girl. She spent three years nursing this family, and you have let this woman turn you against her on one night's say-so."
"On one night," Henrietta said.
"Cissy has recordings."
"I have heard them."
"Then you know what she is!"
The gray man cleared his throat.
"Mrs. VanAlen, the board is concerned. Tomorrow night is the company's anniversary. Two hundred guests, the press, our bankers. We cannot have a scene."
Keep reading free with an account. Start The Man Who Can't Let Her Go from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 14 · All chapters · Chapter 16 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend