Cold Marriage, Burning Regret novel · Chapter 17 of 24

Chapter 17: Her Own Phone

"Lydia," Dillon said again. "Who is the father?"

She did not answer him.

She was looking at his hand, which had come to rest on the back of her chair.

"Take your time," he said, to the board and not to her. "She's been through a great deal. I only met her at a charity lunch, and I barely know her. If there was another man, we should be told."

"Another man," Lydia said.

"Obviously."

"You said not to worry." Her voice was very quiet. "You said it was arranged. You said the form was taken care of."

"Lydia, you're upset."

"You're giving me to them."

"Sit down and be calm," Dillon said, and the warmth had gone out of him completely. "You'll hurt the baby."

The room heard that.

I watched seven faces hear it.

Lydia took her phone out of her purse, slowly, and laid it on the polished table.

She pushed it across to Eleanor with two fingers.

"The messages are in the thread called Dinner," she said. "He renamed it so the hotel staff wouldn't see."

Dillon lunged.

The audit chairman was an old man, and he moved faster than I would have bet, putting his arm across the table and his palm flat on the phone.

"Sit, Mr. Ellery."

"That is private property, and she's unwell..."

"Sit," said Eleanor.

She did not raise her voice.

He sat.

Eleanor put on her reading glasses and picked up the phone and began to read.

I could not see the screen.

I could see her face.

"The sample goes in under Scott's name," she read, in a perfectly clear voice. "I'll sign the form myself. He'll never see it."

Nobody moved.

"Our son will sit in that chair, darling, and my cousin will be washing dishes in a hospital kitchen." She turned the page with her thumb. "The wife leaks on Wednesday. Make sure she's out of the lab before the board."

← Chapter 16 · All chapters · Chapter 18 →

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