Second Chance Vows novel · Chapter 8 of 24
Chapter 8: Dinner at the Kingsfords
The Kingsford house stood on a hill above the river, and its gate opened before our car had stopped.
A line of servants waited on the steps in dark uniforms.
Cosima walked up between my father and me with her hand on my arm, and the green stone shone on her wrist.
"Your grandfather lives in a palace," my father whispered to me.
"He lives in a house," Cosima said gently. "It only looks big in the dark."
Dinner was set for eight at a table that could have seated forty.
Edmund Kingsford sat at the head, with Cosima at his right and me at his left.
My father sat beside me and kept touching his tie.
Across from us sat Tiffany's father and Tiffany, and beside her sat Trent in a fresh blue suit.
His face was calm, and he smiled at everyone.
"I thought we should all dine together," Edmund said. "Families should know each other before a wedding."
Nobody answered.
He turned his cane in his hand and looked straight at me.
"Mr. Fairchild," he said. "I hear your company is short of cash."
My father coughed into his napkin.
"Word travels," he said.
"It is my business to hear it." Edmund pulled an envelope from inside his coat and slid it across the cloth. "That's a check for twenty million dollars. Consider it a wedding gift for my granddaughter's husband."
The table went silent.
I looked at the envelope, and I did not touch it.
In my first life, that same sum would have saved my father from prison.
I turned it over with one finger and pushed it back across the cloth.
"No, sir," I said.
Keep reading free with an account. Start Second Chance Vows from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 7 · All chapters · Chapter 9 →
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