His Secret Wife Walked Away Pregnant novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: The Empty Chair

Bennett helped me up the steps to the stage.

The last guests were gone, and the staff had been sent away.

Under the gold chandeliers the ballroom looked huge and empty, with the champagne tower still glittering.

Beatrice Hargrove sat down in her high-backed chair and pointed her cane at the one beside it.

I sat, and my knees thanked me.

"Gavin," she said. "Stand where I can see you."

He came to the foot of the stage with Veronica a step behind him.

"Grandmother, I can explain."

"I'm sure you can." She did not raise her voice. "You've been explaining for three years. Please start with why a girl stood on my stage in a hospital bracelet."

"She's unstable. She lied to the whole room."

"She showed the whole room a county stamp."

Gavin swallowed.

"I was protecting her from you," he said.

The old woman went very still.

"From me."

"You would have destroyed her. You'd have cut me off, ruined her name, you told me yourself you'd never accept some girl from nowhere..."

"I never said that."

"You said it at Dad's funeral."

"I said I would not accept a girl who wanted only your money." She tapped the cane once. "A baker who gets up at four in the morning doesn't want your money, Gavin. She wants a nap."

I laughed.

I couldn't help it, and then I put my hand over my mouth because I was crying too.

Beatrice turned her head and looked at me.

"I have known who you are since the week you were married, my dear," she said.

The words didn't mean anything at first.

"The county clerk's office phoned me the next Monday," she said. "It's a small, loyal city, and I have been giving money to it for sixty years."

← Chapter 4 · All chapters · Chapter 6 →

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