Chapter 5
Preston had requested a meeting with Sebastian Pembroke without knowing Sebastian was my father.
That should have been impossible.
It wasn’t.
Men like Preston always believe doors open because they deserve them.
“What was the meeting about?”
He didn’t answer.
Victoria stepped in.
“Family expansion.”
I looked at her.
“Which family?”
“The Caldwells.”
My father almost smiled.
That frightened her more than anger.
He said:
“Preston offered me access to three Caldwell crews.”
“In exchange for?”
Silence.
I looked at Preston.
“What?”
Sebastian answered.
“A marriage alliance.”
The room went still.
I glanced at my engagement ring.
Then Preston.
“You’re already engaged.”
Victoria laughed.
“That wasn’t the marriage.”
Something cold moved through me.
Preston said:
“Mother.”
She ignored him.
“You really thought Preston Caldwell was going to spend his life married to a charity girl?”
Relatives stopped breathing.
Tiffany looked delighted.
She enjoyed wounds even when they came from her own side.
I stared at Preston.
“Who were you planning to marry?”
He looked at my father.
No.
My stomach turned before anyone said it.
Victoria smiled.
“Sebastian’s daughter.”
Silence.
I almost laughed.
They wanted me.
Not Catherine.
The Pembroke daughter.
A woman they had never knowingly met.
Preston looked at me.
The irony finally reached him.
I was the poor fiancée he intended to discard—
for myself.
My father’s face became terrifyingly calm.
“When?”
I asked.
Preston swallowed.
“After the wedding.”
“You planned to marry me?”
“Temporarily.”
That word.
I hated it immediately.
“How temporary?”
Victoria answered:
“Long enough to avoid gossip.”
Tiffany laughed.
“Six months, maybe.”
I turned toward Preston.
“You were going to divorce me.”
“If the alliance happened.”
“And if Sebastian refused?”
He said nothing.
Victoria smiled.
“Then Catherine would remain useful.”
Useful.
There it was.
Not wife.
Not family.
Fallback.
I looked at my father.
He had known Preston proposed some unnamed marriage alliance.
But not the woman.
“Who did Preston think your daughter was?”
Sebastian shook his head.
“He asked me to introduce them after today’s meeting.”
I stared at Preston.
He had planned to meet the future head of the Pembroke family—
while making that same woman scrub his wedding floor.
Then Tiffany whispered:
“That’s not even the worst part.”
Victoria turned.
“Tiffany.”
My almost sister-in-law smiled.
“No, Mom.”
May you like
She looked at me.
“Tell her what happens if Sebastian’s daughter refuses him too.”
