Chapter 4

Eleanor and Richard Caldwell read through the impeccably printed letter resting on the table between them.

Gold embossed on ivory paper, it was from the Blake family, the wealthiest and most influential family in the city.

Their son, Alexander Blake, though recently confined to a wheelchair, was still hailed as the most eligible bachelor.

The letter's formality masked what was truly an opportunity, a marriage proposal that could secure the Caldwells’ reputation, possibly even repair the damage caused by Victoria’s recent scandal.

“This could be the answer we’ve been waiting for,” Eleanor murmured, her gaze intense as she scanned the letter for the third time. “It would bring stability to our name. Imagine... the Caldwells united with the Blakes.”

Richard, seated across from her, nodded with a sigh of relief.

The stress of recent weeks had deepened the lines on his face, and the prospect of finally securing Victoria's future, and the family’s reputation, brought a glimmer of hope to his otherwise weary expression.

“Do you think she’ll see it that way?” Richard asked, brows knitting with concern.

Victoria’s recent defiance was still fresh in his memory, and her unpredictability made this moment all the more tenuous.

Eleanor’s lips pressed into a determined line. “She won’t have a choice. After everything she’s done, this is the least she can do to restore what she’s cost us.”

Summoning Victoria to the room, Eleanor and Richard exchanged a final glance.

Moments later, Victoria appeared, a vision of poise and indifference. She carried herself with a cool, effortless grace, a hand grazing the back of the velvet chair as she looked between her parents, already wary.

“What’s this about?” she asked, her tone edged with impatience.

“Sit down, Victoria. We have some news for you,” Eleanor began, her voice holding a firmness that left no room for argument.

Victoria slid gracefully into the chair, crossing her legs elegantly. She gave Eleanor a mildly curious look, masking any hint of interest. “Go on.”

“It’s an offer of marriage,” Richard said, trying to keep his voice light. “From the Blakes. Alexander Blake, to be exact.”

Victoria’s cool mask fell for a split second, replaced by a flash of surprise. She raised a skeptical brow, a dry laugh escaping her lips. “You can’t be serious. Alexander Blake? The man in a wheelchair?”

Richard bristled, but Eleanor stepped in, her voice calm yet forceful. “Alexander may be confined to a wheelchair, but he’s still the heir to the Blake fortune and legacy. Marrying him would mean uniting our family with the Blakes, Victoria. It would repair your reputation and secure your future.”

Victoria scoffed, shaking her head. “So I’m supposed to chain myself to a cripple just to keep up appearances? Do you realize how absurd that sounds?”

Eleanor’s expression tightened, but her voice stayed coldly steady. “This isn’t about appearances, Victoria. It’s about responsibility. After your recent... escapades, the press and the public have taken note. Marrying into the Blake family would give you the stability you need, and the prestige.”

Victoria’s eyes narrowed, the familiar glint of defiance sparking in them. “So, this is a punishment. You’re going to sell me off to save face. Is that it?”

“Enough, Victoria!” Richard’s voice cut through the air, sharper than either woman expected.

He leaned forward, his patience visibly thinning. “This is a chance to make amends, to show this family and the world that you’re capable of something greater than these scandals you keep bringing down on us.”

Victoria glared back at her father, her voice low and laced with bitterness. “And if I say no?”

Eleanor’s gaze was unyielding. “You won’t say no, Victoria. You don’t have that luxury anymore.”

Victoria clenched her fists, her nails biting into her palms.

The very idea of being tethered to a life with Alexander, someone she viewed as no more than a trophy figure, broken and incomplete, was unthinkable.

“This is my life,” she hissed, her voice trembling with suppressed fury. “Not some game for you to play.”

Eleanor met her daughter’s defiance with a calm, piercing stare. “This is your life, Victoria. And right now, it’s spiraling out of control. You either marry Alexander and bring honor back to this family, or you face the consequences of your choices alone.”

For a moment, the room fell into silence, the tension thick as each family member weighed the gravity of Eleanor’s words.

Victoria’s mind raced, her options limited, her future no longer in her hands.

The frustration and humiliation burned within her, but the steel in her mother’s gaze told her all she needed to know, this was not a request.

Swallowing her pride, Victoria turned away, her voice a cold, defeated murmur. “Fine. I’ll think about it.”

As she walked out of the room, back straight and chin high, the bitterness simmered beneath her flawless exterior, already plotting her next move.

Sarah was passing the library’s towering mahogany doors when the hushed yet urgent voices of her parents, Richard and Eleanor Caldwell, stopped her in her tracks.

Their voices, normally muted behind the library’s thick doors, carried into the hall with an unfamiliar desperation.

Inside, Eleanor’s voice broke through, sharp and tinged with frustration. “We can’t keep covering for her, Richard. This latest scandal could ruin us. We’ve made every concession for Victoria, but it’s not enough. Nothing is ever enough.”

Richard’s response came, his voice deep and low, filled with a weariness Sarah had rarely heard. “I know, Eleanor. She’s pushing us into a corner. But we have a solution… a way to salvage everything.”

Eleanor’s sigh cut through the tension, “And what solution is that?”

There was a pause, the air almost crackling with the intensity of the words yet to come. “Sarah,” Richard finally said, his voice carrying a note of reluctant resolve. “We’ll offer Sarah in Victoria’s place to the Blakes.”

Sarah’s heart stopped. For a moment, the library’s opulent surroundings, the polished wood, the carefully arranged leather bound books, the crackling fire, seemed to fade around her.

She pressed her hand to her chest as her pulse raced, the reality of her father’s words hitting her like a punch.

Eleanor’s response was hesitant, as though processing the implications. “You mean… we send Sarah to marry Alexander?”

“Yes,” Richard replied, his tone hardening with the weight of his decision. “Victoria has made it clear she won’t be bound to him, and the Blakes don’t know Sarah as they do Victoria. In public, both of them carry our name, our reputation… the distinction is easily hidden.”

The words echoed in Sarah’s mind, each one a blow that left her struggling to breathe.

Her life treated like some pawn in a social game.

How quickly she’d gone from the quiet Miller daughter to a nameless Caldwell, forced into a life where her family saw her not as a person, but as a solution.

“Do you really think the Blakes will accept her?” Eleanor asked, sounding more cautious than doubtful.

“She’s proven herself to be adaptable, even in society. And, unlike Victoria, she won’t bring any scandal with her,” Richard replied, a glimmer of hope creeping into his voice. “Sarah’s steady, responsible… even humble. She’ll handle this with grace, and with her as their daughter in law, we secure our reputation, and our family’s future.”