All Chapters of Mrs. Vale by Contract : Chapter 11 - Chapter 18

Lydia rolled the window down. Naomi stood outside, breathless, one hand braced on the door. “Naomi…” “I’m so sorry, Ma.” Naomi spoke before Lydia could finish. “Mr. Vale asked me to pick you up, but you weren’t at the location when I arrived so I followed the road. I saw you getting into the taxi and hurried after you.” Lydia exhaled something close to a laugh. “Louis sent you?” “Yes, Ma.” A part of her was almost annoyed all over again. He could abandon her on the roadside, then send someone to bring her home and make himself look like the reasonable one. She turned to the driver, apologized, and pressed a bill into his hand before climbing out. He drove off without a word. “I’m sorry I didn’t get there sooner,” Naomi said again, twisting her hands. “Don’t be. You’re here.” They walked together toward a sedan parked at the curb. “There’s something else, Ma.” Naomi opened the passenger door. “Mr. Vale said this car is yours now. I’m to drive you wherever you need.”

Lydia finally mustered the courage to call Victoria.The first ring went unanswered.What was I thinking? Why would she even pick up?Just then her phone rang.Victoria.The phone nearly slipped from her hand.She answered.“Hel…”"You suddenly lost your manners and can't greet?" The voice cut through immediately. "Why are you disturbing me?"Lydia relaxed.Typical Victoria.“Good afternoon, Ma.”“What do you want?”Lydia hesitated.“It was the wrong dial.”“Wrong number, huh?”Victoria gave a humorless laugh. "Did Vanessa send you as her little peace envoy? Whatever game you’re playing with my daughter, it should stop.” “Yes, I know my beef isn’t with you,” Victoria continued. “But you can’t blame me for hating you. You’ve been in my shoes before. Was it fun?”Lydia lowered her eyes.The line went dead.Lydia had expected something else.Instead, Victoria had sounded exactly like the woman she had known all her life.Which meant, at least, that whatever Vanessa was doing, it had noth

Lydia was surprised when she returned to the living room.Naomi was waiting for her.The morning light had shifted, warmer now, catching dust motes near the windows.She looked toward the door."I didn't call for you.""Mr. Vale did."Of course he had.Lydia exhaled and hoped, quietly, that today would go smoothly.Vanessa arrived an hour later, gushing over the marble entryway before she'd even set down her bag."Lydia. You're really living like this now?"Her eyes moved over the high ceilings and the art on the walls, cataloguing everything.Lydia ignored the remark."Sit."Vanessa did.She accepted the drink Lydia offered, then glanced around again."Can I see the house?"Lydia hesitated."Just a tour."After a moment, she nodded.They moved through the sitting rooms, then the library, leather-bound books that smelled of dust and old paper, and the sunroom overlooking the garden, where light spilled through the glass in pale yellow sheets.Vanessa trailed a finger along every surfa

Louis handed Vanessa the laptop without a word. She connected her flash drive, then turned the screen toward him. Photographs appeared one after another: Lydia laughing against Ryan’s shoulder, his arms around her waist, his mouth pressed to her temple. Louis scrolled without comment. Behind a concrete pillar, Ryan watched, his jaw tightening. Carter had noticed him ten minutes earlier and informed Louis, but Louis had made no move to send him away. If anything, he seemed content to let him watch. Louis stopped at a photograph of Lydia asleep beneath the sheets, Ryan’s jacket draped over her bare shoulders. Ryan’s lips rested against her hairline. Vanessa noticed the pause and mistook it for hurt. “That’s nothing,” she said softly. “There are more intimate pictures, but I didn’t bring them. I wouldn’t want to hurt you more than necessary.” Louis’s thumb rested against the laptop’s edge. Vanessa moved closer. “Did Lydia tell you she married you on the very day she was