“Enough! Shut yourculous mouth!” Alistair, livid, grabbed an apple from the table.
and hurled it straight at Dahlia.
Dahlia flinched too late, yelping in pain as she glared at him. “Dad, what on earth is that for? I’m doing this for the Fordham family! I was against Chester marrying that woman from the very beginning. Now that Chester’s father is gone, none of you treat me like I matter anymore!”
Alistair turned his head aside, unwilling to listen to another word.
Chester stood, restraining his increasingly hysterical mother. “Mom, that’s enough.”
“You’re all ganging up on me! All of you!” Dahlia pounded her fists weakly against Chester’s chest, her anger spilling over.
Chester had no choice but to lead her out of the hospital room.
As the two passed Luther, his face was grim and cold. He spoke at last, his voice measured but brimming with suppressed fury. “If it hadn’t been for Celly falling in love with you, I’d never have let her wade into the mess that is your Fordham family.”
“I know what people say–that I forced you to marry Celly by holding the favor I did your grandfather over your heads. But the year she met you, she didn’t even know who the Fordhams were. She came to me and confided that she’d met someone she truly liked. It was only after that your grandfather suggested whoever married her would inherit a share in the company. It was never her plan to marry for a business alliance; she never played that card with you.”
“Our family, the Selwyns, owe you nothing. It’s the Fordhams who owe us–a life! A -living, breathing life! Ask yourself honestly, in all these years, have you ever treated her with real kindness, with genuine affection? For the sake of your child, for you, Chester, she’s given up more than you could ever imagine wanting. While you were out living however you pleased, do you have any idea how much she suffered?”
Luther’s voice shook with emotion, every word sharp and clear.
“Has any one of you ever considered her for a single moment? And what did she ever do so wrong, that when her life was hanging by a thread, she had to watch man she loved pick another woman right in front of her? Chester, you Fordhams–whatever debt you owe my Celly, whether she’s dead or alive, you’ll never repay it. Never!”
1/2
14-44
Shapter D
By the end, Luther’s strength was spent. He still forced himself to stay upright. refusing to collapse.
No matter how hard the Fordhams tried to bury what happened, the scraps of information Luther had managed to uncover were enough for him to piece together the reality of that day–the day of the kidnapping.
For another woman, Chester had abandoned the wife who’d stood by him for six
years.
That betrayal was a knife twisting in Luther’s heart.
Every time he thought of Celestine facing that ordeal alone, the pain threatened to swallow him whole, as if he might vanish along with his beloved granddaughter.
But until he could see her one last time, he had to stay strong. He couldn’t let the Fordhams run wild, not while he still drew breath.
Chester’s face flickered with shame, guilt and sorrow all tangled together.
But it all seemed too late.
Dahlia stopped in her tracks, her tone bristling. “What’s that supposed to mean? So now it’s all on Chester? Are you kidding me? She was the fool! She fell for some cheap trick and ended up kidnapped! We paid a fortune to get her back, and now somehow we’re the villains?”
Pete stepped in front of his grandfather, shielding him protectively. His eyes burned with hatred as he stared first at Dahlia, then at Chester. “Fooled? I’d really like to know what kind of trick it takes to kidnap my sister. Chester, just tell me straight–was anyone in your family involved? Lie to me, and may every last Fordham suffer for it.”
“You little brute, are you cursing us?” Dahlia shrieked, her anger boiling over.
Chester met Pete’s gaze, but said nothing. The silence between them was heavier than words.
