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“Hey.” Raising my voice slightly, I tried to find some of the fire that had helped me argue back with Toby. “Let’s get a couple of things straight. You cheated on me, and I dumped your sorry ass. Anything else that comes after isn’t cheating because we’re not together anymore Shane.”
“Bullshit,” Shane snarled. “You don’t get to throw us away.”
“I didn’t!” I groaned low. “You did.”
“You need to come home. You need to come right now so we can talk about this. Whatever this fancy thing to the city is, it needs to end now.” From his tone, he seemed to believe that I would obey him immediately.
“No,” I laughed humorlessly. “Fuck off, Shane.”
“This is your new rich friends, isn’t it? You think you’re better than me now, huh?” The tension in his voice sent an uncomfortable heat coiling down my spine. Even miles away he still had the ability to make me feel small. “Just because you’re spreading your legs for some millionaire doesn’t change who you belong to!”
I slowly sat up, my heart starting to pick up in my chest. There’s no way he could know that I slept with Lucas. He had to be assuming, right?
“What are you even talking about?”
“I saw you. The pictures of you in that whore dress with that cunt.”
“Pictures?”
“At your party? Don’t play dumb here, old Mrs. Carter saw you and brought it to the pub last night.”
Pictures? Straightening up fully, I pulled my laptop toward me and quickly googled the Gala. True enough, pictures of the event were on the cover of every major magazine and news site, and I didn’t have to look hard to find a picture of myself on Lucas’ arm, smiling. I barely recognized myself. Then I clicked the next site and the word ENGAGED flashed up in big bold letters.
“Oh shit,” I breathed out.
“Yeah, oh shit,” Shane yelled. “I know there isn’t any way you’re engaged but I don’t need the world seeing my girl on the arm of some other man, so you better pack your shit and come home. Don’t think I won’t come there and drag your sorry ass home!”
Shane continued to rant in my ear, but I quickly tuned him out as an email pop-up appeared on the right corner of my screen. Everything around me fell into a hushed silence and Shane’s tirade became nothing but a brush of air as I clicked on it.
It was from Matt.
Hi Scarlett,
I’ll keep this brief. The results came back on your test and the DNA was a match. You are Francis Ashbluff’s biological daughter. This may come as a shock, having it confirmed to such a degree, but it makes the stance of both you and your half-brother Toby much clearer.
I must warn you; I have informed Toby of the results and he has made things very clear. If you do not wish to give up the cottage, then Toby is threatening to take you to court to force you into buying him out of the entire Estate.
I understand such a prospect may be daunting, so I urge you to come to some sort of agreement before the courts become involved.
Best,
Matt.
Court? Nausea coursed through me in a wave. I couldn’t afford to go to court, and I definitely couldn’t afford a lawyer in any capacity, not one good enough to take on someone like Toby. This was his plan then? To force me to take the entire Estate, all of this over one cottage? I groaned to myself. They were acting like the cottage sat on some sort of untouched goldmine.
“I’m sorry,” I sighed as Shane’s ranting voice slowly came back into focus. “I have to go.”
“What the fuck?—.”
I ended the call, silencing Shane’s furious squeak and immediately I called Matt.
“Hello?”
“Matt. Hi.” Tapping one hand against my knee, I tried to search for the smart words but quickly gave up and my shoulders drooped. “What the hell, Matt?”
“Ah, you got my email?”
“Yeah.”
