Chapter 18
Relying on memory. Victoria scoured the city for her mother’s paintings, sparing no expense whenever she found one. Over the years, Stein had been by her side, always reaching out the moment he heard any news.)
“No, there must be more out there just waiting to be found,” he said.
Victoria’s voice was soft but steady. “Thank you, cousin”
Back at Stein’s home in Echo City, he led her into the parlor where a small memorial for his late wife stood. Stein handed her three sticks of incense!
“Go on–pay your respects
ts to your
cousin–in–law
looked at Stein.
Victoria accepted the incense, lit them, and bowed three times, each movement deliberate and sincere. Rising, she lo “Are you really never going to remarry?”
“Jimmy’s still young. If I remamed, a new wife would almost certainly want her own child. I don’t want Jimmy to lose his father after he’s already lost his mother.”
Stein’s face was calm, but his words carried a quiet heaviness.
Victona’s heart ached with sympathy. If anyone understood the weight of responsibility, it was Stein. His wife had died in childbirth. Any other man with his means would likely have remarried by now, but Stein had chosen to stay single for seven years–for his son, and for the memory of the woman he’d loved.
“About that land you mentioned last time–I pulled some strings and got you the approval. It’s yours now, part of the Langford Group.” Stein shifted the conversation, his tone that of a protective older brother.
“Are you really planning to spend your whole life working for the Langfords?”
Even from Echo City, he’d heard the rumors swirling around McNeil. No one in Starfall City seemed to know McNeil was married. Some even whispered about a childhood sweetheart he’d kept hidden for years–how they’d had a daughter together, a girl who called McNeil’s supposed lover ‘Ms. Marchand
It was ridiculous. That child was McNeil:
I and Victoria’s, yet t
the gossip never even mentioned Victoria.
Everyone in Victoria’s family knew she and McNeil were married, but there had never been a wedding. The Langfords barely recognized Victoria’s relatives, let alone a cousin living in a different city.
A spark of shrewdness flickered in Victoria’s dark eyes. “I’m the largest shareholder in the Langford Group now. I’m anymore.”
no
one’s pawn
Stein stared at her, incredulous. “The Langfords agreed to that? Did McNeil have a personality transplant or something?” He simply couldn’t believe that a man like McNeil–who’d built his fortune on a secret marriage and treated his wife as a stepping stone–would so generously hand Victoria such a large share.
Victoria’s lips curled in a faint smile. Hearing McNeil’s name from Stein, she realized she felt nothing at all. There was a time when even the smallest mention of him made her heart race for minutes on end.
“Of course McNell didn’t agree. But do you think they really had a choice?”
She hadn’t been fooled by the old man’s apparent generosity in granting her fifty percent of the company He might have been getting on in years, but he hadn’t lost any of his cunning. Before she received the shares, ho’d insisted she sign an agreement–one that could keep her bound for a lifetime.
Victona had always believed experience trumped youth, and she’d signed in the end. After all, she knew exactly what mattered more: half the Langford Group, or the terms of that contract
The irony was, now that she’d signed, McNeil–who was likely wrapped up with his old flame–probably wouldn’t have agreed to any of it “The land doesn’t need to go to the Langford Group Once I’m the legal owner, it’ll be under the Tumer name”
Langford Mansion
