A Vow of Deception, A Vow of Revenge novel Chapter 57

But tonight, the cook hadn't prepared dinner in advance.

Did Mr. Ford just assume she'd be eating out with Elvis?

The whole thing felt bizarre.

Elvis was acting strange too. He knew full well she was supposed to get engaged to his cousin, yet he'd invited her to the movies tonight.

Winona's mind felt like a tangled mess. She rolled over and over in bed, but it did nothing to clear her thoughts.

Just then, the nanny Mr. Ford had hired to look after her knocked at the door.

"Miss, would you like to come out for dinner?"

"I'm coming," Winona called back.

Forget it—better to eat first and deal with everything else later.

She left her bedroom and made her way to the dining room. The table was already set with several dishes, all her favorites.

Clearly, the cook had gotten a detailed rundown of her tastes from Mr. Ford.

But as she glanced at the plates, she noticed they didn't match the usual set from the house. Offhandedly, she asked, "Did we get a new set of dishes?"

"Ah? Yes, yes we did," the nanny replied with a forced smile. "Do you not like them?"

"No, I was just curious."

Winona let the subject drop and started eating.

The nanny breathed a subtle sigh of relief, quietly slipping out of the room so as not to disturb Winona's meal.

The cook, meanwhile, was lounging in the kitchen, playing games on his phone. The nanny walked in and teased, "You sure have it easy tonight—not even cooking dinner."

"Hey, it's not like I just decided not to cook," the chef replied, shrugging. "Dinner came delivered, what could I do?"

……

Days slipped by. For some, time rushed forward. But for Celia, stuck in the county jail, every minute crawled by in agony.

Finally, the day came when she was released. Her legs were shaking as she stepped outside.

"Celia!"

Simone had been waiting for her the entire time. When she saw her daughter, she rushed forward, eyes red, gently brushing Celia's shoulders with a sprig of rosemary.

"Mom…" Celia's voice trembled, tears streaming down her face, "You don't know what I've been through…"

"There, there," Simone said softly, pulling her into a hug. "You're out now. Promise me, no more reckless behavior, okay?"

Celia wiped her eyes and looked over at Tyson, who stood quietly nearby. She burst into tears again. "Ty, why didn't you do anything? Why didn't you get me out sooner? They bullied me in there—I lost count of how many times I got beaten up!"