Once a Doormat Now Untouchable (Caleb and Sydney) novel Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Nancy ignored Timothy’s crying and focused on Sydney’s face. “Ms. Wilson, are you alright? You know how nasty the Internet can be. Those photos could be fake. Just wait for Mr. Hampton to come home and talk to him in person.”

Sydney hummed softly, spooned her stew, and took slow, careful sips. Real or not, it didn’t matter. She had seen it all with her own eyes last night. There was nothing left to ask.

Only then did Nancy notice the swelling around her eyes. After a brief pause, she turned and went upstairs to call the Hampton residence.

“Yes, Madam. Ms. Wilson probably saw the news already. She skipped lunch, and her eyes are swollen from crying,” she reported.

No one at the Hampton residence had been following celebrity gossip. But once the news

reached them, chaos erupted.

The younger brother and the widowed sister–in–law? What kind of scandal was that? How was the family supposed to face society now?

Dorothy popped two heart pills, but they didn’t help. Furious, she fainted on the spot.

The entire household was in disarray.

In contrast, Sydney seemed strangely calm. She finished her soup at an easy pace, then went

upstairs under Nancy’s watchful eye, her swollen eyes adding to her pitiful air.

As soon as her bedroom door shut, a call came in from Tiffany.

“Okay, listen, it wasn’t me!” Her voice was tense, desperate to clear her name. “Did you see the angle of those pics? Completely different from the ones I took.”

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Chapter 9

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“I know,” Sydney said as she stepped into the bathroom and switched to speaker. She took an eye mask from the mini fridge. “You didn’t leak them right away. And even if you had, you’d definitely blackmail Caleb first.”

She’d already looked into it. The photos had started circulating last night but only went

viral a few hours ago. The spread had been too natural. Too clean. Someone had planned it.

It was most likely a business rival of Caleb’s.

Tiffany scoffed. “Ugh, don’t say that. I’m a lawyer, alright? A real one. I don’t do blackmail.”

“Mm, sure,” Sydney said, smoothing the eye mask over her face. “You’d just charge a

“Everyone feels awful about what happened,” Nancy said as she cleared the table. “And you’ve been crying so much. No one wanted to upset you more.”

Sydney blinked. ‘I’ve been crying?‘

She wasn’t heartbroken. She had known about those two for a while. What was there to cry

about?

Nancy misunderstood her silence. She thought Sydney was just holding in her pain. That’s what women did when they married into wealthy families, right? They swallowed their

tears and carried on.

Sydney caught the sympathy in Nancy’s gaze but didn’t bother correcting her. She was still

Caleb’s wife. With her husband’s affair splashed across a gossip site, it made sense for her

to look devastated.

She checked the time and stood. “I’m going to the hospital to see Grandma.”

Sydney had barely reached the foyer when the familiar hum of a black Maybach pulled into the driveway. Before she could change her shoes, Caleb strode in swiftly, his presence cold

and intense.