To Love a Shadow To Be the Sun novel Chapter 108

Elara turned and found herself locking eyes with Chuck. Her step faltered for an instant.

"What's wrong? Don't trust me?" Chuck asked, his tone half-mocking.

"Don't you know what kind of person you are?" she shot back.

Ignoring him, Elara brushed past and left the shelter.

She headed toward a restaurant in the nearby shopping center—she needed lunch and some distance.

Chuck caught up, not giving her space. "About Nanette faking her illness—I never agreed to help them. I only said I'd go by the report's findings."

"So you want me to believe you did nothing wrong?"

Elara kept walking, eyes fixed ahead.

Chuck clenched his jaw, then grabbed her hand to stop her.

"You know how powerful the Vincent family is. I didn't have a choice. Nanette gave me money, but I donated all of it to the shelter."

Forced to a halt, Elara turned, meeting his gaze.

"Is Nanette the only one who threatened you? How much did you take to cover for her and throw someone else under the bus?"

Chuck was instantly lost for words.

Not far away, inside a black sedan parked by the curb, Yves Caldwell watched his boss's expression grow colder by the second. He ventured, "Mr. Vincent, should we go ‘invite' Mrs. Vincent to get in the car now?"

Brian was about to respond when his phone buzzed.

It was Gareth, telling him to check the local trending news.

Right at the top was a statement—short, sharp, and unmistakably from the family matriarch.

Just a handful of lines, but each one cut like a knife. In a few sentences, Lina was stripped of everything and cast down from her pedestal.

[Lina, birth name Joyce Shepherd. Years ago, her mother married into the Vincent family and forced the change of surname by leveraging her life as payment. Given Lina's conduct, all gifts and property bestowed by the Vincent family are hereby revoked. She is expelled from the Vincent family and may never bear its name again.]

In other words, Lina had lost not only the Vincent name but every privilege that came with it.

Gareth raged down the line.

"Tomorrow at three, Jade House restaurant."

Elara glanced out the window. Could it really be that Mr. Lawrence?

Before she could get lost in thought, her phone rang. Brian.

He'd tracked down her new number.

"So Mrs. Vincent burns me and plans to vanish without a trace?" Brian's tone was unreadable.

"I was waiting for Mr. Vincent to find time to contact me. The divorce papers aren't signed yet. I don't plan on disappearing."

He was silent for a couple of seconds. "Come home. We need to talk."

"Hourglass Café. Four o'clock. See you there." Elara hung up before he could reply.

Brian realized she was afraid of meeting him anywhere private.

But after what she'd just done, did she really think things would be that simple?