Divorce Him, Then Dazzle novel Chapter 35

Daniel called Barbara right away.

Barbara had just uploaded a picture of the quilt her family sent her, and it was blowing up on her social media. She was getting all kinds of likes and comments. Even someone with a username starting with W had dropped by to leave a note. Beautiful and kind-hearted, they wrote, and the message stuck with her all day.

Right now, though, Barbara was gearing up for her next move with Lambert. She had something big planned. If it worked, it would change everything. People would look at her differently, and her status would finally be what she deserved.

Thinking back, Barbara remembered the day she’d finally been brought home. It should have been perfect, a dream come true. But then she found out she had a new sister. Not just any sister, either, but a girl who wasn’t even blood. During the years Barbara had been gone, Camilla had slipped in and taken her place, stealing more than just her parents’ love. Camilla had a house full of friends, people who adored her, and Barbara couldn’t stand it. She thought about the years she’d spent on her own, growing up too fast, scraping by. Meanwhile, the girl who should have been alone—the orphan—was busy living the life that was supposed to belong to Barbara.

Barbara was determined to take everything back. At least her parents had sided with her. They welcomed her back, poured their love on thick, like they were trying to make up for lost time. But that wasn’t enough. It didn’t fix everything, and it didn’t stop the nagging feeling that Camilla had stolen what was rightfully hers. Slowly but surely, Barbara had used every trick she knew to sway the people who’d once been loyal to Camilla. She turned their hearts around. But she still wanted more.

Daniel was perfectly decent, she supposed. Most girls would have been happy with him. But Barbara had seen Lambert five years ago, and no one else could compare. He was elegant, impossibly handsome, well-connected. Someone like that was the kind of partner she deserved.

Her parents had once tried to arrange a marriage between her and Daniel. She’d never liked him, not even a little. To get out of the whole mess and keep Daniel from hounding her, she’d set it up so he’d marry Camilla instead. Afterward, Barbara started strategizing. She went to the DS Group website, tracked down ways to contact Lambert, and finally managed to get a private way to reach him. For three years straight, she put all her energy into talking with him, creating a personality he couldn’t resist. And now her patience was about to pay off.

People always said Lambert was serious, untouchable, uninterested in women. But with her, he was completely different. When they chatted, he actually made an effort, knew how to make her laugh, and always seemed to care when she was upset. A few times he even offered to send her gifts. Barbara never accepted them, always turning him down politely to keep up her image, and that only seemed to make him like her more.

Daniel’s voice dropped. “You know Owen, right? He’s got his eye on Camilla. The thing is… he’s powerful. I can’t risk making him mad. What was I supposed to do? I ended up sending Camilla to his room. I mean, was I supposed to let our family go bankrupt for her?”

“You…” For a second, Barbara was speechless. Underneath her shock, though, a quiet happiness bubbled up. She could hardly keep the smile off her face, so she took a deep breath and forced herself to look serious.

She tried to put some edge into her words, to sound like she was scolding him. “How could you do something like that? So, what did you do in the end? Did you actually… Did she sleep with Owen?”