Shredded Vows: The Billionaire’s Secret Heir novel Chapter 59

Grace turned at the sound of her voice. Lydia wrapped an arm around her mother's shaking shoulders, her heart breaking. "Mom, what's going on?"

She then shot a furious glare at the man standing in the doorway.

The man let out an apologetic sigh and explained his side. "I'm sorry, Grace. It's not that I don't want to employ you, it's that I can't. Someone made it very clear that if I keep you on, my own livelihood will be destroyed. My hands are tied."

With that, he slammed the door shut, refusing to say another word.

The blow was devastating. Grace's knees buckled, and she stumbled backward, tears welling in her eyes. "Lydia, that was my last stable job... And now it's gone for no reason..."

Lydia instantly knew exactly who was behind this: her mother-in-law, Catherine Gray.

Simmering with rage and heartache, she held her mother tighter. "It's okay, Mom. Health is the most important thing. We have enough money, just take this as a sign to get some rest."

"Lydia." Grace wasn't stupid. Only one family had the power to orchestrate something like this.

She grabbed her daughter's arm, panic creeping into her voice. "Are you and Gideon... Is he making things hard for you? He's mistreating you, isn't he?"

Lydia shook her head, forcing a bright smile. "No, Mom, everything is fine."

"Lydia, if he just knew about Gigi... if he knew you gave him a brilliant, beautiful daughter, wouldn't he treat you better for her sake?" Grace clung to a sliver of desperate hope.

But the image of those morning-after pills flashed in Lydia's mind. She was utterly terrified of revealing the truth, dreading that his hatred for her would spill over onto Gigi.

Her daughter was innocent.

Unable to give an honest answer, Lydia silently led her devastated mother away, spending the entire night comforting her in the old alleyway house.

"It's okay about the job, Mom. Just take a break," Lydia assured her as they ate dinner together.

But Grace couldn't shake her worry. "Lydia, look me in the eye. What is actually going on between you and Gideon right now? What is he forcing you to do?"

Realizing that lying would only make her mother more paranoid, Lydia decided it was time to come clean.

She confessed exactly what her dynamic with Gideon had been since his return to the country.

Utterly helpless, Grace could only let out a long, heavy sigh. "If only Xavier could come back. They never even found a body, did they?"

"I don't recognize her at all."

"She's definitely not a student here. I know every single child in our program."

She had been driving around following her GPS since the minute she got off work. Now, the sun had fully set, and she didn't have a single lead.

Slumping back against her leather seat, Serena glared at the photo in frustration. What was she missing?

There were still about ten high-end preschools left in the city that matched Lydia's financial bracket. She would just have to resume the hunt tomorrow.

That night.

Lydia drove her compact sedan back to Belvoir Estate. From a distance, she spotted a black Volvo parked in the driveway.

Her mother-in-law was back.

Hitting the brakes, Lydia grabbed the divorce papers from the passenger seat and stepped out into the crisp night air, the glossy paint of the Volvo gleaming coldly beside her.