Chapter 36
McNeil didn’t dare delay the old man’s business. Grabbing his jacket, he shrugged it on as he hurried out the door.
“Get some rest,” he said over his shoulder.
Violet bit down so hard her teeth hurt, nearly chewing her lip raw from the inside.
That morning, Victoria had dropped Gwyneth off at school, then settled in the study with her laptop, sorting through emails once again.
Of the fifty job applications she’d sent out, barely a handful had received any reply.
She’d studied fluid mechanics overseas, then spent several years as a mechanical engineer after returning home. There were plenty of times she’d led her team in the pit, repairing race cars so mangled they looked beyond saving.
Back then, Victoria hadn’t even turned twenty, but her reputation outside the circuit was already bordering on legendary.
She’d also taken extra courses in finance and business administration at university, and before she’d even graduated, her investment account was already stacked with stocks worth millions.
But if she included all that on her résumé now, most people would probably think she was making it up.
So she’d stuck to listing her undergraduate degree from home and hoped for the best.
She refreshed her inbox. Still nothing.
Just as she was about to start rewriting her résumé, McNeil’s name flashed on her phone.
She figured Violet must have passed on the update about Gwyneth, so she answered right away.
“Granddad wants us back at the family house tonight,” McNeil told her. “You and Gwyn should get ready.”
Victoria listened, weighing her options.
The old man probably wanted her back because of the scene she’d made before leaving for Evermore City. When Madonna had called, Victoria suspected the old man was behind that too-he just wasn’t the type to confront her directly.
“McNeil, there’s a contract being sent to your office this afternoon-the same agreement I showed you before. If you have time, sign it. I’ll go with you to the family house tonight.”
McNeil paused, his voice dropping without him realizing.
“What’s this about now? Didn’t we already patch things up?”
Victoria let out a dry laugh, hearing the irony in her own voice.
“Patched things up? If sleeping together counts as reconciliation in your book, then sure. That’s not what I meant. You really need to sort things out for Gwyn. She can’t just skip school. She’s still a child-what, you want her to start living off your family already?”
McNeil had no desire to argue, or maybe he never had-ever since he’d married her, he’d never considered divorce. That had always been Victoria’s idea, not his.
“Gwyn’s just taking some time off, not dropping out. Now that you’re back, let her stay with you. On my end…” He hesitated, unsure if he should say more worried Victoria would read too much into it.
So he brushed it off. “There’s just a lot going on.”
Victoria’s voice was cold. There certainly was a lot going on with Violet, for one. “We need to have a real conversation about Gwyn,” she said quietly.
Even if she divorced McNeil and gave up custody, Victoria would never abandon Gwyneth-unless her daughter made it clear she wanted nothing to do with her.
“I’ll come pick you and Gwyn up at five,” McNeil said, and hung up without another word.
Listening to the dial tone, Victoria’s expression grew colder.
Her hand lingered on the phone, slender fingers absently tracing the edge. McNeil couldn’t stall the divorce forever.
If she went to the old man and explained that she’d already given up her shares in The Langford Group, and if he consented, McNeil would finally let go.
She had far more important things to focus on now, and wasting any more energy on McNeil was out of the question.
But when it came to Gwyneth, she couldn’t help feeling conflicted. Her chest tightened at the thought.
Staring at her computer screen, she was just about to shut it down and go make herself a cup of tea when, suddenly, a new email popped up—