Are you kidding me? Your father didn’t tell you about the discussion? How is that possible? Or perhaps he did tell him, and Eddie missed it all because he was spacing out like always. The heroine could have also won his heart yesterday, and now he was refusing to hear any discussion of me on principle. But was he really going to skip out on this evening’s meeting between our esteemed families?
“A viscount making demands of an earl? Does her family not know its place?”
“She really was using her money as a weapon against Lord Eddie! What a wicked woman!”
Eddie’s group of female followers were delighted to find that I was the villain they’d always thought I was.
It wasn’t a demand. Besides, the meeting is going to be held at the earl’s house, not ours.
“Today’s discussion is extremely important… Where will you go if you refuse to attend? Are you busy with something even more pressing?” I asked.
“I’m not going to tell you every detail about my private life. I have plans, and that’s final!”
I’d hardly ever seen Eddie get so angry. It seemed he really wasn’t going to attend the meeting after all.
Hang on a minute. That might actually give my family the advantage in calling off this cursed engagement.
No matter what I said now, neither party in this engagement would object to breaking up. It would be completely mutual.
We might even be able to significantly reduce the breach of contract fee.
But what if I mentioned how he yelled terrible things about me in front of a crowd at school? Would the contract be completely nullified? There were plenty of witnesses, after all.
“My family never intended to intimidate you with our money. Is that how you interpreted it?” I asked, letting the needling glares and stares slide off me.
“That’s exactly what you did!” he accused. “You dangled your filthy wealth over us when we started to struggle, then you used that supposed aid as a shield so you could make me do whatever you wanted.”
“I only wanted a standard relationship with you as your fiancée. But now I see you interpreted that as a threat and believed I treated you like a slave. You’re telling me now that you would like to end this arrangement between families, is that right?” I asked, letting my voice carry to those around us.
“Yes! I was your slave! I’m done listening to you. Starting today, I’m no longer your plaything. I have a right to be free!”
Incredible. It’s almost amusing how well he’s playing into my hand.
A husband like him would have been nothing but a burden, especially if I ever left him in charge of running my family’s territory. What a blessing it was that I lost my feelings for him. Eddie was the last person on earth I wanted to marry now.
“Lady Cynthia! Admit to your wrongdoings and let Lord Eddie be free! You’ve caused him enough suffering already!” The heroine, her eyes full of tears, sank to the floor in a pitiful display.
Oh, now she won’t be able to block me from leaving. Excellent!
“I have no recollection of threatening him,” I insisted. “The aid my family provided was merely a friendly gesture toward the family of my fiancé. However, I’ll be sure to bring up how you saw it as an intimidation tactic at today’s meeting with the Dorris family. I promise that we will reflect on our behavior. Thank you both for sharing your feelings with me. You’ll be missed at the meeting, but it’s your choice in the end, so please do what you feel is right.”
I smiled at Eddie and watched his face light up. He then raced to the heroine, who was still on the ground.
“Thank you, Elly! I’m free now thanks to you! I can do whatever I want!”
“I’m so happy for you, Lord Eddie! I’ve been horribly concerned for you all this time…!” She sniffled theatrically.
Yes, yes, we get it. You two are the perfect match. I wish you all the happiness in the world. Now, please never bother me again.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I don’t want to be late for the meeting.”
I’d indulged them in their version of reality, so now I could leave without either of them stopping me.
I rushed home to inform my parents of what happened.
They asked me to repeat myself many times, as if they couldn’t believe their ears. To their relief, many witnesses had been present, and our family was no longer likely to be on the hook for a breach of contract. But at the same time, they were angered and confused over Eddie’s mockery of their family and their beloved daughter.
Once the discussion between our families had concluded, we agreed to request a judicial arbitrator who could release Eddie and me from our engagement contract. Eddie’s very public misconduct meant that we would no longer have to pay a fee or convince the Dorris family to break off the contract. Our family went into the meeting with a big advantage.
Not only would we not pay a breach of contract fee, but the Dorrises now had to repay a portion of the financial assistance we offered them, too.
They dragged their feet at first, but over the next few days, we’d gathered enough witness statements backing up our story that there was no denying reality.
In the end, the Dorris family gave up on taking us to court over the matter.
We had turned the tables on them for good.
If anything, we could have requested they pay us a breach of contract fee, but the Dorris family had no money, and demanding they repay us would only have prolonged the strained relationship between our two families. Instead, we decided to cut our losses and walk away.
With that, the Dorrises and the Rhuddlans became strangers.
The Dorris family was likely to experience more hardships now that they didn’t have our backing, but their financial troubles were something they had a responsibility to resolve on their own. Those hardships had only been postponed slightly.
I hoped the Dorris family wouldn’t put up any further fight. They’d walked away benefiting too, getting to keep some of the Rhuddlans’ aid in the end.
Farewell, Eddie. Farewell, Dorris family. Farewell, lustrous orange hair.
May the two of us never cross paths again.