My Grandson’s Fiancée Called Me His Mistress Chapter 07
The Paper Trail
“Lucas, this is the last time I’m going to walk you through this because of your grandfather. Pay attention.”
He’s never weathered a real crisis, and this one has already shaken him badly. I let out a long breath.
Old as I am, and I’m still the one who has to clean up after these kids. Not one peaceful day left for me at this rate.
I take Lucas to dinner with the old friends who defended me at the wedding and make him apologize to each of them personally.
“Gentlemen, this was my failure, not yours. Dinner is on me. If I’ve made other mistakes, I’d rather hear about them now than repeat them later.”
“Donna is right. I still have a great deal to learn. If you’re willing to tell me where I’ve gone wrong, I’ll listen.”
Lucas means every word. My old friends weren’t looking for a fight, so they offer him a way forward, and this time he accepts it with grace.
But the second Sera’s name comes up, every face at the table goes carefully blank. Nobody wants to be the one to say it in front of me.
Lucas notices right away. He’s sharper than I gave him credit for.
“Whatever it is, please, just say it. Don’t hold back on my account.”
I already know what they’re about to tell him. Since he’s the one asking, and since we’re no longer grandmother and grandson in any meaningful sense, I don’t stop them.
“Since you’re Victoria’s grandson, we won’t hide it from you. Do you know why Sera left the country so suddenly five years ago?”
Lucas shakes his head, confused.
“Her father sold her to a wealthy, married businessman in Southeast Asia and promised her a hundred million to go through with it. Five years passed, and she never saw a dime. Then she drove his wife out of the house. The woman later took her own life, and her family came after Sera. She only came home because she couldn’t take the pressure anymore. This isn’t gossip. An old friend of mine saw it firsthand while negotiating a deal over there.”
To make sure Lucas understands, my friend pulls out his phone and shows him the overseas marriage license, the divorce decree, and timestamped photos of Sera in revealing clothes, smiling in the arms of that businessman.
He lays each piece of evidence out with the patience of a man presenting figures at a board meeting. The dates match. The signatures match. One photograph shows Sera wearing a diamond ring beside the businessman at a private resort. Another shows her leaving the family residence with security at her back. There is no room to mistake the woman in those pictures or the life she was living.
“Vee, your grandson’s a good kid, but Christ, he’s gullible. One sweet word from that girl and he folds. You and Vincent were nothing like this.”
The conversation drifts back to me, the way it always does with these old friends.
Lucas looks as if the floor has dropped out from under him. He knows these men have no reason to lie.
He turns toward me, but my expression gives nothing away. Slowly, he begins to understand why I tried to warn him without ever stating the truth outright.
“So this whole time… you were trying to tell me.”
“And I was too stupid to see what she really was.”
I don’t comfort him. I never wanted to spell it out because I knew he wouldn’t have believed me. Now the truth is in front of him in black and white, and he can no longer ignore it.
Genuinely tired, I yawn and say good night to the table.
“That’s enough for tonight. We’ll all catch up again soon.”
“Thanks for coming out for this, all of you. I’m heading home to sleep. Getting too old for these late nights.”