chapter1102

Nathaniel nodded, satisfied. "Good. Maybe now they'll stop scheming all the time.

Lydia chimed in, her tone calm but firm. "Rosie never liked Alfie. Even if they'd gotten together for the sake of their families, they'd only end up making each other miserable."

The elegant lady turned to Lydia with a warm smile in her eyes. "You must be Lydia. You really do look so much like Mrs. Norwood."

Kylie jumped in with the introduction. Lydia, this is Mrs. Shaw, the Secretary of Defense's wife."

Lydia smiled politely. "It's wonderful to meet you, Mrs. Shaw."

Mrs. Shaw's smile only grew. "You're just as lovely as I'd heard.

Mrs. Shaw couldn't help but look Lydia over from head to toe, her approval obvious. She looked at Lydia like she was already planning out a future as her daughter-in- law.

The Shaws and the Robinsons had always been close, as William spent so many years at the Department of Defense. Mrs. Shaw had heard about William's niece coming back, and now that she was seeing Lydia in person, she was clearly impressed.

Lydia, Mabel mentioned you're actually the artist Owen. I'm honestly amazed. My father-in-law is a huge fan of your work. His 80th birthday is coming up soon and I was hoping you could paint something special for him. We'd be happy to pay whatever you ask."

Lydia nodded with an easy smile. "Of course. When is Mr. Shaw's birthday?"

Mrs. Shaw's eyes lit up. "The seventh of next month. Does that give you enough time?"

"That's plenty of time," Lydia replied.

Mrs. Shaw beamed. "That's wonderful. Can we exchange numbers? Just let me know when you're finished."

"Sure."

Mrs. Shaw pulled out her phone right away, exchanging messages with Lydia. Lucinda, watching from the sidelines, felt a surge of jealousy.

Mrs. Shaw was so two-faced. Just a little while ago in the main hall, she'd acted as if everyone else was

beneath her, barely even

acknowledging Lucinda. Now she

was all smiles and warmth for Lydia.

was

ough to make Lucinda

want to scream. How could

someone be so fake?

On the other side of the room, Rosie ran out of the Robinson house in tears, with Mandy hurrying after her. Benjamin, who'd been left awkwardly standing there, took the chance to follow them out and see what was going on.

A few moments later, the crowd saw Tara striding out, practically dragging Alfie

behind her. She exchanged a quick word with Alfie's father, then left, pulling her son along.

Everyone in the room understood

right away what had happened. The

Goss family's son and the Gibson family's daughter had split up. If the

marriage alliance fell through,

Jackson would lose one of his best

allies. For most people at the

that was great news. But for

Jackson, already under

party,

investigation, it was the last thing he

needed.

Benjamin hurried to catch up with Mandy and Rosie, just barely managing not to get left behind.

"What's going on with you two? What happened back there? You just left without saying anything."

Mandy, torn between love for her daughter and frustration, said, "Ask your precious daughter. She insisted on breaking up with Alfie."

"What?" Benjamin was stunned. "Alfie's a good kid. His dad's a general, and your uncle went to a lot of trouble to arrange this. Rosie, I don't even know what to say."

Rosie was still erying, her voice trembling. "Ally you care about is the family. What about how I feel? I told you, I don't like Alfie. I can't stand him. Why do you keep trying to force me to ma marry him es my happiness really mean so little to you?"

But your uncle picked the Goss family himself, and he did it for your own good. You can't just say no like it's nothing," Benjamin said, clearly unhappy with her decision. Truthfully, he'd always thought this match was perfect.