The Substitute Heiress Leaves For Good

up! Drin

yone was waiting for Eleonore Sanford

e her wasn't there - they found a

ew full well that if she didn't finish

ittle more exciting - lose

ple were only

lose the last shr

n't drink

hem away, but how could t

rist and forced the d

burned, tears stre

cough, c

ghed vi

he couldn't let thi

n's closest friend since Dartmouth

ut desperate

azy smile on his face. "Wh

of strength she had. "Help m

rd the end of the rooftop. "He's on the b

g for? You thought Preston w

g but the nann

.

came wave

crowd dispersed that the

e

s her p

ng more than a woman who threw he

d was picking up, a

, she could see Preston's back. He was leaning against the railing, a cigarette held

hen Spencer's voice cut through a slight ga

's really ba

in her throat. A cold dread, heavy and

buried deep inside

tinged with both resignatio

out Eleonore? You can't

h. The nails of her fre

eston l

t a happ

er, like the scrap

, a shard of ice lodging it

's... perfect. She never makes a fuss,

le isn't l

essed, "Yo

ok a drag from his cigarette, the smoke curling from his lips an

s that sentenced their thr

ed. She even looks a bit like her, you know? Maybe this is for the best. She h

press her hand hard against her mouth to keep from gagging. The elegant party, the g

bsti

disappointment. "So she's just a su

was strained, full of a struggle she now realized had noth

ears of quiet support, of loving him through family crises and business deals, of believ

jo

ic. Each step away from that balcony felt like walking on broken glass. She didn't turn

and empty, wearing a beautiful dress that suddenly felt like a costume. She saw the resemblance then, the slight curve of her jaw, the shape o

tipped his hat as she passed, but she didn't see him. She hailed a cab and gave the address to

Hamptons on the mantelpiece. His favorite leather armchair. The

eliberate. She pulled open the bottom drawer of his mahogany desk. Tucked beneath a stack of old financial repor

ement between the Sanford family and t

icult conversation on the matter. "Eleonore, this isn't just business

e time, deeply insulted. She had

arpen. A new, hard light kindled in their depths. The pain was still there, a massive, crushing

were steady as she navigated to her

ond ring. "Eleonore? I

ny emotion when she spoke. It was the voice she use

"About that pro

of her and Preston from her phone's lock screen. It was a picture of them

picture of a man,