Forced To Marry My Cousin's Fiancé

Chapter 67: Chapter 67

Lane’s hand was shaking as she dialed Mae’s number after hanging up with her mother. It took three rings before Mae finally picked up.

"Hello, Ma’am Lane?" Mae answered.

"Mae, I am so sorry to do this, but can you cut your vacation short?" Lane asked, her voice cracking as she explained the situation.

"I have to get to New York immediately. There’s an emergency."

Just thinking about her father made Lane’s chest tighten all over again. Her eyes welled up, and she bit her lower lip to hold back the sob threatening to break through. No matter how hard she fought it, the tears started falling anyway.

"There’s no one else to look after Calvin, Mae," she added.

Lane couldn’t bring her son with her to New York. She was terrified of him crossing paths with his father. She didn’t want her little boy to get his heart broken discovering that his daddy already had another family.

She wouldn’t even know what to say if Calvin asked why they weren’t his father’s real family. It was one thing for her to be the one in pain, but she couldn’t let that happen to Calvin. If he got hurt, it would kill her three times over.

The second she heard about her father, she wanted to drop everything and drive to be by his side. But she couldn’t stop worrying about Calvin.

She was dead set against bringing him along because she was positive that the moment they stepped foot in New York, father and son would end up meeting.

"I’ll be there, Ma’am Lane," Mae replied.

"Thank you so much, Mae," Lane breathed.

She kept the call short. After she hung up, the tears started flowing again. She was terrified for her father, who was still reportedly out cold.

On top of the fear, she felt a crushing sense of guilt. For five years, she hadn’t gone home once to see her parents in person. She’d hidden behind phone calls and screens.

She knew one reason her father’s health had tanked was that he was a total workaholic. Before she started college, he’d wanted her to take up business.

Since she was an only child, he wanted her to inherit the company he’d built from the ground up. He wanted her by his side, helping him run the show.

But Lane hadn’t been interested. Her heart just wasn’t in business. Her father hadn’t forced her, though. He let her choose her own path and supported her every step of the way, something she had always been grateful for.

Now, she couldn’t help but think that if she’d just done what he wanted, she’d be there running the company with him. Maybe he wouldn’t have been so stressed. Maybe he could have focused on his health. Maybe he wouldn’t be lying in a hospital bed right now.

"M-mommy?"

"What’s wrong, Calvin?" she asked softly.

"Did you get hurt?"

He shook his head. "Why are you sad, Mommy?" he asked innocently. "Is it a bad guy? Should we call the police or Uncle Noah?"no one’s mean to you, then why are you sad?"

Lane took a deep breath. "Something happened to Grandpa, Calvin."

"What happened, Mommy?"

"Grandpa is sick. He’s in the hospital right now," she told him.

His eyes went wide. "Does he have a fever?"

"No, not a fever, sweetie. It’s a different kind of sick," she replied.

"Let’s call him, Mommy! I’ll tell him he needs to eat his veggies and fruit so he can get better fast," he said. That was his go-to move because that was exactly what she told him whenever he caught a cold.

She sighed, her heart heavy. "Calvin, Grandpa needs our prayers right now more than anything."

Calvin took his mom’s hand and looked at her. "Mommy, Grandpa’s gonna be okay now because, I’ll be praying for him."

Lane didn’t say a word. She just pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. She was so incredibly lucky to have him. If it weren’t for Calvin, she probably would have given up a long time ago.

______________

"FUCK!"

Lucas couldn’t help but swear the second his wife, Rebecca, called to tell him what happened to Richard.

He wasn’t cussing because he was worried about Richard’s life. He was cussing because Richard’s heart attack meant one thing: the return of Lane.

With Richard in the hospital, there was no way Lane didn’t know. He was positive she’d be on the first flight or bus to New York to check on her father. And if she came back, there was a huge chance she and Ethan would cross paths.

Even after five years, Ethan was still carrying a torch for her, holding out hope that he’d see his wife and child again. Lucas knew Ethan was probably already tracking Richard’s condition, waiting for Lane to show her face.

If they met, all his hard work would go down the drain. Every cent he’d spent bribing people to keep Ethan off her trail would be a total waste. If they reunited, his master plan was dead because Ethan would never let her out of his sight again.

The two of them had to stay apart. If they got back together, Lucas’s free ride was over.

He’d lose everything and he and his wife would end up on the street. It was especially bad now that his creditors were breathing down his neck. He’d been dodging them for weeks because he was broke and had no way to pay them back.

Lucas let out a frustrated sigh and grabbed his phone to call his daughter, Olivia. He had to warn her that Lane was coming back and tell her to do whatever it took to keep those two from meeting. He frowned when the phone just kept ringing.

"What took you so long to pick up, Olivia?"

he snapped the second she answered.

"I was in the bathroom, Dad," Olivia replied.

"What’s up?"

"Do you have any idea what happened to your Uncle Richard?"

"No," she said. "What happened to him?"

"He had a heart attack. He’s still out cold," he informed her.

"Oh," Olivia said flatly. "Poor Uncle Richard."

"Don’t worry about him," he said firmly. "Start thinking about Lane. Now that her dad is in the hospital, I’m betting she’s on her way back. If she shows up, Ethan is going to find out. If they reconnect, you can kiss your chances of getting him back goodbye. You need to move fast. Use Tyler to keep Ethan distracted so they never meet."

Ethan only kept Olivia around because of Tyler. Lucas knew Ethan couldn’t say no to his kid, and if Olivia played her cards right, she could use the boy to keep Ethan busy.

After he hung up with Olivia, he called Rebecca and told her they were going to the hospital. He wasn’t going to show his respects. He was going for intel.

He needed to know exactly when Lane was arriving.

A few hours later, they pulled up to the hospital.

"Let’s go," he told his wife. They checked the reception desk for Richard’s room number and headed straight there.

Rebecca knocked three times before the door opened. Eleanor stood there, her eyes red and swollen from crying. She looked like a wreck.

"Sis," Rebecca said softly to Richard’s wife.

Eleanor stepped aside to let them into the private suite. Lucas immediately zeroed in on Richard. The man was hooked up to a dozen different machines, looking pale and weak. Looking at him, Lucas felt zero pity. Honestly, he was actually satisfied seeing his rival like this.

"How is he, Eleanor?" Lucas tuned back in as Rebecca asked the question.

Eleanor let out a long, shaky sigh. "The surgery went well. We’re just waiting for him to wake up now," she replied.

Lucas let them talk for a minute before he went in for the kill. "What about Lane?" he asked, catching her eye. "Does she know about her father?"

He gritted his teeth when she nodded. "Yes," she said. "I called her earlier to tell her everything."

"Why would you do that, Eleanor?" Rebecca chimed in, playing her part. "She’s just going to worry herself sick.

I’m sure Richard wouldn’t want her stressed out like this."

"Lane has a right to know. She’s his daughter," Eleanor shot back. Lucas noticed Rebecca’s face sour at the dismissal.

To keep things from looking suspicious, Lucas stepped in. "Rebecca, she’s right. Lane deserves to know." He feigned sympathy, nodding at Eleanor.

Then he slipped in the real question: "Is she coming back?"

He needed to know for sure. If she was coming, he had to set his traps. He’d do anything to make sure she and Ethan never saw each other.

"Yes. Lane is coming home... she’s coming to see her father," she confirmed.

He caught his wife looking at him with a worried expression. Lucas felt a surge of pure rage. Lane’s return was the last thing he needed, and it was about to make his life a whole lot more complicated.

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