Page 92 of Second Chances
“What do you mean?” Beth responded, perplexed with her question.
“What if no one wants to buy her art and makes her feel that in order to be successful, she needs to switch her subject to something that her parents would feel is more ‘appropriate’?”
Beth took a second to let the thought sink in. If, Caro was convinced by her audience that they preferred some of her other, more modern works, over her classical nudes, then maybe Jane was right; maybe her parents would feel that is something that they could support.
“I mean, it could work… But how would we even do that? And how do we accomplish our plan before she does something drastic to further hers?”
Two months was not a lot of time, which meant Caroline was definitely feeling the crunch.
Jane bit her lip and gave a small shrug of her shoulders, not having any more answers for her sister.
“Wait, why don’t we just go to Charles’ parents and tell them what she is doing? Surely they would be able to do something - whether it’s giving Caroline the money or confronting her about her actions?”
“I doubt they would just give her the money to make her stop, especially because what proof would you have? Nothing that she has done or sent you has her name on it. The only reason you know that it’s her is because of Darcy. Sure, I guess he could accuse her and reveal their past relationship, but she could also just deny it. Honestly, I don’t think they would ever believe Caroline would do such a thing, when in their mind, it would be so simple for her to get the rest of the inheritance by just forgoing her art,” Jane replied skeptically.
“What if we could prove that it was her?” Beth asked.
“I mean if you could, I’m sure that would force them to give in to her. The problem is that there’s a power struggle going on between them, so unless there is concrete evidence to force their hand, they will hold out for as long as possible to try to get Caroline to be the daughter that they always wanted.”
“I’m not sure how yet, but maybe we could set some sort of trap?” Beth mused aloud, her mind already turning through the possibilities.
“Maybe…” Jane replied, less enthused with that option. “Maybe see how things go tonight and if her other work seems to be a hit, then you won’t have to worry about that.”
Jane would never understand that sometimes, you have to beat people at their own game. And Caroline’s game was not the type where she sits around and hopes for the best…
“Maybe… I guess we’ll hope for the best tonight; I can tell her that I heard from most of the guests that they liked the other pieces more, but I’m not sure what else I can do. I need to talk to Darcy,” Beth concluded, “what time is it?”
Looking at her watch, her heart skipped a beat; she needed to get changed and get back over to the gallery to set up.
“I didn’t realize what time it was. I have to get ready and get back…” Beth said, distractedly as she looked around for where she put her bag of clothes.
“Ok. Have you eaten anything?”
Shit. Jane was just as bad as Darcy!
“No, not really. I’m not really hungry though,” Beth answered, trying to sound reassuring.
“You should eat something before you go; you can’t think straight with no food. At least take a protein bar with you…” Jane offered.
“Ok, I’ll do that,” Beth agreed in order to end the discussion so that she could go change.
She needed to talk to Darcy.
How were they going to do this?Her mind began to wonder, as soon as she was alone in the silence of the bathroom.
How would they be able to trap Caroline into revealing that it was she who was threatening them?
I wonder if Darcy has someone who would be able to trace the email she sent, although I doubt her name is going to be on anything attached to it.
At some point, she’s going to have to reveal who she is to me, right? What else could her plan involve besides confronting me in person?
What if I confronted her, first, and recorded the whole thing? She wouldn’t see it coming, wouldn’t have time to plan for an escape. I could tell her that I know she’s the one who has been messaging me, threatening me; maybe play along and tell her I’ll do what she wants if she just explains to me why she is doing this.
Or I could goad her by saying that there is no way that Darcy would return to her. Because that still makes absolutely NO sense to me how she thinks that getting rid of me will suddenly make her advances on him welcome.
All of these thoughts ricocheted through her brain as her limbs moved on auto-pilot, changing and doing her make-up as quickly as she could.
“Are you sure you’re going to be ok tonight?”
