Bait for a Gentleman novel Chapter 36

"You're absolutely right, Mrs. Sutton."

Audrina looked up, cutting her off with a bright smile.

"I've taken everything you said to heart. Securing an heir is incredibly important. We certainly shouldn't delay."

Tamara nodded in satisfaction. "I'm glad you understand—"

"However," Audrina tilted her head, the picture of innocence, "it's not exactly something I can do all by myself. Shouldn't you have a word with Zachary as well? He's been... very busy lately. He barely comes home."

The smile froze on Tamara's face.

They spent most of the year away from Kingshire, leaving the family affairs entirely in Zachary's hands.

But she wasn't blind to his messy personal life.

Back in the day, Vera had shamelessly paraded around, doing everything in her power to ingratiate herself and secure a marriage into the family.

As much as Tamara looked down on Vera, she would still be infinitely better than a penniless orphan like Audrina.

The implication behind Audrina's words... Was Zachary seriously still entangled with Vera?

Was he completely out of his mind?! Could he really be that stupid?!

If Waldo caught even a hint of a scandal, Zachary could kiss his inheritance goodbye!

"He's been busy lately?" Tamara pressed.

Audrina nodded innocently. "I've been back for almost a month, and Zachary hasn't spent the night at home for more than half of it."

Tamara opened her mouth, suddenly speechless.

Leaning in slightly, playing the role of the devoted future daughter-in-law, she added, "Mrs. Sutton, aside from the fact that we haven't officially tied the knot yet, if you truly want a grandchild so soon, you should talk to him about working late so often. No matter how busy the company is, he shouldn't neglect what's truly important."

Though to be fair, he probably wasn't neglecting the act itself.

Who knew? Maybe one day Zachary would just bring a shiny new illegitimate child home to the family.

She steadied her racing heart. Had she heard correctly that Vera was on board?

She resolved to corner her tonight. Absolutely no one was going to threaten her son's standing within the family.

Once Tamara was out of earshot, Willow let out a burst of laughter.

"Holy shit, you actually went there! Her face looked like she'd swallowed a bug!"

"She set herself up for it," she replied, her lips curving up.

Willow clicked her tongue. "Demanding you have a baby, completely ignoring what a piece of trash her son is. Seriously though, ignore whatever garbage she spewed at you."

"I will," Audrina said, shaking her head.

Willow shot her a worried look. "Promise?"

A brief shadow passed over her eyes. "She wasn't wrong. How many more years can Waldo realistically protect me? I only came back to spend as much time with him as possible while he's still here."