Three Buses And A Father’s Pride, All Pushed To The Spare Table Chapter 09

Three Buses And A Father’s Pride, All Pushed To The Spare Table Chapter 09

By the time Caleb got back to Vance Group, the board was already waiting for him.

The wedding disaster. The Thompson project suspension. Dylan’s dinner meltdown.

One by one, it was all laid out on the conference table.

William sat at the head, his face like stone.

“I gave you that project so you could deliver results,” he said.

“Not so you could drag outsiders in to embarrass Vance Group.”

Caleb stood in the middle of the room. He didn’t sit.

He’d always been comfortable in these situations before.

Being challenged. Questioned. Scrutinized.

He could always handle it gracefully.

But this time, he couldn’t even give a simple explanation without falling apart.

Because he’d done all of it.

He was the one who replaced Leo.

He was the one who let Dylan run wild.

He was the one who let Chloe’s family take the head table.

And he was the one who publicly thanked the Whitmores on

—

stage without mentioning Russell Benson once.

When the meeting ended, William left him with one sentence.

“Your succession eligibility is suspended.”

Caleb walked out of the room. Chloe was waiting for him.

Her eyes were red. She came to him immediately.

“Caleb, Dylan didn’t mean it.”

“He was just trying to help you.”

“Mr. Vance can’t put all the blame on him.”

Caleb looked at her.

For a long time, he didn’t speak.

Chloe shifted under his gaze.

“What’s wrong?”

Caleb asked, “At the wedding—did you know where Clara’s father was sitting?”

Chloe froze.

“I…”

“You knew.”

Caleb’s voice was low.

“You knew Leo had been replaced too.”

—

Chloe’s eyes got redder.

“Caleb, everything was so chaotic that day. I didn’t know what to do.”

“And Clara was always misunderstanding me. I was afraid anything I said would make it worse.”

There was a time when those words would have made Caleb soften.

He would have protected her from every bit of hurt.

But this time, he remembered the wedding.

Russell Benson standing in the back, his suit cuff soaked, blood on his hand, still saying:

“Caleb, I didn’t mean it like that.”

He hadn’t softened then.

Chloe sat at the head table. She hadn’t lost anything. She just cried a little.

And he thought she was the one who’d been wronged.

Caleb closed his eyes.

“Chloe, I’ve taken your side for too long.”

Chloe’s face went white.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Before Caleb could answer, an assistant hurried

—

over.

“Mr. Vance, Dylan Miller is telling people in marketing that you told him to attend the dinner.”

Caleb looked up.

The assistant’s voice dropped lower.

“He said the groomsman change and the head table seating were all your call.”

“He was just following orders.”

Chloe’s expression shifted.

“Dylan’s young. He was probably just scared…”

There it was again.

Young.

Doesn’t know any better.

Scared.

Caleb let out a small laugh.

It wasn’t warm. It was cold.

“He’s twenty-four.”

Chloe went still.

Caleb turned and walked away.

That night, he went back to the marital house.

—

The house was still empty.

The white ribbons had been taken down by the housekeeper.

The wedding decorations left faint marks from the adhesive.

He stood in the living room for a long time. Then he opened the desk drawer in the study.

Inside was a wedding run sheet.

Clara had left it behind.

He’d never really looked at it before.

The first page read: [Dad sits close to the stage for the toast.]

The second page read: [Leo’s never been a groomsman. Show him where to go ahead of time so he doesn’t freeze up.]

The third page read: [Patricia hates cilantro. William’s diabetic—go easy on the desserts.

Further in, Chloe’s name appeared.

Clara had written: [If Chloe shows up, put her at a normal guest table. Avoids awkwardness for everyone.]

Caleb’s fingers stopped.

She had thought of everyone’s dignity from the very beginning.

Even Chloe’s.

He was the one who changed it all.

—

He pushed Russell Benson into the corner.

He moved the Whitmores to the head table.

He pinned Leo’s boutonnierie on Dylan’s chest.

He turned to the last page.

A handwritten note was tucked there.

The words Clara had planned to say at the wedding.

[ Thank you, Dad, for raising me. Starting today, I have a new family too.]

Caleb stared at those words for a long time. The paper crumpled under his fingers.

He finally understood. Clara really had wanted to marry him.

That new family.

He was the one who destroyed it.