Frances was left alone; she had a lot to do, and she did not even know where to start. Abigail had told her that it was important that they kept it a secret from the entire family until the night before the wedding; that way, there was little to nothing they could do to stop it. If they knew of the plans they had to level up with Cade, she was sure that Charles would try his best to stop it in some way.
She knew that with that she had to call a lawyer; all the vendors to be used would be mandated to sign off on an NDA; that way, no secret would be lost if they thought there was something to lose. She called her mom over the phone.
“My darling daughter that can not seem to settle down, you just left the house, and you are already calling me? How difficult is it for you to stay over at your in-law’s place for a bit?” Mrs. Gates said over the phone. “If you screw this up, you would be doomed,” she added under her breath.
Frances rolled her eyes; it was as if her mom could get rid of her. “Mom, I need your help,” she said instead of indulging in the unnecessary conversation and argument her mom was trying to start. “I know that you cannot wait to get rid of me and that you are trying your best, and it seems like I keep screwing it up. I think your prayers have finally been answered Do you go thank the gods you have been praying to?”
“What are you saying?” Fiona asked, ignoring her daughter’s remarks.
“I will be home in a few minutes Let us meet.”
“If you were coming home, why did you call me first?”
“I don’t know,” Frances murmured; she had called her to tell her everything but divided about it. Telling her in person was more secure after all. “Stay at home,” she added before yanking your phone off her ears and hurrying out of the room at once.
“This better be good because I had to cancel brunch with my ladies’ squad just to be here when you got home.” Fiona’s voice was annoyed and she was not trying to hide it.
“What is important about meeting those women? You meet with them almost every day. What is there to talk about?”
“Maybe if you get married and join that club, you will finally understand what it is that is so important about that club,” Fiona murmured, glancing at her wristwatch. “What is this about?” she asked, turning to her daughter.
“Do not worry, it is good news.”
Frances was about to tell her mom about the newest development. Fiona had married into the Gates family, and while everyone expected her to have sons to carry on the name, she birthed two daughters and then could not conceive again. As if the humiliation was not enough for her, her mother-in-law made her swear that she was going to put her worthless daughter to good use. Frances had been so bad at relationships that none of the ones that they tried to set her up for work. Fiona had made a resolve in her heart that if the relationship did not work out this time, she was going to ship her overseas and have her be the third wife to a rich old man.
“It’s good news, so you should say it fast and stop acting like you are the main character in a f**king book,” she groaned, throwing her head back.
“I might need your help planning a wedding.”
“Planning a wedding? Are you helping someone plan a wedding? You always do things like this; how much longer would you choose to act so foolish? You are supposed to be settled and have kids by now. Have ten boys so that no one can ever look down on your in-law’s place.” Fiona did not ever want what happened to her to happen to her kids. She would not be able to handle it, and that was why she was trying her best to stay relevant in society.
“My wedding!” Frances declared and waited for her mom to catch up with her. She had to.
“Your wedding?” she asked, raising her eyebrow. “YOUR WEDDING?” this time her voice was loud and startling. “You are getting married? Did Cael propose?” she asked, searching her hand.
“Do I need him to propose? This is a wedding between two families, and I am getting married.”
“Wait, explain this to me. If Cael did not propose, how are we supposed to plan a wedding?” Fiona was happy about the news, but she did not want to rejoice without knowing the full scope of the story.
Frances took her time to explain while leaving out the details of the revenge plan. Who knows what her mom might do while she tried to brag about it to her friends? “There is one little detail I forgot to mention,” Frances added in a murmur.
“What else could you have to say?”
“The wedding is next week on Saturday.”
“Next week Saturday?”
“Yeah!”
“Are you saying I have eight days to plan a wedding? A Vale worthy wedding?” Fiona asked, standing up and panicking as she paced the floor, her heels boring a hole into the ground.
“That is what I am saying,” Frances nodded.
“But…”
“Also, Mom, you cannot tell anyone about the wedding; we would plan it and then invite Everine else when my mother-in-law approves it. We just have to move discreetly,” she added, knowing that her mom might want to brag about it to her club of friends. Of course, it was something to brag about after all. It was the Vale family, and a second-class family like the Gates found a way to penetrate that. Fiona wanted to tell the entire world that it was her daughter who broke the barrier between a first- and second-class family.
“Why?”
“Abigail’s orders,” she murmured.
“She sure has too many rules.”
“So what are you saying? Are we calling this off?” Frances knew that she was way too deep to be able to pull out now, but she was curious what her mom’s reaction would be.
“Are you crazy? There are a lot of demands, but none of it is so crazy that it cannot be done,” she added in a murmur.
“Mom, you need to call the lawyer to make NDAs for the vendors. We cannot have the secret falling out, can we?”
“I will get on it now.” Fiona picked up her phone and tapped on it before putting it to her ears. “Hello!” she said before walking away from the room.
“I did it,” she said, taking up her own phone. She had sworn that she would use the same planner that Ophelia had used after she saw the way that her wedding was. She had to make sure that she did not go below the standard. She thought of spreading the news that she was pregnant but did not know the way Abigail would take it, so she just waited to run it by her first.
“Hello, you have a wedding to plan.”
“Says who?” the woman replied, laughing mockingly at her.
“Says me, Frances Gates.”
“Gates? That barely rings a bell.”
“Oh my god! You do know who I am, but you are just acting this way because you think I am beneath you,” Frances said, annoyed. She was sure that this woman had not treated Ophelia this same way but thought that it would be fun to do so to her.
“Of course I do. My only concern is if Gates can pay my charges.”
“If Gates marries a Vale, I am sure they can.”