Chapter 6 Chapter 6: A Dalton Heir
Catherine’s P.O.V
I knew the moment I stepped into Lydia’s sitting room that I’d made a mistake. She was already wearing that victorious little smirk, the one that told me she thought she’d won something…maybe Xavier, maybe the entire family, maybe the last bit of confidence I had left. I sat down anyway, because running would’ve made her feel even more powerful.
“Lydia,” I started, keeping my voice steady, “why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t anyone tell me you were arranging a surrogate for me and Xavier?”
She didn’t even blink. “Because, Catherine, it wasn’t something that required your permission.” She folded her arms like she’d been waiting for this moment. “And honestly, it took very little convincing before Xavier agreed. Once I pointed out the obvious, he didn’t put up much of a fight.”
I swallowed hard. “The obvious? What obvious?”
“That you can’t give this family what it needs.” She leaned forward like she wanted to see the exact moment her words pierced me.
“A legitimate heir. You’ve tried. You’ve failed. And Xavier is a Dalton. Daltons don’t sit around hoping for miracles…they secure their future. You should be grateful we’re still giving you a place in it.”
I felt my breath catch, but I forced myself to respond calmly. “You think this is gratitude? You think deciding something this huge without even speaking to me is kindness?”
“Catherine, don’t be dramatic,” she said, waving her hand as if my entire life was an exaggeration.
“I simply acted where you could not. I approached Xavier. I explained the situation. I told him it was time to think of the family name. And he agreed. Quite quickly, actually.”
My stomach tightened. “He agreed quickly?”
“Oh yes,” she said, smiling like she’d just won a silent war. “Men like him understand legacy. He cares for you…of course he does, but he knows you can’t provide the one thing that matters most. I hardly had to say anything at all before he gave in and donated his sperm. He knew I was right.”
I stared at her. “You’re talking about our child like it’s a business contract.”
“It is,” she snapped back smoothly. “Marriage, heirs, legacy…they’re all business. You’ve been treating this like a love story, Catherine, and that’s where you’ve gone wrong all these years.”
“And you think you have the right to decide what my marriage is?” I asked, my voice shaking despite how desperately I tried to steady it.
“I think,” she said, her smirk deepening, “that I have the right to protect my son and this family. Someone has to, since you’re clearly incapable of doing the one thing your role requires.”
“My role?” I repeated, my chest tightening. “You think I’m just… a vessel?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. If you were a vessel, you’d have been useful by now.” She shrugged lightly, like she was stating the weather. “But it doesn’t matter. The surrogate will handle that part. You can continue looking pretty at events and smiling for photographs. Everyone wins.”
“Everyone except me,” I whispered.
She tilted her head like she enjoyed seeing me break. “Oh, Catherine… if you had truly believed you were enough, you wouldn’t be sitting here questioning me. You would’ve talked to Xavier before I did. But you didn’t. Because somewhere inside, you know the truth. You know he needs more than what you can give.”
I clenched my fists. “You’re wrong. Xavier loves me.”
“I never said he didn’t.” Her tone softened…not kindly, but cruelly, like she was savoring the cut. “But love doesn’t build a dynasty. He understands that. And now,” she said, standing slowly as if she were dismissing me, “you will, too.”
I rose with her, trying not to let her see the burn behind my eyes. “You’re proud of yourself. Proud that you went behind my back. Proud that you’ve forced something on us.”
“I’m proud,” she said, stepping closer, “that the Dalton name will continue…despite you.”
I breathed in sharply. “You think you’ve won.”
“I don’t think, dear,” she said with a smile that cut deeper than any word she’d spoken. “I know.”
I stood there, my hands trembling even though I tried to keep my voice steady.
“We… we could’ve adopted Lydia,” I said, because it was the only thing that kept ringing in my head.
“If Xavier and you wanted an heir so badly, we could’ve adopted a child together. There was no reason to…”
Before I even finished, a sharp sting exploded across my cheek. The sound echoed louder than the pain. I gasped, touching my face in shock as my vision blurred for a second.
“Did you just…?”
“Adopt?” Lydia spat, her voice sharp enough to slice skin. “You barren bitch, you really think a stray is going to be the Dalton heir? A child with no Dalton blood? Over my dead body.” She looked at me with the kind of disgust I didn’t even know she was capable of showing openly.
“You’re lucky you still get to stay as Mrs. Dalton.”
My mouth fell open, the air suddenly too heavy to breathe. I had known Lydia disliked me…no, resented me but hearing it out loud, seeing her mask fall so easily, made something inside me crack.
“So that’s it?” I whispered. “Now that you have an heir from another woman, you don’t even have to pretend anymore?”
Lydia folded her arms smugly. “Pretending was exhausting. And unnecessary.”
I swallowed, forcing myself to speak even though my throat felt tight. “But I’m going to be the mother. You can hate me all you want, but I still have every right to know about this decision. You don’t get to decide I’m irrelevant just because I didn’t conceive naturally.”
“Mother?” She laughed…loud, mocking, cruel. “You?” She pointed a manicured finger at me like I was something she found under her shoe.
“Don’t delude yourself, Catherine. Since you have no capability to become a mother, this decision has absolutely nothing to do with you. Nothing. You are just the wife. A decorative piece. A title.”
“I’m still Xavier’s wife,” I said quietly, even though my voice shook. “And this child…”
“...is ours,” she cut in coldly. “Mine. Xavier’s. The family. Not yours. You are an outsider in the one thing that actually matters to this bloodline and if you have even a shred of sense left, you will stay in your lane.”
I blinked, stunned. “So you’re telling me that I have no say in the child I’m supposed to raise? No opinion? No information? Nothing?”
“Correct.” Lydia flashed the sweetest, fakest smile. “The surrogate is doing what you couldn’t. She is giving this family what you failed to provide. Be grateful we’re letting you stand beside the crib when the time comes.”
My heart clenched. “I loved this family,” I said, almost to myself. “I did everything to fit in. Everything to make Xavier happy. Everything to make you happy.”
“And yet here we are,” she replied dryly. “Nature had other plans. Don't blame me for stating the obvious.”
I felt the sting still radiating in my cheek, but the burn in my chest hurt far more. “You didn’t have to hit me,” I whispered.
“I did,” she said simply. “Because you need to understand exactly where you stand.” She stepped closer, lowering her voice almost to a whisper even though her words cut deeper than her hand ever could.
“You are replaceable, Catherine. The bloodline is not.”
I stared at her. Really stared and for the first time since marrying into the Daltons, I understood something painfully clear: Lydia wasn’t just hostile. She was declaring war and she thought I had already lost.