The search began. She had Earl's secretary fax her a list of who was who in the social circle of wealthy families. She went through every name until she found a family with a rich son her daughter's age. It took her a couple of minutes to discover the Lauer's had attended one of their benefits. The first phone call was made, asking for a donation for a medical facility in Africa. Sylvia called a few weeks later to thank Mrs. Lauer for their one hundred thousand dollar check. After a long chat about family, fashion, and Chloe being single and of age, the ball was set in motion.
Twenty-one-year-old Edmund Lauer, with the skinny body and pinched face like his father's, showed up at the Burlington house to visit Chloe. After Earl investigated the young man and was assured that his daughter was safe, she was allowed to go on her first date to a very expensive restaurant, transported by a limo with two guards.
Earl and Sylvia flew home, and the engagement was arranged. Yes, Edmund was the one. Sylvia had a photographer come in to take a picture for that event too. Their flight left at four in the morning, and when Chloe got up to make breakfast for her parents, they were flying high above the Atlantic Ocean.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Becky walked out of Chloe's hospital room after a few minutes so Matthew could spend some time alone with her. The tubes in her head were gone, but all the loud, scary equipment remained connected to her. No matter how bad she was bruised, battered, and bandaged, he stayed by her side and never once thought of bailing. Becky had grown so fond of that roofer she first met in what seemed like years ago. They talked all the time. The more she learned about him and his love for her friend, the more she understood why Chloe went to extremes to help him and why her heart was so broken when they broke up. Matthew, Becky knew, was a keeper.
The loud sound of high heels clicking on the hospital tiles made her head turn in the opposite direction. A voice loudly filled the air the moment the heels stopped clicking. Becky would know that voice anywhere.
"I demand to speak with a doctor. My daughter was in an automobile accident. Page him immediately and let him know the Burlington's have arrived."
"Are you Chloe's parents?" asked the unit clerk, who was clearly intimidated.
"I don't have time for this. Get the doctor here." Sylvia tapped her manicured nails impatiently on the desk. She turned and twisted her face in the direction of a laundry bin in the hall and then straightened her suit and fluffed her hair.
Becky lost all reason. "Oh my God!" she yelled.
Matthew moved quickly out of the lounge and ran to Becky's side. Before he could ask any questions, the heels began clicking on the tile more quickly in Becky's direction, and he turned to look at the perfectly groomed, older couple.
Sylvia's face distorted in disgust again when she began to eye Matthew up and down, a disheveled looking man in her opinion. "Becky, my word, I had no idea you were with anyone…"
"This is Chloe's boyfriend, Sylvia. He's been here around the clock to sit at your daughter's side since her accident." Becky wanted her words to sting.
"Well I'll go take a look and see how bad it is. People can have quite an imagination when describing injuries when they're under stress. Hopefully I can find a doctor who doesn't like to keep people needlessly waiting."
Becky watched Sylvia saunter down the hall towards Chloe's room. When she walked inside, Becky hurried to stand in the doorway. The sickness she felt made her want to rip the woman to pieces. Sylvia glanced at the machines, looked momentarily in the direction of the bed, and never once touched her daughter.
Sylvia pushed past Becky and spoke over her shoulder as she walked away. "We'll have to call a plastic surgeon. Her face looks absolutely ruined!"
Matthew was losing the battle to remain cool, and Becky had already lost it.
"Her looks?!" Becky's fists clenched at her sides. "You should be concerned with her life!"
Sylvia didn't even flinch. She turned to Matthew. "What is your name, young man, and what family are you from?"
"My name is Matthew Sharp." Against every grain in his body, he offered his hand.
Sylvia glanced down at the large, calloused hand. "You look like an auto-mechanic. Please tell me my daughter can do better than this?"
Putting down Matthew was the last straw for Becky. "Get out! Just get the hell out of here and don't come back! We're her family! You showed up, not out of love, but because this horrible accident made the papers. You would have been mauled by the press had you not have flown here!"
"Chloe is our daughter, and we aren't going anywhere. Isn't that right, Earl?"
Earl ignored Sylvia and walked with his head hung low to his daughter's room.
"You've never had anything to do with Chloe. You've done nothing but crush her heart for twenty-four years! You don't belong here playing the role of a loving mother."
Matthew was afraid Becky would pound the woman to the ground. "I think Becky and I have everything under control. You're probably tired from the flight."
"What are you after, Matthew? Money? We can give you money if you just go away. You'll ruin her reputation, and her status will soon follow. You couldn't support our daughter, so it has to be money. Think of the children she would have with you. They'd be mongrels for God's sake."
The pleasantries left him instantly. Matthew took two steps before Becky grabbed him.
"Earl and I are exhausted from the plane ride, so we're going to head home and have Lois prepare us something. I need to shower and get cleaned up. Feel free to do the same, Matthew. Becky, darling, do call if Chloe wakes up. Hopefully they'll remove all those….tubes."
"It'll be a cold day in hell before I call you! You gave up your right to be her family!"
"Earl! Let's go, dear."
Earl stepped out of his daughter's room with tears glistening on his cheeks. "Go on, Sylvia, I'll call for a car."
"Yeah, go on home, Sylvia. Enjoy cooking your dinner. Lois walked out of that place long ago."
"What?!"
She smiled at her triumph, grabbed Matthew's hand, and walked towards Chloe's room.
Becky was warned about keeping her voice down on the unit. Sylvia, however, was asked to leave.
Chapter 11
"She was raised by that?"
"No, Matthew, Chloe was raised by nannies and Lois. Her parents never there. They traveled constantly, not even bothering to talk to her when they called, let alone visit. She's spent her life being held captive in that mansion. Anyone who stepped an inch inside her circle was investigated, even me. She wasn't allowed to freely leave the estate, she fled. If it wasn't for Lois, Chloe wouldn't be half the woman she is today."