CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND FIVE – THE JILTED EX

Charlotte stiffened. "I don't know who you are, but I think you should leave." The woman laughed, a harsh sound devoid of humor. "Of course you don't know me. Why would he tell you? I'm Eliza Blackwood. Or I would have been Lady Eliza Griffith, if your precious Richard hadn't broken our engagement." The world seemed to tilt under Charlotte's feet. "Engagement? But Richard was engaged to Arabella Sutton..." "Arabella?" Eliza spat. "That was years ago. I'm talking about us, about what he did to me just last year. But I suppose that's another secret he's kept from you." Mr. Davies stepped forward, his weathered face set in a frown. "Now see here, miss. I don't know what your quarrel is, but-" "Stay out of this, old man!" Eliza snapped. "This is between me and the woman who's stolen my future." Charlotte found her voice, anger pushing back her shock. "I've stolen nothing. If you were engaged to Richard, it's news to me. He's told me everything about his past." Eliza's laugh was bitt