The Wife's Resolve

Chapter 6: Standard Procedure

Valerie arrived back from court and made her way to her office. She had just sat down to breathe when there was a knock at the door. "Mrs. Dare," her Miss Moore's voice came through the door, "I have an Elena Iris here to see you."

"Come inside and shut the door, Miss Silvers," I replied.

As soon as she closed the door, Penelope went back to speaking, "I don't have her on your schedule. Should I send her away or let her in?"

"I put it on my schedule, but I must have forgotten to link you in. Anyways, Miss Iris will simply have to wait. I specifically told her 2 pm, and I don't want to meet with her until that time."

"I would not want to meet with my husband's mistress either. Can't you send her to Paxton?" Penelope's mouth ran off before she thought of what she was saying. When she was finished, she covered her mouth with her hand and was truly embarrassed.

"Excuse me," Valerie looked up sharply.

"I'm sorry, I just heard," Penelope stuttered.

"Whatever you have heard is gossip; nothing is going on with Mr. Dare and that woman, and you would do well to remember that in the future. You should also tell whoever told you not to let Mr. Dare hear them gossiping because he will not be so carefree about the whole ordeal." Valerie finished, "You may go. Tell her I am in a meeting, and I will meet with her at 2 pm. In the meantime, send in Paxton."

A few minutes later, the door opened, and Paxton walked in. Paxton laughed as he looked at Valerie and her stressed features. "If you missed your old assistant so much, you could have just said, no reason to make up a meeting."

"Please," Valerie rolled her eyes and took a drink of water. "You were not that great of an assistant if my memory serves me. Miss Silvers does just fine."

"Oh I am sure she does, but you only have her now so your jealous husband gets off your back about me, but who can blame him. I am more in shape than he is, taller, and look better in suits." Paxton remarked with a wink.

"You always did think so," She joked.

"What is Elena doing here?" Paxton asked.

"She is here to sign a prenup and some other family-related business."

"Funny, I don't remember seeing a bill of divorcement come through," He chuckled.

Valerie was less than thrilled by the remark, "It's for Davius."

"Stupid. I thought Davius was the smart one. Does he not realize he is just a stand-in for Big Brother?" Paxton continued, "I suppose you will have to see her in your house too. Boy, do I pity you. Never saw what Damon saw in her. Just a waste of space if you ask me," he laughed and plopped down into the chair in front of her.

"Funny, I don't remember asking you," she remarked.

"That's because you're too nice. Mark my words that little homewrecker will be just that. If the brothers are not careful, she will start a war in the family."Paxton stated boldly.

"Two fighting Dare brothers are hardly a war," Valerie huffed. Though in her mind, she knew if she felt these rumors were true, it would not be Damon starting a war. It would be the Black Family against the Dare family. That was more dangerous.

"How long are you going to keep her waiting?" he chuckled.

"Until 2 pm, when I told her her appointment was. She does not dictate my schedule, and if she thinks marrying Darius moves her ahead on my schedule, she is mistaken." Valerie replied without concern. The great thing about working at Black and Dare Associates was that Damon had no control here. He could not pull any strings, and his intimidation did not work on her father.

"That's big of you," Paxton laughed hard, "I approve!"

"I knew you would, that's why I pulled you in here."

Outside the office, Elena was getting quite upset. Here she had shown up 45 minutes early when she knew the Valerie would be back from court. She had watched her enter the building before she exited her own car. Valerie knew she was out here, too. That good-for-nothing assistant would not allow her to go in and simply told her to have a seat. She did not offer her anything to drink or anything. This was just another game Valerie was playing. Valerie always had to have her way, but making her sit out her like she was not important to the Dare's that was unforgivable. She watched the minutes click by on the clock. Valerie had been in that office with Paxton for almost half an hour. Occasionally, she heard laughing, but mostly it was silent to silent. Valerie pulled out her phone and sent a text to Damon, "I have been sitting outside Valerie's office while she talks to her assistant, Paxton." A beep sounded when he replied, "Paxton is not her assistant." Elena smiled as she replied, "My mistake, but she has been in there for over half an hour."

Less than a minute later, the phone rang on the assistant's desk, "Valerie Dare's office," was all the poor girl got in before Damon no doubt cut her off, "Mrs. Dare is in a meeting," she added, "of course, sir, I'll let her know right away." The girl looked terrified, and so she should, Elena thought as she watched her walk to the door. After a knock, she entered. Elena could only hear laughing coming from the office as Penelope and Paxton left the office.

"Good day, Miss Iris," Paxton said as he mock-saluted her and continued walking without another word, but laughing the whole way down the hallway.

Much to Elena's displeasure, Valerie still did not appear until 1:59 when the door opened, and Valerie said, "Send in Miss Iris."

Elena walked in with confidence, and she approached Valerie. She was further displeased that Valerie appeared not to be giving her any attention.

"Have a seat, Miss Iris. We have much to go over," Valerie stated calmly and pulled out three folders of information. "Let us begin with the first folder here. "You do hold that the children you are carrying is that of Darius Dare."

"Excuse me," she screeched, "Did I come here so you could insult me?"

"I mean, no insult," Valerie half smiled, "this is a legal matter, and I would not like you to perjure yourself. You do understand the ramifications of giving false statements, do you not?"

"I know the law," she sneered, "What I don't know is why you have to ask me such a ridiculous question. I am sure that Davius has already told you the truth; otherwise, why would I be here?

"Why indeed," Valerie muttered under her breath, "You need to answer the question, Elena. Does the child belong to Davius Dare that you are carrying?"

"You really are cruel. Valerie, of course, it belongs to Davius. Who else would it possibly belong to?" she raged.

"This document you are about to sign verifies that the Child in question does belong to Davius Dare. It also goes on to explain that since you were not married to Davius when the child was conceived, a DNA test will be required after birth to prove it is Davius' child."

"I'm not signing that," she jumped out of her chair. "That paper basically calls me a w***e and my child a bastard."

"That is not what the document is saying at all," Valerie took a deep breath, "it is standard for the child to be claimed by the pack and recognized by the family."

"I'm going to talk to Davius about this," she yelled.

"You can talk to him, but it will not change anything. Davius told Damon that if you did not sign, he would not claim the child. He considers all pack rules important, and he never tries to go against the rules."

Elena sat and cried, "It is like no one believes me, I have never lied."

"Be that as it may, it does not change the law in this case," Valerie stated firmly.

"I will take this with me and think about it," Elena said with tears in her eyes, "I need to talk with Damon."

Valerie rolled her eyes. "You can return it at will, but nothing can go forward till all of these are signed," she said, touching the other files on her desk.

"Well, see about that," Elena said in anger and shoved the folder in her bag before she left.