Chapter 13
“We need to talk:“[]
He stood in front of me, voice disturbingly calm–like he was announcing the fridge had broken, not that I had thrown him onto a bed the night before.
Talk?
My brain instantly began filtering keywords. Talk about what? A debrier? A review? Or was he proposing some sort of… “Tong–term sexual partnership
Definitely not a proposal. That only happens in soap operas written by people with chronic romance brain.]]
Was he worried I’d cling to him?
After all–it was me who started this.[]
I was the one who dragged him out of the bar.
1 was the one who opened the hotel door.
I was the one who pinned him down without a second thought.[]
“Look,” I said, adopting the most adult, accountable tone I could muster, last night was a mistake. A reckless, impulsive, but undeniably enjoyable mistake.”
I tried not to look at his shoulders. Not at his chest. Not at the water droplets sliding down his clavicle, tracing the path over sculpted muscle.
7m not going to ask you to take responsibility. I won’t call you crying about emotional trauma. I’m not that kind of girl.”
He didn’t say anything
Seeing no reaction, I turned to the door–cue graceful exit, complete with closure monologue.[]
But just
as my hand reached the doorknob, a warm, wet palm landed on the back of mine.
I frate Slowly turned around
He was looking at me with an expression I couldn’t place–somewhere between surprise and seriousness
You don’t remember me?” he asked softly
Ilked, drown I answered quickly, almost defensive. “Of course I do. You’re my new neighbor. Helped me find my keys the other
Terkourally true. Totally accurate
tay–and never would–was that even without those rivial interactions, I reptembered him.[]
The tark was endorse
at face, standing in front of me in just a white towel, with water dripping down those abs… yeah Not from memory
ik directly at him. Like an eclipse]
had completely failed.
ugh I was fully dressed and he was practically naked, somehow under his gaze, I felt like the one completely
y something, anything to shift the attention.]
again. He just stood there, watching me, as if waiting for the mon
enthed
thed]
t’s fine. Doesn’t matter.”
I asked, my voice dry. His hand still hadn’t moved.
Looked at me again, then–unhurriedly–said:
Will you marry me?”
moment my real reaction would finally arrive.
ut not serious “I finally found my voice
mpletely serious,” he replied, like he was announcing a quarterly investment plan. “I just returned to the country. My parents to get married as soon as possible. In their eyes, a married man means stability. And only a stable man can inherit the
faly business
days ago, I swore I’d bring home someone better than Rhys
impressive enough to shut my parents
universe had delivered an answer–just with a thick layer of irony
Marriage stonůdn’t Le like that]]
dianacy that fi
and a slow, brutal erosion of my sell respect ||
But at that moment, my phone rang
The sharp ringtone sliced through the quiet like a knife.
I glanced at the screen–and felt like a bomb had gone off in my chest
Caroline Vance.
My mother.
Katherine was back.
She must’ve called to announce the beginning of something.[]
1 looked at that face–familiar yet foreign–then back down at my phone
And finally, I said the words:
I can’t accept
I walked out of the hotel suite, the ringtone still shrieking behind me.
I answered not because I wanted to, but because I needed–desperately–to sever this umbilical cord that kept dragging me back into the past.
“Why didn’t you answer your phone? Were you trying to give me a stroke?”
My mother’s voice came rapid–fire, like a machine gun
thought you were dead in a ditch or kidnapped by some maniac! Get home. Now. We need to talk.“]
I’m already on my way.” I said coldly, and hung up before she could launch into round two.[]
I gave the driver my parents address and collapsed into the backseat, like someone bracing for a colonoscopy without anesthesia.[]
Okay. Ler’s get us over with
My neighbor–aka my one night stand–was probably insane.[]
But while I still had a drop of alcohol–induced courage left in my bloodstream–while the old Mira, desperate for love, hadn’t crawled back in and taken over–I had to move fast
I had to throw thus shattered mess back in their perfect little faces [
The Vence family estate sat in the kind of suburban enclave that didn’t welcome anyone who couldn’t afford a BMW. No subway stop No bus routes. Just an elegantly phrased “keep out, poor people.
wrought iron gate, I inhaled deeply. I felt like a boxer walking into the ring Shoulders squared. Chin lifted. Emotional armor lothed and loaded.]
The dutenent I stepped into the living room, I could smell the ambosh.
My Feder–Franklin Vance–set aluse in his leather clair, wearing the same expression he probably used to fire underperforming fadge fund managers
Chaprer (1
Beside him, my mother, Caroline, with her flawless hair and perfectly aligned pearl necklace, smiled the way a doctor does when saying. The cancer’s spread.“]
To their left, Rhys sat on the sofa, all solemn and brooding, as if waiting for a divorce lawyer to direct his next pose.]
And on the right?
Katherine, obviously.
All we were missing was a gavel and a court reporter.[]
This was a trial.[]
I was the defendant
And the verdict had already been written.
Mother struck first
“What took you so long? I called you hours ago
She crossed her arms, her tone colder than the AC
“Traffic,” I lied.[]
If I told them I’d just escaped from a man in a towel, they’d have me institutionalized.[]
“So? Why am I here?” My tone was sharp, iced over
e answered
No one
Not until Rhys stood, bandage still across his forehead.[]
The sight of him looking vaguely wounded brought me the tiniest flicker of grim satisfaction.
mur
“You left this at my place,” he said slowly, holding something in his hand
“Your bear alarm clock.“]
I stared at it
A cheap, scuffed electronic clock shaped like a cartoon bear, its plastic face scratched and faded from over a decade of use.[]
And now, this relic was their opening move?
Rage crawled up my throat, but I forced it down.
“Thanks,” I said flatly. “That’s thoughtful.”
I snatched the ridiculous little clock and turned to leave.[]
Come on No one calls a full blown family meeting just to return a damn alarm clock. I knew better. This was about humiliation.
About putting me in my place
They were the real family
I was always the outsider–invited in only when they needed a benchwarmer
“Wait,” my mother said, her voice even colder than before.
I paused. Didn’t turn around
She folded her arms again and smiled–that tight, poisonous kind of smile you only see when a doctor says “Stage four.”
“Now that Katherine’s back,” she said, “and since you and Rhys have broken up, we believe it’s time–he and Katherine should be engaged.”
I gave a short, humorless laugh. Turned around slowly, letting the sarcasm drip from my mouth.]
“By all means. Plan whatever you want. Not like you’ve ever asked for my opinion before.”
“We used to ask,” she said, voice turning sharp, “back when you were still the sensible daughter. The one with potential
She stepped closer.
You’re too emotional, Mira. Your insecurity made you paranoid–accusing Rhys, trying to control him. You didn’t trust him, and that’s what destroyed the relationship.”
Her words were blades.[]
Featherlight in tone.
Ruthless in effect
“So this is on you
And you’ll make that clear in the press.
Tell them you fell for someone else.
That’s why you ended the engagement.”
Something tore inside my chest–like they’d ripped it open with their bare hands
I looked at them, all of them–my parents, Rhys, Katherine.]
So calm. So calculated ||
Like a sc
a script they’d rehearsed for weeks
What had I done to deserve this?
Where had I gone so wrong?
turmoil.
I was ready to explode. To storm out
But thars when my father finally stood.
Like a judge preparing to read the sentence
“You don’t have to worry about finding someone new,” he said with absolute finality
“We’ve already made arrangements-”
