Secret Exposed

After their heated moment in the garden, Andriel and Taylor rejoined the others. Perla shot her son a few sharp looks, and he figured his fake mate had already spilled the details of their conversation to his mother.

Andriel noticed Brian seemed happier, standing close to Stella, who looked less tense than before. He wasn’t sure what had happened while they were out of the hall, but something had clearly worked.

"That pushy woman’s coming over," Taylor said, his voice laced with disgust.

She approached, trying to appear confident, but didn’t latch onto Andriel’s arm like before. Taylor stayed glued to his mate’s side, unflinching.

The reception and dinner went on, with Andriel wrapping up the matters he needed to address. Relief washed over him as guests began to leave. To keep up appearances, the woman posing as his mate had to wait until everyone else was gone before departing.

Perla initially suggested she stay the night at the house, but Andriel shut that idea down immediately. Br