LOGINLooking closely at her, I could see the resemblance to my father, unmistakable in the shape of her eyes and the set of her jaw.The nerve of this woman to stand in front of me and introduce herself as my grandmother after what she'd done to my mother.I knew almost nothing about her, and I probably should've heard what she had to say. But I didn't want to. What could she possibly tell me that would change the fact that she'd driven my mother away while she was pregnant with me?Even her own son wanted nothing to do with her. The few times I'd asked Dad about his parents, he'd said they were dead to him.I didn't even know how she'd managed to get into the party.I put on my most distant smile. “I'm sorry, but you must have the wrong person. My mother was an orphan, and my father has never mentioned me having grandparents. If you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my party.”I took a few steps before her hand closed around my wrist.“I know I'm probably the last person you want to see
Bryan said he'd only told her that as a joke, one he'd expected her to catch, since the drivers she knew certainly couldn't afford something like this.He stretched out his wrist so she could see the watch.Jane snapped out of her shock, and it looked like she still had plenty left to say to him, but she held it back with Mason standing right there. Bryan, of course, couldn't resist taunting her, asking if she'd suddenly gone dumb.I grabbed Jane's hand and pulled her toward the stairs so we could catch up. Mason's attention had already drifted back to his phone by the time we started climbing, and just before we disappeared from view, Jane gave Bryan the middle finger over her shoulder. His eyes were still on us, and he chuckled when he caught it.Jane spent the rest of the way upstairs playfully plotting how she would get back at me for the stunt I'd pulled, though the smile she kept trying to hide told me she wasn't nearly as annoyed as she wanted me to believe. I laughed it off an
I had it in mind to see Nicholas, mostly to wrap things up cleanly before diving fully into wedding preparations. Mason had already spoken to his mother, and once the wedding was behind us, school would take over most of my time. I also wanted to invite Nicholas before everything got too hectic and I somehow forgot.He was happy for me when I told him, congratulated me warmly, admitted he would miss working with me, and wished me nothing but the best.As I turned to leave, something got into me. Curiosity, maybe, or Daphne's words still sitting in the back of my mind. I turned back around.“Nicholas, are you in love with me?”The question caught him off guard. “Where is that coming from?”“Daphne. She seemed pretty certain you were.” I hesitated. “I didn't think much of it before, but now that I've invited you to the wedding... if she's right and being there is going to be difficult for you, I don't think I'd want to put you through that.”He was quiet for a moment before releasing a
Chase, who was lying facing the door, saw me first.“Fuck.”The shock on his face made Hannah turn around, and she screamed when she saw me.I didn't even bother saying anything. I pulled the door shut and walked back downstairs laughing.I went into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of wine and a glass, then made myself comfortable while I waited for the walk of shame.They clearly weren't in a hurry to come down. Hannah's muffled scream a few minutes later told me exactly why.My mouth fell open before I started laughing again.I already knew whose idea that was. Chase probably looked at her and said something along the lines of, Well, Mia already saw us. We might as well finish.Shameless.Chase was the first to come downstairs. The moment I saw him, I started grinning.He sat next to me. “What are you even doing here? Shouldn't you be busy preparing for your wedding or something?”“I am doing exactly that. I came to update my bridesmaid, only to walk in on you getting it.” I mimicked
The rest of the celebration passed in a blur of laughter, teasing and conversations coming from every direction. At some point, there was so much going on that I gave up trying to keep track of who was saying what and simply enjoyed the moment, watching Lior happily move from lap to lap.I was sitting beside Mason, still occasionally looking down at my ring like it might disappear if I didn't keep checking, when he brought up an engagement party.My father jumped in with his own plan. He wanted to formally introduce me as his daughter.Somehow, those two things became one huge engagement-slash-reveal party, and I was perfectly fine with that.My father had missed years of being my father. If standing in front of a room full of people and proudly announcing that I was his daughter made him happy, I wasn't going to take that away from him.The problem started when they moved on to the wedding.It started with possible dates and quickly spiraled into planners, designers and venues.I sat
Laughing, I pointed at the sign. "Yes or yes? Mason, it's supposed to be yes or no."He rolled his eyes. "The only reason I'm even on my knees right now is because I want to give you a nice story to tell our kids. We're already married.""Oh, really?" I folded my arms. "Okay then. Since you're not serious…"I turned like I was about to leave.He caught my wrist and pulled me back, laughing. "Fine. I will be serious."He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box, opening it to reveal the same cheap ring I had given him the summer we first met.I started laughing all over again. "Mason, be serious. For real this time.""That laugh," he smiled up at me, "is exactly how I intend to keep you for the rest of our life."My laughter died instantly."I had something else planned," he continued. "I wanted to fly you out of LA, somewhere beautiful, do something elaborate, ask you to be my wife in grand style. But when I really thought about it, no place could mean more than this o
MiaMy phone vibrated in my pocket while I was wiping down the last table in the ballroom.I froze, the cloth still in my hand, my heart pounding hard against my ribs. Mrs. Betty never called me this late unless something was wrong with Lior.I glanced around. The ballroom was nearly empty now, jus
“Mason… how did you even find—”The words barely left my mouth before he took my hand and led me straight to his car parked outside.“Mason…”“Get in.”The way he said it shut everything down. Whatever I wanted to ask stayed stuck in my throat.I got into the back seat. He slid in beside me, the do
As I stared at Mason’s picture on the billboard, my mind drifted back to the first time we met. That summer in LA, I had taken a hotel cleaning job while visiting my Aunt Mel.I was pushing the cleaning cart after finishing my rounds, my hands hurting like hell, when the elevator dinged. He stepped
I stood in front of my parents’ door, my hand hovering in the air.This was the last place I ever wanted to come back to. The last time I stood here, my father had made it very clear I was no longer his daughter.I drew in a slow breath and knocked, hoping it would be Nina who answered. If my fathe







