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Chapter 52: Obligations and Nostalgia

Author: Penella
last update Huling Na-update: 2025-07-23 10:41:35

Zane picked up the call with a calm, clipped, “Yeah?”

I tried to ignore the way his jaw tensed or how he rubbed the back of his neck like he was trying to squeeze the tension out of himself. I didn’t want to hear her voice through the speaker, but I heard enough.

She talked about a vendor falling through. The caterers, the décor. Chaos, of course. The wedding planner was nowhere to be found. She was going crazy with the wedding prep. Also, where was Zane? She needed him now more than ever. And then:

“Your mother just showed up unannounced.”

I flinched at that, just slightly.

Zane’s stepmother, Lucinda Blackwood, wasn’t someone people just forgot to warn you about. She wasn’t loud or dramatic. No, she was worse: cool, calculating, and always five moves ahead. She had an intimidating way of looking at you that made you feel… less. Smaller. Especially if you didn’t come from money. Especially if you didn’t belong.

She may have acted nice to me, but I knew deep down never liked me.

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