She Was Never Just the Billionaire’s Wife のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 231 - チャプター 240

(Sonia)Hendrik asks if I would mind joining him in his study.I immediately know it's something because Hendrik doesn't ask.He summons, or he ignores.The asking is new and it makes my stomach drop the way a polite doctor does.There's a man already in there.He stands when I come in, which nobody's done for me in months.I have a horrible flash of how much I used to expect that and how completely I stopped.He's tall. Good suit, not loud about it. Mid-thirties, maybe. Pleasant face.The kind of handsome you'd struggle to describe afterward.Present, symmetrical, forgettable in a way that probably tests very well with parents."Sonia, this is Christopher Halloran," Hendrik says. "Christopher, my lovely daughter.""It's good to meet you," Christopher says.He means it, or he's been raised well enough that it doesn't matter whether he means it, because it appears that he does.Which is the same thing in our world.We shake hands. His is dry and warm.I find myself picking at the hem o

(Natasha)Gloria's rules for tonight, texted to all of us that morning, in full:No veil. No sash. No penis straws. No "team bride." Anyone who books a stripper is uninvited from the actual wedding.So we're six women in a private room downtown.No decorations.Good wine.Gloria already three stories deep into a deal that went sideways in Frankfurt.This is the part of a wedding I'm good at.Show up, hold a glass, let other people be the event.One of Gloria's friends tries to start a round of how-did-Nathanial-propose.Gloria kills it before she finishes the sentence."He asked. I said yes. We're not doing the slideshow."The friend laughs, sure it's a bit. It isn't. Gloria goes back to Frankfurt.Lily's home with Sarah. I checked my phone twice in the car and made myself stop.What I haven't told anyone, including Sonia, is that I'm mostly here to keep an eye on Sonia.She's two seats down.Still nursing the glass of wine she started an hour ago.Laughing at the right moments, half

(Julian)Taylor has lived in my apartment four days and has already thrown out my throw pillows, my espresso machine, and at least one of my opinions about myself.She's in my kitchen now, wearing only my shirt, eating cold takeaway out of the carton with my good silver."That machine had the soul of a dentist," she says. "I rented you a better one. Renting's the only sane way to own anything on a clock.""I find that bracing.""You find it terrifying."She points the fork at me and does an impression of my face that is unflattering and probably accurate."You make this exact expression every time I bring up the dying thing. Like I've passed gas at a christening.""I don't.""You do. It's adorable. A man who's never sat with an uncomfortable feeling in his life, and now there's one in his kitchen eating his noodles."I try the thing I’m sure everyone she knows has already tried.Very lightly, like I don't care about the answer, I ask whether she's reconsidered the chemo.She doesn't l

(Nathanial)Gloria's father waits until I'm alone at the bar to tell me he hasn't forgiven me.He doesn't lead up to it.I respect that, even while it's being done to me."You stood my daughter up several times," he says. "I haven't forgotten."There's no version of this where I argue.There isn't one where I'd want to."I haven't either, sir. Nor has she. You know Gloria isn’t one to sweep things under the rug."He looks at me over his glass.He’s not a big man.He doesn't need to be to be intimidating.It’s clear where Gloria gets her death stare from.He's been polite to me all night in front of the other guests and he's finished now.Determined to have his say."You're going to spend the rest of your marriage proving you learned something.""I know. I solemnly swear to you that I’m going to try every day to be the man she deserves."He nods once, like he's taking it under consideration, and goes to find his wife.I stand there holding a drink I don't want, thinking about all the t

(Natasha)The flower girl is ten months old and eating the flowers.Chase has her on his hip at the front, one big hand spread across her back.Someone who obviously knows nothing about babies handed her the petal basket.She is not scattering the rose petals.She's eating them, one at a time, with the grim concentration of a woman doing her taxes.Nobody stops her.It's that kind of wedding.I'm meant to be watching Gloria come down the aisle.I'm the maid of honor. Looking out for the bride is my one job.I’m watching my husband hold our daughter instead.She's got a fistful of his lapel and a white rose petal stuck to her chin and he hasn't noticed, because he's staring at me.I look back at Gloria with great determination. Maid of honor. One job.Nathanial says his vows like a man defusing a bomb he built himself.Gloria says hers in four sentences and makes everyone cry anyway.Then they’re kissing. Married. Done.By the time the reception starts, Julian has appointed himself the