I paused midscratch, because I must’ve heard her wrong. “Billionaires?”
Her gaze flicked back to me, quietly assessing.
“My son is worth billions,” she said, making my jaw drop further. She lifted a single brow. “You honestly didn’t know?”
I numbly shook my head. “I mean, I knew he was loaded. Butbillions? That’s like…” My mouth went dry, and swallowing didn’t help as my gaze slid back to Cade peacefully sleeping through my mental breakdown. No wonder he’d offered me a million dollars like it was pocket change. For him, it was. “I can’t even wrap my mind around that. He doesn’t look like a billionaire.”
Even Mrs. Westbrook’s laugh sounded wealthy. Light and contained, but also velvety smooth. “What does one look like?”
My mind immediately conjured the image of a cartoon duck swimming through a vault filled with gold coins, but I wasn’t about to say that out loud. So, I shrugged. “More…wrinkly?”
Her answering laugh was a little less measured.
“I thought you may have targeted our family since Caden has a healthy share of stock in Westbrook Capital,” she said. “He works for his grandfather because he’s grateful and wants to build on the legacy, but my son has been growing successful start-ups and side projects since high school. He built a fortune of his own.”
I swallowed thickly. In high school, I’d been crocheting lopsided scarves and volunteering at the cat shelter after school.
“I just came over to say it wasn’t about you,” she added, already moving on while I was still coming to terms with the whole billionaire thing. “I was hurt Caden got engaged without telling me. My own son, yet I mean so little in his life these days that I had to hear he’s getting married from my assistant.”
I tried not to cringe, because we weren’tactuallyengaged. But I couldn’t reassure her without breaking my NDA. So I settled for the next best thing—a measly “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” She immediately waved off the words and dusted off her skirt. “I already feel bad enough for taking this out on you. I never thought I’d bethatkind of mother-in-law. But that’s another reason I’m here now. If you’ll allow me to make it up to you, I know a few very talented dress designers in France. I’d love to take you and your mother to visit them if you haven’t already chosen a dress for the ceremony.”
I stared at her, repeating the words in my head. She was truly on a roll with shocking me. Did people usually take others to France as an apology?
“That’s very kind of you,” I finally blurted. Then I hesitated. I should probably just agree, since I’d never see this lady again after we stepped off the yacht. There wouldn’tbeany dress shopping, because my and Cade’s deal ended tomorrow. But we were already tangled in a messy web of lies, and I didn’t want to lie about this. I dropped my gaze to my lap. “But my mom passed away when I was in college.”
An uncomfortable silence—the kind that only happens when I bring up my dead mom—settled in. My entire body suddenly itched, even though it hadn’t been a lie.
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” Mrs. Westbrook said gently. “I’d still love to take you if you’d like. It’ll give us a chance to get to know each other properly, too.”
For the first time since I agreed to Cade’s plan, it actually hurt. Pretending felt too real. I was lying straight to his mom’sface, while she talked about France and dresses and getting to know me?—
“Oh, Ellie,” she whispered, and my mortification only grew as my vision blurred with tears.
Oh,great. Now I was going to cry. Again.
Cade’s mom sat beside me in the next instant, taking my hand in both of hers. “It wouldn’t be the same as having your mother here, but I would be honored to assist with any wedding planning, as well. Anything you’d like help with.”
Laughing nervously, I hastily wiped at the tears with my free hand.
“I really wasn’t expecting this,” I whispered through a tight throat. It was the safest thing to say.
Maybe it was the guilt, or maybe I wanted to stop her from saying more nice things while I was a liar, or maybe I just missed my mom, but I threw myself at Cade’s mom and wrapped my arms around her in a tight hug before I could think better of it.
She immediately stiffened in my hold.
Like mother, like son, I guess.
And just like her eldest son, Mrs. Westbrook relaxed just enough to return the hug before she abruptly pulled back and cleared her throat. “Tobias has an office on board with a few old family photo albums. Why don’t I bring them out to show you Caden’s baby photos?”
That probably wasn’t a good idea with my frazzled emotions, but I forced myself to smile and nod. “I’d love that.”
She went off to hunt down the photos, and I fidgeted with the robe’s sash.
Gosh, what was wrong with me?
I was a horrible, no-good fraud. Here she was being so nice to me now, while I was exactly the sort of gold-digging opportunist she spoke of.
