Page 107 of Miss Trust

“Who?”

“Joel. He told me I was nothing without him. He’ll be so smug.”

Smug over his fiancée trying to kill herself? Rage that this could be true instantly welled up along with a fierce protectiveness. “Then we don’t tell him. Ever. You ghost him. Change your phone number. Move here to California and never, ever see him again. You let Chance or Reid call him and deal with getting your things. You make sure he believes you simply left him because you wanted to, and now you’re happier than you’ve ever been without him.”

She cracked a smile. “I can do that?”

“Absolutely. Anyone who makes you feel like you’re nothing doesn’t deserve a crumb of your life, Kelsey.”

She sighed. “I’m not sure what to say to Chance. He’s bound to be so disappointed in me.”

I shook my head. “He absolutely won’t be disappointed. Your brothers love you, Kelsey. Unconditionally. All they care about is you being all right.”

She let out a long breath. “I didn’t mean to do it. Not consciously. I just wanted to be numb and sleep, not kill myself.”

I took her hand. “I’m sorry. Maybe you would’ve been okay without the hospital, but we couldn’t take the risk given the combo of pills you took.”

“I took two of each, but the doctors tell me the combo was cause for concern no matter how many I took. I’m grateful you brought me here. Do you really think I can ghost Joel? Just start over?” She looked so hopeful.

“Are you kidding me. Nothing would give your older brothers more gratification than to help you with starting over.”

She heaved out a breath. “Chance has always hated him.”

“This isn’t an I-told-you-so moment. Not even for Chance. But if he does say those words, I’ll punch him.”

She laughed. “I don’t doubt it. He found his match when he met you.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell her it wasn’t true. “He’s anxious to see you.”

She took a deep breath. “Okay. I’ll see him.”

I returned to the waiting room and spoke to Chance, coming close enough to whisper. “She’s humiliated. Doesn’t want Joel to know. I suggested she ghost him at this point.”

He nodded. “We’ll make sure this stays between all of us here. Will she see me?”

“Yes. Don’t take this the wrong way, but do me a favor and go in there and listen. Don’t try to fix it. Don’t threaten Joel. Just let her talk without reacting. Okay?”

He nodded. “Okay. Then can we talk after?”

“No. Today is about Kelsey.” I checked my phone and found a text from Teagan. “Reid is almost here. After they arrive, I need to get back to Penelope.”

“Okay, but we’re talking tomorrow.”

The intensity of his statement made me realize there was no use arguing. “All right.”