Page 131 of One to Watch

“Does that happen a lot?” Bea laughed.

“You’d be shocked how often.” Lauren rolled her eyes. “But if you’re good, I think we’re just about ready to film?”

“Do you think I’m making the right choice?” Bea asked.

“Honestly? It’s not what I would do,” Lauren admitted. “But it’s your life, Bea. After everything, you deserve to be happy.”

Walking to the center of the bridge, her gown rippling in the breeze, the Île Saint-Louis rising to the east and a pink Paris sunset blazing in the west, Bea took a moment to breathe deeply. She wanted to remember exactly how she felt in this moment: flooded with joy, with warm, rosy sunlight, with the knowledge that, after the most difficult year of her life, everything was finally going to work out exactly as it should.

“Okay, Bea,” the field producer called. “We’re a go!”

She steadied herself and looked toward the edge of the bridge, where at this very second, in a perfectly fit tuxedo, Sam was emerging from his limo and making his way toward her, a beautiful, brilliant smile on his face.

EPISODE 9

REUNION SPECIAL

Shot and aired live at ABS Studios in Los Angeles

@People BREAKING NEWS: @OMBea rejects both suitors in #MainSqueezeFinale! Click through for full story!

@YayStephy WAIT WAIT WAIT SHE SAID NO TO BOTH OF THEM WHAT WAIT WAIT #MainSqueezeFinale #whatishappening

@MichaelLovesSoccer holy fuck I did NOT see that coming #MainSqueezeFinale

@KrisTeeAhNuh AHAHAHAHA she kicked them both to the curb YAAAAAS BEA OH DIP

@TheEllenShow You have so much love in your life, @OMBea, no matter if you’re partnered or on your own. Thank you for showing us beauty AND strength!

@ChrissyTeigen also @OMBea thank you for showing us how to have dirty sex with a hot bad French man we’ll all be grateful forever

@Data_Emily RIP me I am deceased @OMBea has killed me

@ArianaGrande thank u next @OMBea

@AbyssiniaStapleton Bea Schumacher is a classic example of #SelfSabotage. Rather than marry either of two excellent prospects, she chooses to remain alone. And if she dies that way, she’ll have no one to blame but herself—read more in my new book!

@SueSchu614 @AbyssiniaStapleton HOW DARE YOU SPEAK THAT WAY ABOUT MY DAUGHTER SHE MADE A BOLD DECISION TO CHOOSE HER OWN HAPPINESS IN DEFIANCE OF SOCIETAL EXPECTATIONS

@DerringDuncan You tell her, Mom!

@CheshireBob Ms. Stapleton, we’re all extremely proud of Bea, and we’ll thank *you* not to sabotage *her.*

@TimSchumacher999 Enjoy itsy-bitsy spider, bitch

@CoachJonS Tim, that joke is awful. You’ve got to let it go.

@ChrisEvans81 Wait, does this mean Bea is still single?!? What do I have to do to get her to call me?!?!?! #MainSqueezeFinale #thisisgettingembarassing #seriouslycallme

MAIN SQUEEZE BOMBSHELL: BEA BAILS ON BOTH BEAUX!

by Amy Bello, people.com

BREAKING—Main Squeeze star Bea Schumacher has turned down not one, but TWO marriage proposals on tonight’s bombshell finale! After an emotional reconnection with ex-boyfriend Ray Moretti and a fairy-tale day in Paris with fan-favorite Sam Cox, Bea was ready to make her final decision—but in a twist no one saw coming, she chose herself!

Sam was the first one out of the limo—and as Main Squeeze viewers know, this always spells rejection—but Bea kindly broke the news to Sam before he had a chance to get down on one knee. As soon as he removed a ring box from his jacket pocket, she stopped him from going further, telling him that although she had grown to love him deeply as a person, she truly believed that they were helping each other along their path to find their futures. Sam was clearly devastated, but took the news with characteristic good humor and grace.

Not so Ray, who has proven a shocking and volatile presence from the moment he stepped into the kiss-off ceremony in Amboise. As the second man out of the limo, viewers at home presumed Ray and Bea would be getting engaged—as did Ray himself, when he got down on one knee and proposed using the three-carat cushion-cut diamond Bea had selected from celebrity jeweler Nils van der Hoeven earlier that day. But Bea told Ray that as much as she’d once dreamed of a life together, she now had other, bigger dreams—ones that didn’t include a man who’d hurt her so badly for so long. (And instead of calling her parents to announce her engagement, we got to see Bea call her best friend Marin to apologize and tell her she’d been right about Ray all along—a vindicating and relatable moment for best friends the world over.)