AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 16 - Maddie: Fireworks or Grenades
I had been sitting in the restaurant with Marcus’ family sans Marcus. I had texted him a few times asking where he was, and he hadn’t answered me. It wasn’t until twenty minutes later that he walked in and directly behind him was a woman that I could have gone my whole life without seeing again.
Ashleigh.
The wave of anger that followed after seeing her with Marcus shocked me. I had no reason to be angry at her presence, but it still pissed me off. And why was she clutching his arm like he was her life support.
The fact Marcus couldn’t meet my gaze was enough for me to know that he knew I wasn’t happy. This woman had clearly stated she didn’t like me and now he was bringing her to dinner with his family days before our wedding.
Lara turned to see what I was staring at. Her face split into a huge smile. She got up from her seat and enveloped her in a huge hug. I felt a small pang of jealousy in my chest because I didn’t like the fact that Lara liked her.
“Ashleigh, what a beautiful surprise.” She then turned to her husband. “Bill, isn’t this a wonderful surprise?”
Bill smiled. “It is. How have you been, sweetheart? We haven’t heard much from you in a while.”
Ashleigh, the little witch, pretended to be shy. I could see right through her. This was all a façade.
“Hi Ashleigh,” I said making everyone look at me. Her eyes narrowed at me, but it was so subtle you had to be looking to really catch it. Gotcha bitch!
She plastered on her little fake smile. “Hey, Marjorie.”
What had she just called me? She wanted to get under my skin. I knew she was only being a bully. She was latching onto Marcus like she had just won him as a prize. I wanted to rip her arm clean off.
My eyes moved to Marcus. “Hey, baby.”
I stood from my seat determined to see my little plan through. This was either going to work or it was going to go horribly wrong.
Ignoring Ashleigh, I grabbed my fiancé’s face and kissed him on the lips. I knew I had caught him off guard because he tensed but then he eventually returned my kiss.
Before I got too lost in him, I pulled away, remembering where we were.
When I looked into his eyes they were clouded. He stared at my face, his eyes moving from mine to my lips.
“Hey,” his voice came out raspy. He disconnected his arm from Ashleigh’s and helped her into the seat next to Lara. I then took his hand and threaded our fingers together, and we went to sit on the opposite side of the table.
He pulled my chair out for me and kissed my cheek gently when I was all settled in. He probably thought that we were putting on a show for his family, but I was doing it because that little witch called Ashleigh needed to be put in her place.
Everyone fell into an easy conversation around us while I looked to Marcus with the best death glare I could muster.
“You didn’t tell me you were bringing a guest, sweetheart,” I gritted under my breath.
He leaned over and whispered into my ear. To anyone who was looking, they would have seen a couple talking lovingly to one another. But that was not what was going on.
“Can we talk about this another time, please?”
“No, I think now is a perfect time,” I said lowly. “Why is she here?”
“Maddie, please.”
I was about to curse him out, but then Lara’s voice forced me to look at her. I smiled at my future mother-in-law, so she wouldn’t see that I was seconds away from murdering her son.
“Sorry, Lara, what did you say?”
“I was just telling Ash here how we found the most perfect wedding dress for you. She looks like Cinderella. I can only imagine what you will look like on Saturday.”
Ashleigh’s fake smile dropped. “Saturday?”
Lara beamed. “Yes! They are getting married this Saturday. Isn’t that exciting?”
