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“I’m sorry you had to do that, Mum,” I say sincerely, standing up and grabbing her hand tenderly. The tears in her eyes disappear with a few blinks, and I frown with how quickly her determination takes over, realising what her next goal is in this conversation.
“Of course, Gavin didn’t have what we were used to,” Mum says, and I frown because it sounds like an issue to her. I didn’t miss a thing when I lived in New York. I was perfectly content.
“So we thought it was a good idea to send Frederic back to London and reconnect with your father’s contacts.”We.She means herself and Frederic and a flash of them conspiring during my engagement party moves through my mind. What didn’t they plan together? It tears at my heart how they left me out of everything. It’s the two of them against the world while, in their opinion, I’m just a silly young woman forbidden to change her thoughts on the matter.
“But you know what happened next,” Mum says, and I drop her hand and take a step back.
“Chester Boyd played us. He kicked your brother off his company’s board, without receiving a penny from his investment.” My heart comes to a stop when his name is uttered. Her eyes harden and a scowl grows on her lips. But I’ve tried to imagine Chester playing games like my brother does.
I can’t.
He’s too genuine, too ethical, too much of a people person. I can’t wrap my head around Chester being so heartless to just kick my brother off without a proper reason.
“Are you certain that’s what happened?” I ask, and Mum takes a step back, a look of shock on her face.
“Evangeline, Chester Boyd took everything from us and forced us to ask you to marry.” As her words leave her mouth, I have trouble agreeing to it. It just doesn’t make sense.
None of it does. Frederic is a liar, but Chester is not.
“But have you asked Frederic about it?” I ask, and Mum scoffs before shaking her head.
“How dare you blame your brother for all of this when he was the one trying to save us.” Her reply feels like a slap in the face. Her words are hard and her face even harder. My heart aches and shame colours my cheeks.
But why does she protect him so fiercely?
“I’m sorry,” I say, but it is not the most genuine apology I’ve ever uttered. Mum’s smile comes back to her face before she raises her hand to caress my cheek.
“Do you understand now why you need to get married? We have been wronged once more, and this time, it’s your turn to help us. To save me and your brother and because we love each other and it forces us sometimes to make painful decisions.” I swallow when her wicked words hit me. Idolove them, and I don’t want to see them lose everything. But I don’t want to accept that this is what true love looks like.
“I have to go now, Mum,” I say quickly, done with this conversation. I turn around, walking to the front door, but before I can open it, she speaks.
“Evangeline?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll say ‘I do.’”
***
“Do you know what true love feels like?”
“You love your future husband?”
“What?” I shake my head, trying to comprehend why Moreen would ask me something like that. “No, of course not.” I don’t even like my fiancé, let alone love him, and she was the one telling me to only marry out of love, to chase happiness and to not settle for less. Where and when did I end up falling in love with Thomas Meyer?
No, part of my heart belongs to Chester and the foreign feeling could be love.
It is love.
That large part of my beating heart is completely dominated by a tall man with muscular arms and a wonderful tongue. He’s the only thing on my mind, and my heart starts to beat louder when I think about our night together.
“So, it’s Chester then?” she mumbles, with her eyes going over the menu. Sometimes, I swear she feigns boredom. The last few times I met and talked with Moreen, she didn’t shy away from prying into someone’s life or giving her opinion about a certain issue.
All topics are free for questioning as long as they aren’t about her or her marriage. Those, she refrains from at all times. But now, her lunch menu is way more interesting than me confessing to loving one of her friends.
We scheduled a lunch date when I met her at Apollo’s anniversary party a few days ago. It was one of those perfect nights, where my shoulders felt light, and where I smiled from beginning until the end. I loved every second of it, and it reminded me of the night Topper and I had spent together all those weeks ago.
I experienced freedom. When I think back to that night, I remember my heart soaring from happiness and those silly butterflies chasing each other in my stomach, every single time Chester stood near.
“I think so,” I say, forgetting about my original question.
