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I quickly add her number to my contacts under My Moon Goddess.
???
As the days pass, she continues to be sweet, perhaps not as flirty, but it hasn’t dulled my shine or lessened any lingering hopes. Even when I go home every night to my mother, who’s growing increasingly bitter and bossy, demanding to know when we can start planning my wedding, it doesn’t take away from my excitement of seeing her again and knowing she’ll give me her beautiful smile and a few kind words.
Until tonight when I get home and mommy lies in wait. Typically, dinner is waiting, but not tonight. Instead, I find my mother sitting alone in the dark dining room.
“Are you okay?” I ask hesitantly.
“Sakura, come sit.”
I inwardly sigh, but go directly to the chair across from her and sit. I sit up straight, my ankles crossed beneath me as I primly clasp my hands on the table.
“Yes, mommy?”
Her dark eyes narrow. “I have been more than patient with you, and I’m done. Tomorrow, I’ve made an appointment with a dress shop, and the two of us will pick out your wedding gown. Then, we have a lunch appointment with your wedding planner.”
Those butterflies that took up residence upon Estrella’s sweet attention dry up and make my stomach ache.
“Will my groom attend as well?”
She huffs irritated. “Of course not. He has a real job, but we’ve planned a dinner party two weeks from Saturday where we shall meet him and his family. There, we will finalize the date of your wedding.”
My clasped hands tighten together painfully, my nails digging into the soft flesh of my palms until I know crescent marks will remain. Yet, the pain isn’t enough to dull the whirlwind of emotions in my head.
“I don’t…” My voice breaks, so I swallow several times before I can continue. “I don’t suppose I have any say in this?”
Eyes narrow into a glare I know too well. “I gave you a year as you asked in exchange that you follow the career path your father and I set in motion for you, and you marry the man of our choice.”
My next words are said so softly, I’m not sure if I actually spoke them out loud. “And what about love?”
She snorts, proving she heard every word. “Love won’t put food on your table and a roof over your head. Lee is a very nice young man with a good head on his shoulders. He’s in his first year at a prestigious law firm, and they’ve already discussed making him a junior partner. You are a very lucky girl. Yet, you have shown your father and me such disrespect this past year. I knew better than to give you too much freedom. You’re too flighty for your own good. If I was smart, I would forbid you from returning to that ridiculous job of yours.”
Suddenly, I realize tears wash my face too late to wipe them away as she’s already seen my weakness, and it makes her grind her teeth.
“Please, mommy. I only have a few more months. Let me finish the year.”
She studies me intensely, it feels like my skin tightens impossibly as worms and bugs crawl all over me. Finally, she looks away, and I can breathe.
“You do everything you’re told, and I’ll magnanimously allow you to finish your year. Is that understood?”
I bow my head. “Yes, mommy.”
“Good. Now, go to bed. We have an early morning.”
Without another word, I do exactly as I’m told. But sleep doesn’t come easy. I feel every inch of freedom I clung to being ripped away once and for all.
Chapter Eighteen
? Estrella ?
It’s a slippery slope, my friends. One minute, you’re avoiding your greatest temptation, and the next, you give yourself an inch, and all is lost.
But ask me if I care.
The easy answer is that I don’t, not a single inkling of regret. Even when I lost my head completely and invited her to my family’s bar to have a few drinks. Just the two of us.
The light in the bar is dim enough to create a private dreamy feel in our corner booth, but bright enough that I can enjoy memorizing every inch of my little hummingbird. She’s so pretty, with those onyx, dark eyes that suck you in like an endless abyss. Her skin is flawless. It looks so soft, I have to clench my hands into fists so I’m not tempted to touch. Even though I know she’d be willing, which is exactly why I won’t. One of us needs to keep a clear head.
