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“What are you doing here?”
He stops in front of me, clicking his teeth. “Your mother invited me.” He says the words like they’re a well-known fact.
Panic sloshes in my veins. I shake in my Mach & Mach embellished bow pumps. “What? Why?”
“Vivian said you’ve reconsidered my proposal.”
He can’t be serious. My cousins just told me that they secured other funding. Why would my mother still invite Lance? Why would she tell him I want to marry him when they’re going to approve my marriage to Matthew?
Right.
How could I be so naive? Again?
Hoping for the best in them all the time is completely useless. I’m so done with this family.
“I have no idea what my mother has told you, but it’s a lie. I’m never going to marry you, not now, not ever,”I snap, sending a target of gazes our way. No trace of embarrassment flares in my body. I don’t care.
“Calm down. Th—”
“Do not tell me to calm down.” My fingernails carve crescent moons into my palms. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Molly, are you really going to give this all up?” Lance throws his arms out around him, gesturing to the inside of the Grand Ballroom.
“You need to leave.” I’m not wasting another breath on this man.
“I canceled my Vegas plans to be here tonight. If you’re not interested in marrying me, then why’d Vivian invite me?”
“Not my problem.” I push past him and clatter down the hall. My anger returns. Heat burns my throat, my chest, and fills my veins. My mother must be in the Terrace Room. It’s the only place I haven’t checked.
I wasn’t foolish for spending the last six weeks preparing for the worst. Deep down, despite how much I wished I’d be able to please them, I knew they would pull something like this. They probably expect me to roll over, cry, and give in.
But the old Molly is dead.
I doubt my mother spent a second of her precious time considering how this would make me feel, how small and overlooked.
They just want me to be miserable. Pliant. I’ll never be enough for them, no matter what I do or don’t do.
My last ounce of patience oozes out of me. I’m over it.
I have Matthew. I have my business. I can figure the rest out.
My life will be an endless loop of unhappiness if I don’t set boundaries, and with boundaries come consequences.
It’s about time they start listening to me—the real me.
* * *
My mother is engrossedin a conversation with an event coordinator in the Terrace Room. Only a handful of guests admire the harpists playing a peaceful song as I storm into the gilded hall.
“There you are,” I snap. Months ago, I wouldn’t be able to recognize the bite in my own voice, but now I hear myself. I’m finally breaking through.
A look of disbelief stuns Mom’s face. “What on earth is going on with you?”
My vision blurs at the edges, my heart screaming in my chest. “You brought Lance!” I don’t bother tempering the rise in my tone.
Her eyes bulge as she darts her head around then looks back at me. Lowering her voice, she says, “This is not the time or place, Molly.”
Of course she cares more about what others will think than her own daughter.
