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“Wow, this place is incredible. Is this where you lived?”
“No. I asked not to go back. Too many memories.”
She hugged my shoulder, then took me into the kitchen and ran her hand along the granite counters and top-of-the-line appliances. “Only the best. You should see Texas.”
“How about I cook something?” Mom asked. “I hate to say it, but I’m sick of restaurant food.”
“See what you find in the kitchen. I’m going to take a shower.”
“Good idea,” she joked.
I laughed with her, then went upstairs and chose one of the guest rooms instead of going into the master bedroom. Removing my clothes and turning the nozzle on the shower, I was about to walk inside when my mind went back to Paul and our time together. He had warned me.Enemies will befriend you, only to harm you. He tried to slow us down, but I pushed him because I loved him and wanted all of him.And now I lost him and our child.
I turned the water on full blast. There, I sat down on the tiled floor and stayed until the water ran cold as I felt inside.
Xander: Do you want me to come over?
Nadia: Not right now. Mom’s here and I just feel like resting. TYLILY.
God, I was glad for Xander. Throughout all these years he’d been my rock. Perhaps I needed to abandon the idea of girlfriends and just be thankful for his friendship.And be a better friend to him, too.
Dad was fighting to stay with us. He never let anything keep him from trying and I couldn’t either. I had to persevere.
In that moment, I remembered Jonas’s recollection of Martin Luther King’s wise words.
“‘If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk; if you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.’ Your future is paved by your belief in your dreams and your willingness to work for them.”I have to move forward and salvage my fledgling career. My life.
I found Mom in the kitchen, slicing potatoes to make pancakes. The morning sky shone so bright through the windows that she didn’t need to turn on the lights.
“Have you heard from Paul?”
I swallowed and shook my head.
“Give him time. He was terrified when he called me, and that’s not the behavior of a man who doesn’t care. He sent a private plane to pick me up in Texas and was there to greet me at the airport. By the way, he’s movie-star handsome in person. Just don’t tell your dad I said that.”
I smiled. She wasn’t wrong.
“He is, but he’s so much more than handsome. I think most of his fans get stuck on that sometimes, and as a result, miss out on knowing an extraordinary man.”
“Yes, I can imagine. Don’t lose hope, sweetheart. From everything I’ve seen since you started officially dating, he’s not a man that would give such kindness and care and then simply take it away.”
That’s what I was hoping for.I shrugged. “I’ll wait and see, I guess.”
We sat down together and ate breakfast on the kitchen island. I checked my phone for any messages from Paul, and it was full. Even the texts had over fifty notifications. One caught my eye.Isabelle.
Isabelle: Did you get my messages? I didn’t sell the photo.
I glared at the screen.What photo?
It took less than a second to discover what happened to me on the yacht was top news. The press had a photo of me in the Mardi Gras swimsuit and jacket Isabelle took in her bedroom thatI sent myself a copy and deleted it.
Isabelle recovered it.What does she want now?
I check my voicemail. Isabelle five calls. I played the last one:
“My phone was hacked. You were pregnant? Why didn’t you tell me? Please believe me that I’d never hurt your baby. The Design School has suspended me and Sophie. The D.A. is threatening to charge me as an accessory to the crime of human trafficking? It’s insane. Landon told me he invited friends that would invest in my company. I had no idea he was having a mixer, or I’d never have had the party on his boat. I’m horrified to learn what Trevor and Landon did to you. I honestly invited you because I like you and I hoped we’d become good friends. But I seriously need help. Can you please tell them—” The call cut off.
I seethed.Please? She lied so much about everything. The boat, party, bringing Ben. And she actually thinks we’re friends? I bled for hours in the bathroom, and she never came to check.
