Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 141385 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141385 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 471(@300wpm)
“Yes.” He raises our hands to his face and nuzzles his cheek against the back of my hand. “Are you mad?”
“No. I’m amused. Slightly annoyed he couldn’t leak that bit of information before, but whatever.”
“Well, I think it’s working.” He releases my hand and pulls his phone from his pocket. “Oscar’s sister sent me a link to this gossip account earlier, and it’s pretty wild how people can connect the dots. This… journalist, I guess we can call her… has pulled content from our engagement interview, specifically the story of how we met, added it to your dad’s reaction to our engagement at the party and to this current situation. She’s adamant that these allegations about your parentage are nothing but a smear campaign against you because I’m engaged to you and not Jasmine. She latched onto Oscar’s fake statement pretty quickly and correctly deduced it came from someone close to me. One of her followers sent her a side-by-side photo of you and your mum and said there’s no way you aren’t her daughter, and some of the other gossipy social media accounts have picked that up.”
“Wow. The internet sleuths are really coming through for me,” I muse. “They’re quicker than I thought they were.”
“They’re scary.” He puts his phone away and leans back on his hand, turning his attention to me. “You really want to cut ties with them? Legally?”
I swallow, then nod and look down at my lap. “A part of me doesn’t want to break my relationship with my dad, but going back there last night really made me realise something. I don’t exist in that house. There’s no place for me there. There never has been. My father had to fight Rosalyn to allow me to stay after the DNA test came back, and I used to think that was him standing up for me, but it wasn’t. It was just him doing what he thought he had to. If he really cared, he wouldn’t have hidden me or controlled my trust fund or constantly put me second. I feel so, so stupid that it took me so long. That even when I walked in there last night, I was hoping he would stand up for me and accept me.”
Finn reaches over and brushes hair from my face, then softly tucks it behind my ear. “It’s not stupid, baby. It’s natural to want your parents’ approval, and it’s not your fault that he can’t give you that. That’s all on him. Remember, everything he’s done has been deliberate. He’s made constant, conscious decisions not to protect you and to lift Jasmine up. You didn’t fail. He did. He’s the stupid one.”
I peer upwards, meeting his soft gaze, and smile. “I know. I’ve always known that, and that’s the irritating part. Even now, there’s something inside me that wants to take the easy route out of this and just release the DNA test without dropping the bomb about his affair because I don’t want to hurt him.”
“You can. If that’s what you really want.”
“It’s not. We both know that.” I run my hands through my hair, pulling it all back from my face. “It’s just that stupid little part of me that hopes he’ll come around. I know he never will, and I know some of that is my fault for going about our relationship the way I did, but…” I trail off and sigh, letting my hands fall to my lap. “I need to get up. I’m not doing anything but rot here.”
Finn stands up and holds out his hands. “What do you need? Shower? Bath? Food?”
I put my hands in his and let him pull me up. “A hug.”
“A hug?” He laughs, then tugs me towards him. “Well, that’s easy.”
I fall against his firm body, wrapping my arms around his waist. His arms circle me as I rest my cheek against his chest and close my eyes to focus on the steady beating of his heart.
And for a moment, I just breathe. I let myself rest in his embrace, savouring the familiar rhythm of his heartbeat against my cheek.
Right now, this is all I need.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR – HATTIE
It’s amazing how, in twenty-four hours, everything can change.
Twenty-four hours ago, I was sitting in the dining room at my father’s house, eating a silent, uncomfortable meal with a family that has never truly been mine.
And now, I’m sitting at a table with Finn, Oscar, and Alec, hearing stories that make Finn groan and Alec smile wickedly. Stories of them from years gone by, of climbing trees and stuffy parties ten-year-old boys had no interest being at.
I’m regaled by tales of Oscar breaking his arm and Alec accidentally letting his mother’s dog run free in public. Of Finn almost tripping during his first public engagement as a preteen. Of their hilarious normal teen years behind closed doors, away from prying public eyes. Of university escapades that would make a grandmother blush.