“What are you going to do, Cornelia?” I jut my chin slightly. “Make him marry Nora just because she’s pregnant—”
“Yes!” Her voice cracks into the air. “He made his bed, and now he’ll have to lie in it. Unless, of course, you want him back,”
My mouth falls open.
Is she fucking kidding?
I’ve finally unraveled myself from the Livingstons. I remember who I was before Julian, who I want to be now. And she thinks I’d take him back?
“What the hell? No!” I cringe. “Just in case you don’t know, Nora isn’t the only woman your son made his bed with. What are you going to do about them, huh? What about Hillary?”
“Trash!” Cornelia spits out, like even the mere suggestion leaves a rancid aftertaste in her mouth. “I took her out, just like I’m going to do with you.”
Hillary gasps, hurt and humiliation glistening in her eyes.
“You uppity b—” Mrs. Winston’s verbal lashing is drowned out by an angry gust of wind swirling over the courtyard.
Cornelia turns, registering the audience before spinning back to me, her face red with rage. “You’re fired!” she snaps.
A collective gasp echoes from here to the gardens, so loud it’s almost a physical blow.
For a second, the air shifts, crackling like a live wire.
“Well, what took you so long?” I blurt out. “Wasn’t this always your plan?”
“Enough!” Hailey yells from clear across the path, her arm reached out like a safety bar, holding her mother at bay, and all I can do is laugh.
Part of meknewit would come to this. Deep down, in my bones, I sensed Cornelia only hired me to enjoy the satisfaction of firing me later. And what’s more, she gets to do it with an audience.
Lovely.
Hailey, with her mother hot on her heels, is steaming mad as she makes the trek over, wringing her hands, her fiery eyes fixed on us. “What in the actualhellis wrong with you?”
I block out all the faces, all the noise, and pull in a deep breath, bracing myself. Then I release it, along with all the tangled emotions, prepared to explain myself, but then I realize that Hailey isn’t looking at me.
No one is.
They’re all staring at Cornelia Eunice Sterling Livingston.
“What? You think because I’m marrying your son, because you’re helping to pay for the wedding, that it gives you the right to disrespect my family and belittle my sister?” Hailey looks so beautiful in a soft blush-pink satin dress with her dark curls pinned up in a loose chignon, her brown eyes blinking back tears. “News flash, it doesn’t.”
Hillary’s unwavering gaze locks on to mine.
Cornelia still hasn’t said a word.
“And yes, Hillary is wrong.” Hailey turns her attention to her sister, whose green eyes are rimmed with tears, too. “You are. There’s no other way to put it, and honestly, I’m sad I had to learn that you slept with Julian at mybridal shower,” she says, glaring at Cornelia.
“Oh, shucks! Are you really surprised?” Cornelia looks at the group with a pompous air of vindication, as if anyone shocked is simply disillusioned. “First she betrays her best friend to try to land Julian, now her sister is marrying Donovan… She wants that adoration, the clout of being married to a Livingston—”
“Wow!” Hailey and I say in unison.
“Don’t flatter yourself.” Hailey’s bright brown eyes lock on to Cornelia. “Mysistermay be self-centered, disloyal—”
Hillary scoffs. “Thanks so much.”
“Before you say a word to excuse yourself, you are. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have slept with a married man. Period.” Hailey shrugs, cutting straight to the bone. “Especially considering that man was your best friend’s husband. A friend who’s been nothing but loyal and supportive of you—andme.” She tosses me a quick glance. “By the way, you’re not fired. And I don’t agree with Hillary’s actions, but I’m not going to disown her for them either.”
My mind snags on that word.
