Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Corinna was easy to manipulate. Her looks were her biggest concern, so I just made her feel wanted.

Adelaide wasn’t. She’d always been the smarter of the two.

Not to mention, she was much more beautiful.

“So where were you really?” Addie said with a warning tone in her voice when I returned home. She

scowled, crossing her arms as she watched me slink into our room, guiltily.

“At work,” I tried, even though I knew it wouldn’t work at this point. Adelaide was always smarter than

she let on.

“Oh, really?” she said and raised an eyebrow, disbelievingly. “Then why did Peter say you had a day off

today?”

“Peter?” I repeated, the realization dawning on me.

“I’m sorry!” I heard the distant shout of Peter from somewhere

downstairs. I sighed, rubbing my forehead as I felt a migraine coming on. Why hadn’t I thought of

Peter?

Of course, Peter would’ve blown my cover. He couldn’t keep his mouth shut for more than two minutes.

But this was also my fault. I should’ve warned him not to say anything. It was probably better this way. I

realized I didn’t want to keep anything from her.

I wanted us to be partners.

I didn’t want to start my marriage with more lies.

“I wasn’t at work,” I admitted, making my way across the room to the bed. I knelt on the floor before her,

caressing her cheek as she frowned.

“Then where were you? And why do you smell like perfume?” she asked, her eyes wavering as she

pulled back from me, waving her hand in front of her nose.

It stung, but I knew she would forgive me. She was just that kind of person. I just had to tell her the

truth.

Chapter 25

“I saw Corinna,” I told her, honestly. “I heard about her pregnancy, and I wanted to confirm it for

myself.”

She glanced at the wall behind me, and I could see her thoughts drifting further away from me. The

way she was creating distance between us. I couldn’t let that happen.

“I see,” she said, quietly and looked away from me.

“I had to play along with her flirting to get information,” I said, shamefully. “But nothing happened.”

Addie looked down at her hands in her lap and then at me.

“Did it work?”

I chuckled at the fiery look in her eyes, the pure curiosity instead of the anger I’d expected.

“Yes, look.”

I handed her the letter I’d found. I watched her face contort from shock to anger as she read it.

“That lying b*tch!” she fumed, throwing the letter onto the bed. “I can’t believe she’s trying to cheat! I

should’ve known better than to believe anything that came out of her mouth!”

I nodded in agreement. This was just like Ashton and Corinna. How they got a surrogate to agree to

this was anybody’s guess, but I’d bet on money. It was always money.

“I can’t believe she’d try to take advantage of Grandma!” Addie snapped, getting up as she began to

pace across the floor, her face turning red with

anger.

“As if Grandma hasn’t done everything for Corinna! She bought her that stupid apartment of hers!

Furnished it and everything and even hired a redecorator when Corinna complained it was too ‘flashy.”

I laughed as Addie mocked the quotation marks with her hands. She was even more beautiful when

she was passionate about something. And loyal. Two of the long list of reasons I’d fallen for her.

“We can’t let them get away with this,” Addie scowled, turning to me determinedly. “I don’t care about

the money, but I won’t let them hurt Grandma like this.”

Chapter 23

“Okay,” I nodded, getting to my feet as well. I wrapped her in my arms, holding her to my chest, and I

was relieved when she went easily, laying her head on my shoulder with a sigh. “We’ll stop them.”

It was only a moment before Addie pulled back from me, her button. nose scrunched up in disgust.

“You stink. Go take a shower,” she said, firmly, pointing to the bathroom.

“Oh?” I smirked, leaning down until our lips were a breath away from touching and resting my hands on

her hips. Her cheeks lit up. “You’ll have to join me then.”

“I don’t think you earned that,” Addie said playfully, even as my arms. tightened around her waist.

“Besides, Mrs. Rivas is making waffles.”

“You really prefer waffles over me?” I pouted. I gave her my best puppy-dog look, but even I knew I was

the farthest from being called

cute.

“Yes, I do,” she said as she smiled, proudly then quickly kissed me on the

nose.

I blinked a few times, completely dumbfounded, and she giggled, wiggling out of my arms and heading

down the stairs.

I stared after her, waiting for my brain to reboot. Once it did, I covered my overly-warm face with a

hand, a smirk playing on my lips.

“D*mmit, Addie. How can you be so cute?”

“Okay, so peonies or dahlias?”

Lacey grinned at me, holding a photo of each flower in her hands for me to see. I glanced between the

two pink flowers, analyzing each one.

“Is there a difference?”

“Ugh,” Lacey dropped the photos, rolling her eyes, “Men are so clueless. Of course, there’s a

difference.”

“Why are you getting so worked up over flowers?” I raised an eyebrow, sipping my third cup of coffee

for the morning.

“You should have seen her with our wedding. She had so many binders.” Kathy chuckled.

Chapter 25

“Oh, I bet,” I grinned. “All laminated, too right?”

“With index cards!” Kathy and I laughed as Lacey turned to us with at

pout.

“My binders save lives,” she said, stubbornly, “and you two can shove it.”

Lacey’s face lit up as Addie strolled into the kitchen, a popsicle hanging from her mouth.

“Addie!” Lacey said, excitedly, holding up the two photos of the flowers again, “Which flower do you like

best? Peonies or Dahlias?”

Addie tilted her head, looking between the two before she gave Lacey an awkward smile.

“Is there a difference?”

I snorted as Lacey’s mouth dropped open.

“That’s it! I give up!” Lacey threw the photos across the table, crossing her arms in mock anger. “You

two are perfect for each other. You both have no class. Or taste.”

“I’m just not big into flowers. I do appreciate all the work you’re doing though,” Addie shrugged with an

apologetic smile.

“You must have some idea how you want your wedding to go,” Lacey said. “Every girl dreams of their

perfect wedding.”

“Not me,” Addie said with a shrug of her shoulders.

I frowned, a memory niggling at the back of my mind. My eyes lit up as I suddenly remembered it

clearly!

“I’ll be right back,” I said, hurrying to my study. It took less than five minutes to find what I was looking

for, tucked in one of the back closets, and returned to the table. I was barely even breathing hard.

Triumphantly, I slapped the old folder onto the table, a huge smirk. spreading across my lips.

“You’re right,” I said, smugly. “Addie did plan her wedding.”

“Wait, what?” Addie gasped, with a confused look on her face.

“Oooh, what is it?” Lacey dove for the folder, and her mouth dropped open as soon as she saw what

was tucked inside. “Oh, my god.”

Chapter 25

A wide grin tugged at the corners of my mouth as Lacey pulled out the old drawings, the crayon having

faded but still preserved.

The drawings were a mess of stick people, colors, and various blocky objects, but I knew exactly what

they were.

“My eyes hurt,” Lacey said. “Why is there so much color?”

She held it up for Addie to see, and the drawing must have triggered the memory because she turned

bright red.

“You saved those?” she screeched, mortified as she snatched one of them out of Lacey’s hand.

“Of course, I did,” I said and crossed my arms over my chest. “You gave them to me. You said this

would be what your wedding looked like.”

“The print in the corner is yours then?” Kathy asked, looking vaguely concerned by the childish

scribbles. “Color: Rainbow? Cake: Rainbow. Theme: Bows and Unicorns.”

“Oh, my god,” Addie hid her face in her hands, completely red now.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at her. She’d never stop being desirable to me.

“Uh, rainbow isn’t a flavor, dear,” Lacey raised an eyebrow.

“I was a little girl!” Addie laughed despite the redness of her cheeks.

“I’m not sure how we’re gonna pull off unicorns,” Kathy frowned. “Maybe bring in some statues or

topiaries?”

“I’m never going to live this down, am I?” she said looking at each of us.

“No, no, look here,” Lacey said, sharing one of the drawings with her wife. “She has to ride the unicorn

down the aisle. We have to get a real horse to pretend to be a unicorn.”

“You’re evil,” Addie shot me a glare. “I will get you back for this. I can’t believe you kept that.”

She may have been embarrassed, but a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

“Of course, dear,” I chuckled, leaning over to kiss her on the nose. “But after our rainbow-unicorn

wedding, preferably.”

She pulled back from me with a grin and started to say something, but I

pressed my lips to hers and through a smile, she kissed me back.

I wanted to stay in that moment with her for the rest of my life.