Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The wedding preparations were going smoothly with Lacey and Kathy’s help. I didn’t know the first

thing about planning a wedding, but I learned it came with a lot of price tags. Too many. It was

overwhelming.

“Tip number one,” Lacey told me grinning. “Don’t tell them it’s for a wedding. The price shoots up to

unbelievable prices. If you say it’s like an anniversary, you get the same thing for much cheaper.”

“Isn’t that lying, though?” I asked, looking at her seriously.

“It’s good business!” Lacey refuted with a sly grin.

In addition to the wedding plans, the remodeling on the set for the movie was getting done at

hyperspeed. Cassidy was a genius, and a fast one, too. I had to admit, I was happy Damon had called

him.

“We’ve just got some more painting to do, and you’ll be all set,” Cassidy told me over the phone one

morning in his usual rough voice.

I really felt like things were looking up, like puzzle pieces I didn’t know were missing suddenly slid into

place. I couldn’t believe it fell together so well.

The only thing that bothered me still was Corinna and Ashton.

I knew how much their lies would hurt my grandmother. Damon managed to convince me to keep it

quiet so we could gather more evidence.

He wanted to make sure we could take them both down in one fell swoop.

In the meantime, though, I was going to enjoy my life. I wasn’t going to let them ruin the happiness I

was feeling.

“Grandma!”

I grinned as I pulled my grandmother into a hug. She chuckled, patting my back like when I was a child.

It was always so comforting.

“You saw me only a few days ago, child,” my grandmother said, amused. “Did you miss me that

much?”

Chapter 26

“Yes,” I smiled into her warm sweater. When I pulled back, Grandma caught sight of Damon behind me.

“And I see you brought your husband,” she said with a warm smile, her eyes falling on Damon.

“It’s nice to see you again, Mrs. Hildebrand,” Damon said, politely smiling at her.

“Oh, none of that nonsense,” Grandma huffed, reaching out to pull

Damon into a hug. Despite her shorter stature, Grandma was incredibly strong. “I’ve known you since

you were a tot. I keep telling you, call me Grandma.”

“Okay, Mrs. Hildebrand,” Damon chuckled, hunched over from their height difference.

“You stubborn boy,” Grandma said playfully, slapping him on the arm with a chuckle.

“Stubborn is right,” I said with a smirk. I saw him roll his eyes over her shoulder and stuck out my

tongue in retaliation.

“Oh, come on in. No use standing out in the cold,” my grandma said, hooking both of us by our arms as

she pulled us into the house.

Neither of us were going to tell her it was almost 80 degrees out. It wouldn’t stop her worrying over us

anyway.

“Where’s Grandpa?” I asked as we entered the modest home. My grandparents had never liked

flaunting their wealth and found a big house too difficult to move around in, so they’d downsized when I

was a kid.

The cozy home was packed to the brim with photos and memorabilia. It had that feeling of coziness

that always made me feel warm.

“Oh, he’s in the kitchen,” Grandma said with a smile. “He’s making your favorite.”

“Double chocolate chip s’mores cookies?” I exclaimed.

“Of course,” Grandma chuckled.

“You and your chocolate,” Damon rolled his eyes, grinning.

“It’s obviously the superior flavor,” I said, proudly. “Why? What’s yours?”

Chapter 26

“I’m partial to strawberries,” he smirked like it was some inside joke I wasn’t getting, but I smiled at him

still.

“Oh, you two are so sweet together, just like when you were kids.” Grandma chuckled as we all settled

into the family room. She poured us some tea, still as graceful as when she was a young woman.

Grandma had attempted to teach me the art of tea-making, but I was never good at it. I could never be

as gentle and precise as she was.

“Us? We fought like cats and dogs,” I scoffed. “We never agreed on anything.”

“Well, yes,” Grandma chuckled. “But you were also quite close, even if neither of you would admit it. I

remember you’d follow Damon and Ashton around like a little duckling after its mother. The three of you

getting into so much mischief.”

Damon sent me a pointed look, but I rolled my eyes.

“You mean the four of us,” I pointed out. “Corinna stuck to them like glue 100.”

“Oh, yes,” Grandma said, quietly. “But I mean before Corinna got taken in. When Maelyn was still

alive.”

I stiffened at the mention of my mother, her name was practically taboo after her death. Especially

around my father. Hearing it always made my breath catch in my chest for a second.

I didn’t remember much about my mother, only that she was soft and pretty. She’d died when I was still

a toddler, too young to even process what death was.

My father married my stepmother and brought in Corinna soon after that.

“Oh, but the four of you would have so much fun playing as kids,” Grandma chuckled, as she pulled out

one of her many family albums. “This one is my favorite.”

I leaned in close to her to see the picture.

It was old and faded but clearly well-taken care of. It was a cardboard house named ‘Bakery’ and the

four of us as kids. We were all posing for the camera. Corinna was in a pretty red dress, much too big

for her, and clearly, she had too much makeup on.

Chapter 26

I smiled at the funny faces we were making.

“You decided to shoot a movie,” Grandma said and smiled. “Addie directed everything, and Damon

made the ‘set.’ Ashton provided the materials, and Corinna was the star, of course. It was the first time

I’d seen you four do something together without it starting a fight.”

“I remember that,” I laughed. “It was supposed to be a haunted bakery, but I had to change it because

ghosts scared Corinna too much.”

“I’m pretty sure we raided Odessa’s closet and makeup for that look.” Damon grinned saying, “I can’t

believe we ever thought that looked good.”

Looking at our chubby cheeks and smiling faces, I felt sad that none of us were this close anymore.

I didn’t always hate Corinna. There was a time when I was excited to have a sister, a time when we

actually got along.

But as we grew up, those times became smaller and smaller until all we felt for one another was

resentment.

Even though the box set was crude, the acting was atrocious, and the story was too complicated to

follow, I think that was the best movie I’d ever directed.

“Grandma…” I glanced up from the photo, my mouth moving to confess everything about Corinna and

Ashton and me and Damon and how messed up things had gotten.

“Are those cookies done yet?” Damon interrupted with a smile. “I’d really like one.”

“Oh, let me go see. That man, I swear. He’ll be late to his funeral, mark my words,” my grandmother

grumbled as she got to her feet, heading to the kitchen.

I swallowed, glancing down at the photo.

“We have to tell her,” I insisted.

“Addie, if we tell her now, the two will just come up with another scheme, and this will never end. We

have to make sure they’re down for good before we reveal what we know,” Damon frowned, reaching

out to brush a lock of my hair over my ear. “I know it’s hard, but you can do it.”

Chapter 26

I sighed, knowing he was right but hating it anyway.

I carefully tucked the photo back into the family album. We weren’t kids anymore. We’d all chosen our

own paths, and we had to live with them.

Corinna and Ashton would never stop trying to get the family money no matter the cost, and I would

never stop trying to protect my family from their deceit.

This wasn’t about the money anymore. This was about protecting my family.

I leaned my head on Damon’s shoulder.

“When did things get so complicated?” I sighed.

“Puberty,” came his deadpan response.

I burst into giggles just as Grandma and Grandpa both entered the family room, the smell of double

chocolate s’mores cookies drifting through the

air.

“What’s so funny?” Grandpa asked, sitting in his old recliner.

“Nothing, Grandpa,” I said with a smile. “Thanks for making cookies. I’ve been craving them lately.”

“Anything for my favorite grandchild,” Grandpa winked at me.

“Archibald!” Grandma scolded, half-heartedly but offered the plate of cookies to me with soft eyes.

I took one, the cookie still warm and melty from the oven. As I took a bite, I thought that maybe, this

was what Corinna and Ashton’s downfall would taste like.

The sweetness of revenge and double chocolate s’mores cookies.