After the wedding party, I was about to toast our marriage with a glass of champagne with Eric Hawthorne.
Then the door to the walk-in closet in our new bedroom swung open.
Madison Vale stepped out in a spaghetti-strap nightgown, walked straight over to Eric, and settled onto his lap, her arms wrapping around his neck.
“You always come see me first when you get home,” she murmured. “If you don’t come tonight, I’ll never get to sleep.”
Eric’s expression darkened, but he didn’t push her away. He just guided her into the guest room next door.
Before closing the door behind them, he turned back to me, still frozen in place.
“Maddie’s out of line. I’ll handle this. I’ll make sure it never happens again.”
A moment later, the sound of Madison’s tearful voice drifted through the guest room door.
The two maids by the staircase didn’t look remotely surprised. One of them headed into the guest room with a robe and a glass of water.
“Eric made Maddie cry again. They’ve been like this since high school. You’d think a wedding would be enough to make them stop.”
“One of them always coaxes, and the other always gives in. Who in this house doesn’t know the drill?”
Their smiles vanished the moment they saw me.
“Elodie, you’re new to this family. Don’t make a scene over something like this. It won’t do anyone any good.”
I lowered my eyes to the champagne flute in my hand.
We hadn’t drunk from it, and we hadn’t signed a marriage license.
The Hawthorne family had insisted on holding the ceremony first, with plans to go to the Los Angeles County Clerk’s Office the next day to make it official.
Which meant I could still call this whole thing off.
Since the marriage hadn’t legally begun, the things I had promised the Hawthornes—they wouldn’t be getting a single one.
Make Them Regret It Chapter 01 To make the biological daughter he’d only just found feel at home, my father personally carved my Core from my body. Then my fiancé beat me thirty times with a belt. They told me if I called off the engagement, it would all be over. Later, they staged an
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 40 That afternoon, the team brought the new season’s sample books into the conference room. The cover was a deep blue, the color of lake water at dusk. The lead designer asked me, “What are we calling this collection?” I turned a few
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 39 “I’ve already made dinner reservations. You still have time.” He didn’t say that work wasn’t important, and he didn’t try to cancel my schedule for me. As I got into the car, it struck me that this was the kind of partner
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 38 “I know.” “It’s because over the past year, you learned how to ask. And I became sure that this was what I wanted.” Before he kissed me, he lowered his head and paused. “Is this okay now?” I laughed. “You don’t have
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 37 The lake was quiet that Saturday. There was no wall of flowers, no employees holding up phones, no one telling me to just say yes. Wyatt brought two coffees and a bag of cinnamon rolls. When we reached the old dock, he
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 36 He spoke slowly, carefully. “If you don’t want to get married, we can continue exactly as we are. If you do, we can first talk through everything—work, property, where we’d live, and every boundary that matters to you.” “You don’t think talking
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 35 One year after the showroom opened, our brand entered several department stores in Europe. As planned, I flew over myself to oversee the displays, gather fabric feedback, and confirm the orders for the next season. Wyatt didn’t ask when I was coming
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 34 “You were the one who led her into the guest room. You were the one who promised her one day out of every weekend. You were the one who told me I had to accept her.” “Long before she posted those chats,
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 33 By early fall, Hawthorne Apparel had entered its final asset liquidation. The remaining receivables, returns, and claims were handled by the book. Carrington pursued only what it was entitled to under our contracts—no more, no less. The matter of the items Madison
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 32 “Yes.” “Then can we celebrate tonight?” “Send a formal email to schedule it first.” He was quiet for two seconds. “Elodie, are you doing that on purpose?” “Yes.” I couldn’t help laughing. He laughed, too. Half a year into our relationship, Paige
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