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.
He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 31 After that dinner, Wyatt and I started dating. For real. There were no floral arches, no cheering crowds. He always checked my schedule before making a reservation. If I was swamped with work and had to cancel at the last minute, he
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 30 In the first round of review, one supplier came in with the lowest quote. A member of my team suggested we approve them quickly to get ahead of the peak season. I remembered Wyatt pointing out the risk in a low down
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 29 Before summer, the fate of Hawthorne Apparel’s defective product lines was sealed. The company was ordered to continue the recalls, pay hefty fines, and cover all consumer claims. The altered testing documents and internal approvals moved into criminal proceedings. As the responsible
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 28 Her expression hardened. “You think you’re so clean? If you hadn’t pulled the plug on the project, the company never would have had these problems.” I gestured for the front desk to pull up the visitor log and had security switch on
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 27 After the injunction failed, the demand letters from Hawthorne Apparel stopped. What truly left them with no time to harass us was the expansion of the regulatory review into their defective products. Carrington also received official requests for information. My father, worried
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 26 Eric sat in the witness chair, silent for a long moment. “Yes.” “Was the license obtained?” “No.” “Was the procurement framework signed?” “No. But Elodie promised she would help me.” “Is personal help, given in the context of a romantic relationship, the
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 25 The Hawthorne family did not withdraw their threat. A week later, they filed for a temporary injunction, asking the court to bar Carrington from assigning the planned orders to alternative suppliers until the dispute was resolved. I was in a meeting with
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 24 Eric glanced at his father. His father nodded. “Of course.” I pressed play. Madison’s voice filled the quiet room. “The only reason Eric’s father wanted this wedding was for your family’s money. He doesn’t want *you* at all.” Then came the audio
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 23 By the time he finished, he sounded like a true victim. Eric sat beside him, his eyes fixed on me the entire time. “Elodie, if you’re willing to restore the original plan, we can withdraw the demand letter. The other misunderstandings can
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He Chose Her On Our Wedding Night So I Took Everything Chapter 22 The three-day deadline hadn’t even expired before the Hawthorne family’s version of the story started circulating through the industry association. Several suppliers who had attended the wedding called to ask if it was true that Carrington had promised a bailout and then
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