That night Cade had held me in his arms all night long, and everything in the air around me—the chaos, the worries—disappeared for just a moment. I snuggled in his arms and told him everything that had happened, from my mother to my father. By the time I was done, I fell asleep, emotionally exhausted. I hadn't slept so soundly in ages. I'd forgotten what it was to get a full night's rest. But the next morning, reality hit us both when we had to say our goodbyes and head out to work. That our time together before he left was dwindling down, and soon, seeing him every day would cease, and our moments together would be interrupted by the distance between us.

I walked him to his car, trudging like I was being forced off a cliff because I never wanted to leave him, and, as crazy as it sounded, I wanted to be with him with each waking second and sleep next to him each night.

"What's the sad face for?" he joked, glancing at me with a devilish grin.

"Do you even have to ask?" I pouted like a six-year-old. I never did the pouting thing. That was Tene's MO, not mine.

He leaned against his car and tugged at my waist. "Come here." He lifted my chin and locked eyes with mine. "You've had a rough few days. How about we have dinner tonight, and you come over for a movie and then chill?"

"Sex,” I added. “You're going to make my day better with sex." I lifted an eyebrow, "Movies and chill. And sex."

His deep chuckle warmed me from the inside out. "Now who has a dirty mind?" He pulled me in and pecked my lips. "But I'm all for that, too."

"Mmhmm," I sassed.

"Come in later tonight, right after the dinner rush, and we can do my version of movie and chill."

I almost groaned out loud. As good as that sounded, I couldn’t. "I have dinner later tonight with the family. Can I just come in before that?"

"Just come?" He tilted his head and rubbed his thumb over his bottom lip. "That sounds oddly familiar. You've never had to ask before."

I laughed at his dirty joke, and he gathered me in his arms and kissed me more deeply this time, lips closed, but boy did I feel him everywhere.

He was the first to break our connection. "See you later, Angel." Then he readjusted himself, and I knew he'd felt me everywhere, too.

I laughed and half-skipped to my car.

Shutting myself in the car, I flipped open the overhead mirror and checked my color-filled cheeks. Who needed blush when I had Cade Ryder to force color into my cheeks?

I shut the mirror and put the key in the engine. When my phone pinged with a text, my smile widened. It was Cade.

I giggled, my blush reddening as I remembered my birthday night.

What would I ever do with this man?

* * *

The day passed in a blur. I called my dad and ran errands, and before I knew it, it was the evening, and I was running to Allswell. My family and I were meeting at Chef Everest, an Italian restaurant right on Elgin Avenue, not too far from Allswell, so I had decided I'd spend time with Cade before I had to rush to dinner.

But it wasn't Cade's face that greeted me as I pushed into the doors of the restaurant—it was Tene's and Mom’s and Dad’s and Roland's parents and Roland, sitting in the same spot they’d sat in days ago for my horrible birthday party that had turned into a freak show.

Internally, my temperature rose twenty million notches as the hair on the back of my neck stood at attention like soldiers doing their drills.

For the love of God, what is going on?

Roland came charging toward me but stopped short at my scowl. I searched behind him for Cade, but he wasn't anywhere to be found.

"Everyone's here," I croaked.

He blinked at me, surprised that I didn’t know. "Yes, your mom invited me, and I wanted—needed—to see you. You haven't been picking up my calls." There was an undertone to his voice, a disdain in his eyes.

Did he know? I shook my head. There was no way my mother would betray me, not when she wanted me and Roland back together.

My sister’s whole face twisted as though she had eaten something moldy. I had texted her to tell her I was stopping at Allswell before dinner. Why would she sabotage me like this? It was so unlike her. Of all people, she was the last person who would do this to me.

He intertwined our fingers, and I tore my hold from his as the nightmare played on repeat. I hugged Nana and my father and said my standard greetings to Roland's parents.

I need to talk to Cade.

That was my first initial reaction. Before he witnessed this chaos firsthand, I needed to speak to him. I searched for him at the bar, but he was nowhere to be found.

Tene rushed to my side. "I swear on everything that matters," she whispered, "I did not do this. I tried calling you when I knew we were coming here. Why weren’t you picking up your phone?”

I groaned internally. My phone had died earlier, and I had it charging with my portable charger on silent in the bottom of my purse.

My sister’s voice heightened with hysteria. “Mom planned this dinner. She changed the location and moved up the time from Chef Everest to here, and ... She knows, doesn't she?" Her face turned frantic. "Oh, my god."

"Angie." It was my mother, right behind us.

"You're bat shit crazy," Tene seethed, her eyes tight, hand balled up into fists by her side.

When my mother leaned in to drop my cheek against hers, I deflected and pulled back. "What's your game here?"

She smiled her fake smile—the one that she gave Tene when she pretended she wasn't upset but really was. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

My chest tightened because I could read the malice in her features. How could she manipulate me like this? I’d seen my mother do some crazy things in my life, but this seemed to top them all.

I sat next to Tene, who rocked back and forth in her chair, her eyes flitting around the room. Her sweaty palm reached for mine under the table and gave me a squeeze. "I really think we need to commit her," she whispered in my ear.

I would’ve laughed if my stomach wasn't tied in triple Boy Scout knots. My mother wasn't crazy; she just always got whatever she wanted, whenever she thought she was right.

When I gripped Tene’s hand in a tight vise for support, she stood and yanked us away from the table. "Angie and I are going to the potty room."

I didn't have a say in the matter as she dragged me down the hall into the bathroom and into the handicap stall.

"I swear I had no idea and I didn't know what she was up to."

"I know." My bottom lip quivered, the floor beneath me feeling as though it would swallow me whole. We said nothing, and she simply pulled me into her and continually rubbed my back. I basked in her embrace because that was all I needed—someone on my side.

"Why the hell did Mom insist on coming here today? What does she know?" Tene asked.

When I stiffened, Tene jerked back to assess my face. "How the hell did she find out?"

I nodded, feeling bile creep up my throat. "She saw us together."

Tene threw up her hands. "Angie. Four words. Just don't get caught." She paced the stall, talking out loud. “But you did, so now we need a solution. How are we going to get you out of this? We have to think.”

I couldn’t concentrate on anything other than the thoughts reigning in my head. Despair was gripping me. What am I going to do?

What I needed to do was find Cade first.

Determination firmed up my shoulders, and I straightened, ready to find Cade and warn him about my family being here. One thing I didn’t want him to be was blindsided.

Tene continued to babble. "Yep, she knows, and that's why she pushed this dinner to show Cade that you’re already taken. Maybe coming here once was a mistake, but twice ... yep ... not so much."

"Why would she do that?" I asked.

A slew of voices carried into the bathroom, indicating we were no longer alone.

Tene’s voice went down a notch. "You don't know her as well as I do. Mother always will want to get her way. And she wants you with Roland. I want to secure your happiness, too, but the difference between her and me is I wouldn't sabotage your life to do it."

At that, Tene stormed out of the stall. Two women eyed us as we walked out together.

"Thanks, honey." Tene threw an arm over my shoulder and smiled. "I really didn't know how to stick that tampon in."

When we exited the bathroom, Tene pulled me closer. “You’re not feeling well. I’m going to tell them I’m taking you home, okay? I’m getting you out of this.”

I snuggled into her side, thankful that I could always count on her. I was leaving, but not before I did what I had to do. “I have to find Cade. He’s expecting me, and I’d rather he sees me first than Roland and the whole family here.”

When we walked in the room, Cade was at the bar. It was as though I felt him before I saw him because I could feel the blood pumping in my veins and the air in the room evaporate. I lifted my head to meet his eyes. The muscle in his jaw ticked, which made me want to rush toward the bar and wrap my arms around him, ending this torture—my torture.

His face was unreadable, but his eyes flew to behind me. When I turned around, his eyes locked, not with Roland's, but with my mother’s.

Her face was stoic, and if her eyes could talk, she would be throwing him a slew of curse words. Sweat formed on the back of my neck as I witnessed a fury behind my mother's eyes directed at the man I was in love with. It was a war without words as her glances flickered between him and me.

I decided I’d had enough, and that I’d put us all through this misery. I turned to walk to the bar, but Tene gripped my forearm and whispered, “Not now.” She tipped her head toward my father’s direction who was talking to Roland’s father. When our eyes met, he smiled.

Reluctantly, I sat down, promising myself that I’d explain this whole fiasco to Cade later and beg for his forgiveness. I needed to get this shit show over and done with.

My mother smiled my way before standing and lifting her wineglass, tapping her fork against it to get everyone's attention.

I doubted Cade could hear anything she had to say, but he could see her. She smiled big and spoke with such happiness that made my stomach churn because it was for Cade's non-benefit.

She lifted the wine glass. "I want to make a toast and thank everyone for getting together today. We all know this hasn't been the easiest week for us." My father shifted in his seat as all eyes glanced in his direction. "It's just so nice to get the family together to celebrate life and love." She motioned her glass toward Roland. "Thanks, Roland, for making reservations. But most of all for loving this family, and above all, for loving our daughter to pieces."

Everyone clinked their glasses together, and I gritted my teeth into a forced smile.

Tene gripped my thigh, her eyes feverish and darting around the room.

When Roland reached for my hand on the table, I flinched. What was his game? He knew we were over. When he bent down to kiss me in front of our families, I stiffened, shocked by the contact.

It was only a soft peck on my lips, feather light, but it felt like a gun in a mouth, locked and loaded. I couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't smile, couldn't turn around to see if Cade was watching because I knew he was.

For the show, I told myself. This is for the show. But I wanted this part of the movie—this scene—to end. I was ready to write the rest of my story, not have it written out for me.

I nonchalantly pulled away, placing a hand on his chest, keeping my eyes on everyone around me, simply ignoring Roland. Anger clouded my vision, warmth reaching the tips of my ears when Roland stood next to me and lifted his glass to follow my mother's speech.

"To Dad, we're praying for a swift and healthy recovery,” he said, his gaze on my father. “It's good to get everyone together once in a while to celebrate life and love.” When he shifted his gaze toward me, my whole body turned icy cold. Acid burned the back of my throat, making it difficult to swallow. "I love Angelica like she's my next breath. I fell in love with her when I was sixteen and to think how far we've come. We're basically family, and now ..."

Then he did the unthinkable. “I want to make it official.” He dropped to one knee, and my whole body went rigid. My one hand flew to my throat, the other gripping the table to keep me steady.

This is not happening, this is not happening!

The ringing in my ears intensified to an unbearable volume, and I blinked, seeing black spots behind my eyelids. His mouth kept moving, yet I didn’t hear a word. I was having an out of body experience as the people around me cheered without sound. As though the whole scene was on mute.

I glanced at everyone's faces around me—my mother's, who was standing right beside Roland—his mother, Tene in complete shock and disbelief. If anything, she understood me. After our talk, she knew if I said yes, I'd be making the biggest mistake of my life.

Everyone's eyes were on me. Not just my family’s, but all of the patrons at the restaurant, the whole staff ... and Cade’s. The people in our vicinity were elated, eyes wide, all smiling and staring at me with expectation, waiting for an answer.

Finally, I heard Roland say, "Angelica Armstrong, will you marry me?" His eyes were full of hope and happiness, and as surprised, panicked, and angry as I was, I almost felt sorry for him in the moment.

The glint of the ring caught my eye, but I stood shocked silent. He must’ve asked the question multiple times, but I had no words. The need to flee was overtaking me, yet I couldn't move.

I blinked through the fog. My father's face was full of uncontainable joy, a smile that lightened all his features, his first genuine smile of the night and guilt tore through me.

What he had said right before the doctors had wheeled him into surgery rang loudly in my ears: Don't cry, baby girl. I'm not leaving anytime soon. I'm going to walk you down the aisle, watch you get married, deliver you to Roland and watch those grandkids pop out.

His eyes were expectant and brimming with tears, causing a thickness to form in the back of my throat. I dropped my head to hide the shame.

The few seconds of silence and slight movement was broken up by a slew of actions that followed: my mother screaming congratulations, followed by Roland standing, then slipping the ring on my finger.

I couldn’t breathe while I was passed around my family like a rag doll. Back and forth. Forth and back.

I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs for the commotion to stop.

I didn’t say yes. I didn’t agree to this.

It was the smile on my father's face and the pride in his eyes that had the word “no” choked in my throat.

And in that moment, I promised myself this was all for the show, for my loving father, and that this was temporary. I'd die before I walked down an aisle and committed myself to Roland. Everyone hooting and hollering and on their feet caused my stomach to roll, almost to the point of knocking me over.

I was engaged. An engaged woman, but completely empty and hollow inside.

My whole family continued to pass me around like a rag doll, hugging me, telling me their congratulatory speeches. My mother hugged me the tightest, telling me that I was making the right decision.

For once in my life, I despised her. The woman who had given birth to me was dead to me from this day forward. She had started this fiasco, and she ended it with her screams of congratulations, which made everyone else’s’ follow.

When it was Tene's turn, she whispered over and over that she would help me get out of this mess. My fiancé—I never thought I’d loathe the word—wasn't by me. He was pouring himself another glass of wine, fire behind his eyes, but his stare was not directed my way. It was focused behind me.

I followed his line of sight, toward the bar, where I locked eyes with Cade, whose glazed look of despair began to take over his features.

Ice spread through my stomach, and I felt an overwhelming sense of loss.

When I glanced back at Roland, I noticed his eyes were laser focused on Cade, and every part of me wondered if he knew. But if he knew, he wouldn't have proposed, would he? Roland had too much pride.

Cade was oblivious to anyone else but me.

I'd never forget his look. I'd remember it until the day I died. His dark eyes held a hurt so strong, it made my knees buckle, and I was leaning my whole body on Tene's for support. Tears threatened to spill over.

When he turned away from me, my heart shattered like a glass vase thrown on the floor, the pieces scattering everywhere.

And I knew there was no way to put it back together.