Chapter7
“Fine,” Chase Rylan said with a clipped nod, his voice edged with irritation–as if teaching her a lesson. “If you’re that stubborn, don’t call or text me for a while. We both need to cool off.”
A bleak hollowness opened in Lydia’s chest.
So he wanted to give her the silent treatment.
She looked at him and almost laughed.
“Don’t worry,” she said, each word clear. “Not just for a while. From now on.”
She turned and walked away.
Chase hadn’t expected her to be that unyielding. He started after her on instinct, but Sienna Quinn caught his arm.
“Chase, didn’t you say she needs to learn? She’s like this because you spoil her. Give her a few days. She’ll realize she’s wrong.”
He stopped
Right. He had thought exactly that. Lydia had been his princess for three years; her temper had only hardened.
The uneasy flicker he’d felt under her gaze faded. He looked away–and didn’t follow.
The Rivers Estate was still empty when Lydia got home; her parents were tied up with immigration paperwork.
Her mother called, voice bright with good news.
“Lydia, Harrington College in London accepted your application! The immigration paperwork is almost done, We can leave in a few days!”
A quiet, unprecedented relief washed through her.
She started packing in earnest.
Every gift from Chase went straight into a trash bag, stuffed animals, jewelry, love notes, even the homemade star projector he’d built
for her.
As if throwing them away could bury the foolish girl she had been.
She had just cleared the final trace when the doorbell rang.
She opened it to find Chase on the porch.
They stared at each other for a long moment, the air heavy and unmoving.
Chase caved first, sounding tired, with a faint, bruised sort of grievance.
“Lydia… how can you be this heartless? It’s been days–no call, no text. Do you know what I’ve been through?”
He reached to pull her in.
“Okay, I was wrong. You’don’t have to apologize anymore. Let’s not fight, please? I can’t stand it…‘
Lydia stepped back, out of his arms.
Something in his chest skittered. He fumbled a velvet box from his pocket.
“A present. Don’t be mad. The class is having a farewell tonight–I came to take you. We’re all going our separate ways; who knows when we’ll see each other again.”
She hadn’t planned to go, but it might be the last time she saw some of them. In the end, she agreed.
Outside the private dining room at the Grand Armitage Hotel, a classmate was doing quick tarot readings for fun, Maya Brooks shuffled Chapter 7
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the deck while a crowd watched.
Sienna was already there, bright–eyed.
“Read my love life!”
Maya dealt the cards, studied them, and smiled.
“You’ve met a promising love interest, but you’ll have to make the first move.”
Sienna’s smile turned meaningful.
“I thought so too.”
She flicked a glance at Chase and slipped into the room.
Chase, amused, tugged Lydia closer.
“Do us next–love forecast.”
Maya shuffled again and let him draw three cards. When she turned them over, her expression wavered.
“Go on,” Chase prompted.
Maya winced.
“It looks like… a breakup risk. Soon.‘
Chase’s brows pinched together. He pulled Lydia into his side.
“Nonsense. I’m never breaking up with Lydia.”
He lowered his voice for her alone.
“Don’t believe this stuff, okay?”
Lydia’s lips twitched, the faintest curve of irony.
He wouldn’t break up.
She would.
Inside, the class rep, Trevor Hale, handed Chase the menu.
Chase ordered smoothly–house favorites, all things Lydia used to love. At the end, he added for the server,
“And no walnuts in the desserts. My girlfriend’s allergic.”
Lydia went very still.
Sienna gave a soft, delighted laugh.
“Chase, you’ve got it mixed up. I’m the one allergic to walnuts.”
Silence settled like dust.
Chase blinked, then smoothed it over with practiced ease.
“I’ve been at the hospital with her dad nonstop. We’ve eaten together a lot–I got it scrambled. Don’t mind me, Lydia.”
“Mm,” Lydia said, eyes down. Nothing more.
Remembering her allergies used to be second nature to him.
Now, second nature meant remembering another girl’s needs. Chapter7
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Oddly, it didn’t hurt anymore.
Dinner ended in the ache of impending goodbyes. No one wanted the night to end, so someone suggested spin–the–bottle. truth or dare. Laughter and clinking glasses filled the room again.
The bottle pointed to Lydia first.
“Lydia, truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
A classmate grinned.
“Goddess, what’s something you’re genuinely happy about lately? Share!”
Lydia lifted her gaze, calm.
“Throwing something away.”
“What, a gift from the star athlete again?” people teased. “You traded up to a limited edition and ditched the old one, huh?”
She didn’t explain.
Chase heard her answer and, for reasons he couldn’t name, a thread of unease pulled tight in his chest.
Before he could speak, the bottle spun again–landing on Sienna.
“Dare,” Sienna said, fearless.
“Your dare,” someone crowed, “is to do the most thrilling thing you can think of to someone in this room.”
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