Page 21 of A Linton Scandal

“Mrs. Rutledge.” Mihai greeted the older woman first before he glanced at the younger woman. “Ms. Pall,” he said coolly, taking my hand firmly in his.

Mrs. Rutledge had the classic looks that put me in the mind of Elizabeth Taylor. Her clothes were obviously expensive, and as they drew closer, I noticed that both she and Ms. Pall shared a resemblance. I wondered if they were related.

“It’s been a long time since the four families got together. How have you been doing?” Mrs. Rutledge asked, her gaze bouncing between Mihai and me. “Your mother is well?”

“She’s doing well, she’s trying to convince my father to buy another property in the Caribbean,” Mihai said, with a small smile. “I’ll tell her you asked after her.”

“And this is?” Ms. Pall asked, her eyes were firmly on me. There was no warmth in her eyes, even though she was smiling.

“This is my Fiancée Juliette Roux,” he said smoothly, I had to admit that he was a great actor. I would have stuttered and probably made a mess of making such an announcement. Another reason I still hadn’t told anyone, the minute I started speaking they would call me out.

“What?” I jumped a bit at Ms. Pall’s loud scream, and it suddenly occurred to me what the issue was. As she looked at Mihai as if he’d killed her favorite animal. She recovered quickly and said with a softened tone. “I’m sorry. I think I’m still feeling a bit off, I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Penelope,” Mrs. Rutledge said, frowning, as we watched Ms. Pall walk off. Facing us again, she gave us both an odd look. “Congratulations, I’m sure your mother was ecstatic to hear you’ve decided to marry once more after the scandal with that Quincy girl.”

“Yes, she was. Now, I’m sorry but we have another appointment.” Mihai offered her another cold smile before turning on his heel and leaving while dragging me behind him.

“Hey, wait,” I whispered. His long legs moved faster than mine. “Wait, slow down. Mihai.”

He finally came to a stop at the elevator and looked down at me. “What?”

“You were walking too fast.” I let out a small gasp, trying to catch my breath. “Why were you running away like you’ve seen a devil?”

His jaw ticked, before he looked away from me. “It’s nothing, I wasn’t expecting to run into someone from our circle this early.”

Finally feeling like I could breathe, I said, “Well, I don’t think Ms. Pall likes me much. She seemed extremely disappointed that you have a fiancée.” I couldn’t help but to chuckle, “after all she probably saw me as a unicorn that had come out of nowhere and stolen her apple.”

He scoffed. “she wasn’t even a candidate when I was looking for a second wife. The Pall family is nouveau riche. Their money only goes back three generations. If she thought she had a chance, she was playing herself.”

“Wow.” I shook my head at his words, and crossed my arms. “And here I am. I don’t even know how far back my family goes. Life really favors the drunk.”

“More like the fool,” he muttered.

“What did you call me?” I demanded. Before I could tell him off, the elevator door opened with a sharp ding, and he entered.

He shot me an annoyed look. “Are you coming?”

I rolled my eyes and entered. There wasn’t any point in arguing with the arrogant man. “Where did Nao go?”

“He had something to handle for me, we’ll meet him once we arrive at my parents’ house.”

I’d nearly forgotten that we needed to meet his family. Once again, I was suffused with anxiety. Would his family even talk to me, or would it be like those dramatic Korean Dramas? Would someone throw water at me, and call me a gold digger? That was the last thing I needed, dragging his mother because she threw water on me.

The only thing I could do was pull up my big girl panties and face this head on.

The Linton’s

Juliette

Ididn’t know what I was expecting when we arrived in the affluent neighborhood. Whatever I’d been expecting had been blown out of the water. There were no houses, only mansions and unlike the mansions I’d seen in Austin, none of them were close.

The high hedges hid a few of them, while their gates dared someone to try to invade their property. I watched as the houses passed and couldn’t help feeling self-conscious.

“Does anyone else in your family know about us?” I couldn’t help asking.

“I told my mother but that’s because she’d been after me over another issue. I felt it was best that she knew.”

“And does she know that I’m pregnant as well?”

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