Page 50 of My Ruthless Husband

Most of the time, I succeed in avoiding such painfully awkward outings. But today, I had to bite the bullet. Because it’s Skylar’s birthday this weekend and it would’ve been very rude of me to not show up even though she was forced by her father, Richard McAllister to invite me.

I’m not exactly social, and Skylar and her friends are the complete opposite of me. But my dad keeps pushing me to make new friends by stepping out of my comfort zone.

Shopping is a supposedly enjoyable pastime for me when it’s done online but it feels like a chore when I’m coerced into going out with others.

Skylar keeps chatting away, her laughter ringing through the air. It’s not that I don’t like her—she’s nice enough—but this whole situation feels so awkward. Sometimes I wish my dad could understand that friendships can’t be forced. But I understand where he is coming from.

I glance at the racks of shoes, picking one to examine, when a voice near my ear startles me so much that I jump. “Check out these heels, they’re amazing!” Maria exclaims, snatching the shoes from my hands.

Skylar and her other friend squeal. “You always find the best shoes, Maria.”

I stand awkwardly as they swoon over the shoes.

I smile as they hurry to the next stop. They quickly lose interest in what they were doing, and in no time, I’m being dragged into another store.

“Hey, which one do you think suits me better?” Skylar asks them, motioning to a rack of dresses.

As the two inspect the dresses, Skylar notices me.

“Come here, River,” she calls, beckoning me over.

With a hesitant smile, I approach.

“We’d love your opinion on these dresses,” Skylar says.

My guard begins to lower. Maybe this won’t be as bad as I thought. As I offer my thoughts on the dresses, I find myself oddly at ease. And before I know it, they are handing me a couple of dresses and are pushing me toward the changing room.

When I come out wearing the sparkly golden dress that’s not really my style, the girls pull their phone and begin snapping my pictures. After that, they take several selfies.

I change back into my clothes and decide to buy the dress only because they insist.

“I’m posting this on Instagram.” Skylar grins, showing me a picture. It’s a group mirror selfie and while I look good, it’s not my thing. My Instagram is private for a reason. I don’t like putting myself or my life out there for the world to see. The paparazzi, though, that’s something I have no control over. As the daughter of a billionaire tycoon, my life is always in the spotlight. But on social media? That’s the one space where I get to decide what stays private.

I shake my head. “No, please. Crop me out before posting.”

“Why?” She whines.

“I just don’t like to post myself on the internet.”

She grumbles but agrees. “At least let me send it to my brother.”

“What?”I stare at her in horror. “Why?”

This time Maria speaks, “Um, hello, don’t you know Edward has a crush on you?” Her tone is begrudging.

My eyes widen in shock. Edward McAllister is three years older than me, and we’ve barely exchanged more than a few words this year. The fact that he has feelings for me is a revelation I never expected.

Skylar smirks. “Do you know how hard it was to stop him from crashing our girl’s time?”

“I don’t know what to say,” I say dumbfoundedly.

Skylar winces. “Shit. He’s going to kill me if he finds out I told you. We freaked you out with that, didn’t we?”

“A bit.” It’s strange and confusing. How can he feel that way about me when he doesn’t even really know me? We barely exchanged two sentences when we last met, months ago.

The trio is quickly distracted when the store manager brings refreshments for them. I take the time to wander further ahead and before I know it, I’m standing in the men’s section.

Rows of neatly organized shirts and blazers line the right side. I’m about to turn back when a mannequin dressed in snug black shirt and black trousers catches my eye.

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