Page 7 of The Runaway Bride and the Billionaire

“I’m sorry, sir. I’ll rush in and get the money I owe,” I said as I stepped out.

The driver shook his head. “No worries love. You head on inside. Get yourself a nice warm cup of coffee and some sleep.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

I walked through the gates and down the long pathway that led to my house. I could hear my parents’ voices from the moment I got close to the house. If my mother’s shrill voice and my father’s deep muttering were anything to go by, I’d say they were pretty upset.

I sucked in a deep breath and pushed the doors open. I walked through the large empty foyer and into the living room where my parents sat. Like me, they were still in their wedding clothes. It was the longest I’d ever seen my mother wear anything. She typically changes clothing at least twice a day.

“There she is,” my father said. He stood up and walked over to me, the sound of his boots hitting the wooden floor made me recoil in fear. My father had never hit me but the look in his eyes made me terrified that he would. “How could you do this?”

“You disgraced our family!” my mother added. She fanned herself dramatically as she spoke. “And in front of all my friends. I am never going to live this down!”

“Do you have any idea the kind of conversation I had to have with Thomas Everett?”

“Lucas is simply devastated!”

“The poor boy was so embarrassed! And his father was furious.”

“Rightfully so!”

“Why on earth would you do such a thing?”

Their questions and statements continued to pour out until they blurred together and I couldn’t make sense of it anymore. At that moment, I realized that none of this mattered. My life didn’t matter because I had been living it for my parents. Neither of them even stopped to ask how I was or where I had been all day. All that mattered to them was their reputation and their business contacts.

I was tired of all of this. I was tired of letting them control my life. It was time to take the reins and make decisions about my life by myself.

“I’m moving out!”

The room fell silent after I uttered that statement. My mother turned to face me so slowly it was like something out of a horror movie. “What?”

“I’m moving out.”

“Where will you go?” she asked.

I bit my lip as I realized I hadn’t thought this all the way through. “To… um… New York. I’ll go to New York.”

My father scoffed. “That’s madness. You’re not going anywhere. We’ll discuss this with Thomas and Lucas. We’ll explain to them that you simply got cold feet, and we’ll prepare for the wedding to happen in a few weeks. It will be a smaller ceremony this time.”

My mother gasped loudly before speaking. “A smaller ceremony?”

“I’m not getting married to Lucas,” I said.

“Yes, you are,” they said in unison.

“No! I will not marry a man that you chose for me. I won’t condemn myself to a life beside a man I don’t love. I’m tired of tailoring my life to your expectations. I’m moving to New York and there’s nothing either of you can do about it.”

My parents were silent again. It was my dad who spoke first.

“Fine, we’ll let you go to New York.” My mom was just about to disagree when he continued. “But on one condition.”

I sighed. “What condition is that?”

“It’s the only way I will allow you to leave this house. You have to agree or you won’t be going to New York,” he said.

“I agree. Now, tell me, what is the condition?”

“You will have to spend your first four months with my new business partner, Matteo Hayes.”

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