Page 8 of The Wrong Fiancée

"I don't think so, Uncle Sam. It's a busy night, andwe just don't have enough servers. I was pulled in because three of the staff are out sick," Elika said apologetically.

Ginny didn’t want Elika serving us—but I doubted Elika was thrilled about it either. Not that she let it show. She stayed polite, attentive, even gracious. If I were in her place, I would’ve snapped after being treated the way this family treated one of their own.My respect for her grew while my opinion of the Thatchers sank even lower.

Sam nodded. "How's Noe doing?"

Elika's face shut down. "Good."

"The new treatment? Is it working?" Sam asked.

Who the fuck was Noe, and why did she need treatment?

"Yes." Elika didn't look uncomfortable; in fact, she didn't show any emotion, but I could feel she didn't like this conversation.

Sam's expression softened with remorse. "You know I'd help if?—"

"It's fine, Uncle Sam," Elika cut him off. "I've got this."

"Yeah, you do. I'm…so proud of you," Sam continued, and I saw his eyes moisten with emotion. "Your mother would be…proud of you as well."

This time, Elika's smile was genuine. It wasthesmile I'd noticed when I first saw her, the one that had captivated me and told me that I wanted…no,needed—to get to know this woman.

"I better get these bottles to your table," Elika excused herself, and Sam looked devastated.

"I feel like I'm watching a movie from the midway point and have no clue what happened before," I confessed.

Sam chuckled, a bit chagrined. "Let’s get back to our table and make sure Ginny and Rebecca don’t harass the poor girl to the point of tears."

"Why do they dislike her so much?" I asked as we walked back to our party.

"Grant and Noe—Elika's older sister—had been vocal about the whole inheritance situation and even sued us. I wanted to give Grant part of the money. There’s plenty to go around, but Ginny and Felicity were adamant. It’s just the residual of all that. I don’t know why they blame Elika. She had nothing to do with it, and now she's stuck carrying the weight of Grant’s mistakes."

I wanted to ask him to explain because I knew I didn't have the whole story. Also, the fact that Felicity was teamed up with Ginny on the "hate Elika" train made me uneasy.

Now, if we had a problem with someone, our family would be against that person. No question about it. But usually, we'd all know why—it would be because someone tried to hurt one of us. Elika, or at least what I knew of her, was not the type of person who'd ever hurt anyone. But then again, I didn't know her very well, did I?

Yeah, but you want to,a voice inside my head reminded me.

That night, when I asked Felicity about Elika, her tone had been sharp. "Elika's our little family secret. Or maybe, more like our shame."

"What?" I asked, genuinely caught off guard.

My fiancée shook her head. "She dropped out of university after a year. Always had some excuse—money, family problems—who knows. She's always asking Daddy for money to the point that my mother and I had to put our foot down."

I was sitting on the bed, my back against the headboard, while Felicity applied the countless lotions she used to keep her skin toned and smooth.

She usually looked fucking sexy as she stroked her skin, and I'd tumble her into bed, but for some reason, the way she talked about Elika made my dick shrivel.

"Her father was an alcoholic…and he crashed his car with Noe in it. He died instantly. Noe is paralyzed and in a home."

Poor Elika.

"Noe is older than Elika?"

"Yes." Felicity set the lotion on her bedside table. "Elika keeps asking for money using Noe as an excuse and finally, even Dad told her he wouldn't help."

No, that's not what Sam said, I thought. He apologized to Elika for not being able to assist her.

"How badly off is her sister?" I felt sympathy for Elika surge through me.

---