Page 27 of Dream Girl Drama

Frustration was biting into his ribs. He’d reached another dead end. That much was obvious. He could push, but he was always hesitant to upset his mother. She was the only family he had and he wanted to remain on good terms. Still, he didn’t want to end this phone call with nothing. He just needed a crumb.Somethinghe could use to look into Harvey’s background himself. Not only to prevent him from rendering Sofia, and thus, Chloe, penniless... but because if he didn’t do everything in his power to stop the wedding, he’d regret it his whole life. “Do you happen to know any of the women Harvey dated after he left Minnetonka?”

This wasn’t a question he’d asked before and it seemed to momentarily throw off his mother. When she recovered, her tone was almost bashful. “Well, I’ll admit to doing some light internetstalking in a moment of weakness. Harvey and I retained one mutual friend—for a while, anyway. I’ve lost touch now. But they did delight in telling me he’d moved on to some beautiful heiress down in South Carolina, just months after he took off.”

Had Harvey conned this heiress, too? “Do you remember her name?”

“I’m embarrassed to say that I do. But... well, he made an impression, I guess. The jealousy must have burned her name into my brain. It’s Ulla Franklin.”

Now it was burned into Sig’s memory, too. “Thanks, Rosie. I’ll let you go now.”

“All right. Thanks for calling.”

“Don’t forget to give me a date to visit.”

“I will, Sig. Bye now.”

“Bye.”

After hanging up, he remained eerily still for a moment, asking himself if he was really prepared to take the next step. One he’d been on the verge of pursuing for a while. It seemed extreme. No, it was. But he’d go to every extreme possible for Chloe. She was worth every effort available to him.

Sig scrolled to an email he’d received from his agent, David, a week prior. A response to a message Sig had sent the man asking if he could recommend a private investigator. Now, he clicked the phone number, which was highlighted in blue, and put the phone to his ear.

“Hello?” asked a voice on the other end.

“Hi. Is this Niko?”

“Who’s calling, please?”

“My name is Sig Gauthier. You were recommended by my agent, David Malone.”

“Right.” Fingers tapped on a keyboard in the background. “What kind of investigation are you calling about?”

Five months later

Sig let himself into Chloe’s apartment, freezing in place when he saw her standing less than five feet away... holding a cake. Covered with lit candles.

Behind her in the kitchen lay a mess of epic proportions. Pans and batter and filthy utensils on every surface. Hell, Chloe herself looked like she’d been doused in flour.

This couldn’t be what he thought it was.

The very possibility weighed him down with so many emotions, he almost turned and walked out of the apartment. Her smile kept him there.

“What is this?”

“It’s your birthday!”

Suspicion confirmed. She’d made him a birthday cake.

Oh fuck.

He’d been stung by a swarm of wasps in the dead center of his chest. He had tremendous balance, but just then, it was deserting him, so he tried to make it look casual when he closed the door and leaned back against it, using it to stay upright.

“You made that yourself, Chlo?”

Dumb question. He’d seen the kitchen. But words were failing him.

“Yes.” She presented the cake higher, proud, but also worried. He could see that. She was worried he wouldn’t like it? “No one ever talks about how hard it is to crack an egg. And then getting the broken piece out of the bowl? It’s like... ugh. It just doesn’t want to be caught, you know? Just when you think you’ve trapped that sucker, boom, it’s gone.”

Growing up, his mother had done everything she could to make the day special with limited resources and Sig treasured the memories of those slices of Entenmann’s and cups of grape soda.And his mother had called this morning. But it had been... damn. Almost a decade since the last time he’d celebrated his birthday with someone else.

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