Page 27 of Lush

“I saw you, you know.”

Serena blinked. “Saw me what?”

“I saw you and Miles sneaking away at my engagement party back then.”

Gigi gasped, and for a split second, Serena’s face cracked.

“Oh shit!” Gigi said. “You and Miles?Miles, Miles?Does Erik know?”

I hummed, tilting my head. “Erik’s gonna be mad you’re sleeping with his ex–best friend. And Mama—whew. Mama explicitly said we don’t speak to the Whitmores anymore. That’s not favorite daughter behavior, is it?”

“Serena, please tell me you’re not…” Gigi looked at her. “After everything that happened? How can you risk this?”

Serena’s throat bobbed. “I wasn’t— It wasn’t like…”

“What would Mama think if she knew?”

The silence that followed was thick, suffocating.

There was a knock at the door, and Mama walked in. “What’s going on in here?”

I straightened, crossing my arms tightly over my chest. Serena’s face was flushed, her jaw tight, and she turned away.

Gigi, still sitting on the bed, looked between us. “We’re discussing world peace?”

Mama stood there, waiting. Her eyes flicked between the three of us, and I knew she didn’t believe us. Serena sucked her teeth loudly, looking at Mama only.

“Excuse me, I’m late for a meeting.” Without another word, Serena spun on her heel and stormed out.

Gigi and I exchanged looks, and Mama watched Serena go before she glanced back at us. “Why are you still in bed, Laurene? You’ve got a job interview to get ready for.”

I blinked. “What? Where?”

“If you are gonna live in my house again, you work. I got you an interview at the art gallery downtown. Be thankful.”

Just then, Gigi jumped into action.

“I’ll help you get ready, Lulu. We can pick out an outfit together,” she offered, and she hopped up from the bed heading to the door. “Lemme go get my stuff.”

“You know, Gigi,” Mama said, her voice dripping with disdain, “you really should be looking for a real job.”

“I do have a job, Mama.”

“Oh really?” Mama arched a brow. “And what, exactly, is your job? Posting online for your followers?”

“There’s money that can be made online. People wanna hear what I got to say. I have, like, two million followers.” Gigi’s smile faltered. “I’m building something. It might not be what you want, but?—”

“You’ll never be taken seriously. You need to finish thatcollege degree. You keep starting and stopping. C’mon, Georgiana, how long are we gonna do this?”

Gigi’s shoulders tensed, then deflated. There was no point in fighting it.

“Fine, just go.” Mama waved Gigi off, and she basically bolted from the room. Then Mama turned to me. “Remember what I said last night.”

“I wouldn’t dare forget.” My smile was dry.

She nodded curtly before leaving, the door clicking shut behind her.

I’d often thought about Grandpa when I was away. I sometimes wondered if he hadn’t ruined that deal, if we hadn’t lost millions of dollars, maybe Mama wouldn’t have partnered with Harold. Maybe I wouldn’t have been sold off to him, and maybe one day Reese and I could have been together for real.

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