Page 11 of We Wish You a Happily Ever After

“Now answer the question. When’s the album coming out?”

Bella forced a smile on her face. “Soon.” It was a lie. The truth was there would be no album, not after discovering Kyle—her sort-of boyfriend, the leader of Velvet Heart, the band she was in, and the man who had creative control over the album in question—in bed with another woman. Kyle hadn’t thought it was a big deal, but Bella had a different opinion. One that she expressed in the form of yelling and throwing all of Kyle’s things—including his guitar—out the window of his studio apartment to the street below.

Her little tantrum, followed by her subsequent quitting of the band and leaving them in the lurch right before a gig had pretty much guaranteed she was out of the record deal. Never mind the fact that she no longer had a band to play with, or well…much of a career left at all.

All details she didn’t think needed to be shared with her grandfather at that moment. After all, it’s not as if it would change anything if he was disappointed in her.

“I’m working on a few things, Papa.” She forced a smile to her face. “But I think the most important thing to work on is getting this house ready for the holidays, don’t you think?”

He watched her carefully, but finally gave her a nod. Papa wasn’t a stupid man. Even if his memory was starting to fail him, he wasn’t going to fall for her lies that easily, and she knew it. With any luck, she could distract him long enough to sort something out.

Papa pushed his chair back from the table and stood. “I agree.” He dusted his hands together. “Jeremy should be here any moment.”

At the mere mention of his name, her heart fluttered and a blush came over her before she could stop it. “Jeremy? What does he have to do with anything?”

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