Page 10 of Never Been Worse

Fucking Clarissa Astor is here.

“Oh, that’s so cute,” someone coos, clapping her hands excitedly.

“Atlas Oaks is his favorite band, and I justknowhe’d love it. We’ve just…” A deep sigh reaches my ears, and I roll my eyes at her fakeness. “You know, things have been so hard lately.”

“You two are so strong, though. This journey is only bringing you two together. And we’re all so excited about your line! It’s the start of a new legacy.”

I grit my teeth so hard I should be worried about the enamel.

New legacy, my ass. It was supposed to be the start ofmylegacy.

I should leave. I should slip out and?—

“You know, his ex, the one that designs those little pageant dresses or whatever?” Clarissa starts, leading the conversation in a way that almost sounds casual, but I know is calculated. “I hear she’s claiming the designs Jeremy and I worked on together arehers,” she says in a fake, hushed whisper, and my blood goes cold because that hasn’t happened, and eveninsinuatingit could destroy my credibility.

“Noway!” one of the girls says. “That’s crazy! You designed them with Jeremy, right?”

Nausea churns in my stomach at the realization that this is her plan. Plant these tiny seeds of doubt just in case I start whispering my own facts.

Destroy my credibility before it’s even an issue.

“Yeah, so I told my daddy, and well, you know how protective he is of me. He told me she’s pretty much done in this industry by the end of the week.”

My stomach churns as I remember the way my fabric supplier never returned my call this week and how two of my consultations were canceled.

No, no,no!

This can’t be happening.

“I’m sooo sorry you’re dealing with this, Clarissa. It sounds like his ex is insane. First, trying to tear you two apart after you’ve been in love for so long, then vandalizing his house, and now this?”

“It’s all good,” Clarissa says, bliss in her words. “It will all be cleared out soon. You know, my daddy says Jeremy asked him for permission to propose.”

Squeals erupt, and I swallow down the nausea that churns with the knowledge that nothing in the past four years was real. I spent the last two waiting for Jeremy to propose, deluding myself into thinking we would be something, that every time I felt a tug in my gut that something was off, it was in my head. I let Jeremy lie and manipulate me until I was left with nothing but the husk of someone I barely even recognize anymore.

And just like that, something in me snaps, an old version of myself I’ve long buried stirring awake. It’s then I make the decision.

A wise one? I don’t know. A safe one? Absolutely not. But where has being safe gotten me?

After a life of watching my friends be spontaneous, happy, and blissfully ignorant of all of the bad outcomes of any given decision, I’m ready to be impulsive. Because fuck it. How much worse could things get?

I’m tired of being the safe, easy friend, the one who lets people walk all over her, who finds herself pinned in place by some asshole who took everything from her.

My home, my confidence, my stability.

My future.

The noise in the bathroom dies down as the women leave, and I’m doing math in my head as I walk out of the stall and wash my hands, determined to win, if only in this one, stupid way.

I march back to the table Ava and I are sitting at, grabbing a glass of expensive champagne from a tray a server is holding. I down it as I walk, grabbing a second flute before I reach our table and chugging that as well. I put both glasses on a third tray before grabbing a full one and sitting next to Ava, a wide, fake smile on my lips.

“Clarissa is here,” I say under my breath, eyes on the auctioneer who is walking up to the podium to begin.

“No,” she whispers with shock, and I nod. “I’m so sorry, Harper. We can leave if?—”

I shake my head aggressively. “Hell no,” I say. “I’ve got a plan.” Ava looks at me, and finally, I look back at her, letting her see the pure determination and a bit of the unhinged anger that’s flowing through me, and slowly, her lips tip up.

“About damn time,” she says, then lifts her glass to mine, and we cheers with a wide smile.

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