Page 109 of How to Get Even

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Bella couldn’t sleep. She’d left Chase in bed, not wanting to disturb him, and come out to the living room. She walked to the window and looked down on the city that also wasn’t sleeping. Slashes of lights down below made it look like the night sky, as if she were peering down on an alternate universe.

I’m not going anywhere. And neither are you.

Would he still feel that way if he found out about the revenge plan? Would he still want to be with her if he found out that she wasn’t just Good Bella or Bad Bella, but some crazy combination of both?

Because that’s what had happened to Bella since coming to work at Nayak. At first she’d been so hell-bent on destruction, she hadn’t worried about being perfect and keeping the peace. And she’d actually enjoyed being bad. Being naughty, being… oh, justnotworried about making sure Chase didn’t leave her like everyone else, because she hadn’t cared about him then. Not really.

But now? Now she knew that she’d be devastated if he walked away from her. Just the thought of it tore her apart in ways that Olly running away hadn’t even touched. And as if just thinking about it had conjured it to being, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. It was as if it was already slipping through her fingers and this time, the future she wanted so badly she could taste it.

‘Are you okay?’

She clenched her jaw to stop herself from saying,No. No, I’m not. I lied to you and I don’t think you’ll be able to forgive me.

Chase came to stand behind her, pulling her against his chest and wrapping his arms around her.

‘Can’t sleep?’

Bella shook her head.

‘It’ll be okay you know,’ he whispered.

She nodded.

‘You’ve done amazing things, Bella Carmichael, I hope you know that,’ he said, resting his head on hers.

A part of her rejoiced, and the other twisted in shame.

‘We could never have turned things around without you. The team, me. We all came together with you. And it’s… special. You should know that.’

His praise meant the world to her. It was special. They’d become like a family. Like Paige, Astrid and Sienna had become her family. Ones that meant more because they’d chosen to work together, chosen to be together. Not because of blood, but because of friendship. And the thought of either of those two groups, Nayak or the girls, disappearing from her life was so devastating that Bella chose the present. Tomorrow would come and would bring what it would bring. But for now, she just wanted as much time with Chase as she could get.

‘Take me to bed?’ she asked.

‘Your wish is my command.’

* * *

Even though it was a pre-opening, everyone was still making an effort to dress in their finest. Ali was putting on her make-up and Bella had offered to do her hair, which had pretty much made Ali’s entire year. The boys were getting ready in Chase’s office, Maurice pushing both Chase and Tej from making a mess of Ye-Joon’s tie.

Bella watched with a smile, the feeling of warmth in her chest spreading. A message pinged from her parents.

Good luck!

They’d offered to come tonight, but she’d assured them that it was better for them to come to the actual opening next week. Tonight, she wanted this to be about the gallery, about Chase. She didn’t want to spend the entire evening making suretheywere okay.

Ali craned her neck, trying to get another glimpse of Ye-Joon and Bella gave up fighting her smile.

‘It’s like prom, isn’t it?’ Ali said with an eager smile.

‘I guess so,’ Bella hedged.

‘You guess?’

‘We had a family emergency, so I missed mine,’ Bella said, remembering how Bea had spiked a fever, and her parents had taken her to the hospital and she’d had to stay at home with her grandmother who had been too upset to leave alone that night.

‘I’m so sorry.’ Ali’s sincerity hit her like a blast, but Bella waved it away, like she always did.

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