Page 4 of Don't You Dare Marry Me

“Sorry I’m late, love.”

Oh yeah, they were back together.Abagail cringed. She’d never liked Chaya, though it wasn’t entirely her fault. It was her parents’ fault. She was just as entitled and snobbish as Warren. Abagail bit the inside of her cheek to keep her mouth shut. The last thing she needed at this moment was to add fuel to the fire.

Abagail’s eyes were locked on Nicola, on the shame, the pain, the obvious hurt that crossed her features that she never managed to cover up. Nicola’s face was always an open book. Abagail loved seeing her because of that. She hadn’t been hardened by the entitlement of Warren or beaten down into someone she wasn’t. And she was a breath of fresh air.

She always had been.

“What are you doing here, Nicola?” Chaya sneered, and it sent shivers up Abagail’s spine. Who gave her the right to talk to Nicola like that? Who gave her the right to think that she had any standing in this family?

Oh right, the family relationship that had been established for years.

Abagail held back her sigh and was about to face Warren and Chaya when Nicola’s voice drew her back.

“You know? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Nicola tightened her grasp on her purse strap and she squared her shoulders. Some sort of mask came over the hurt, though Abagail could still see it underneath. She had no doubt that Nicola was trying to hide everything. “It really doesn’t matter in the long run, does it? Warren, I expect that check you promised me.”

And then she was gone.

Abagail watched her leave, the way her rounded ass swayed from side to side in the thin cotton dress that she wore, the stiffness in her shoulders that Abagail had never witnessed before. She honestly hated seeing it there. Nicola wasn’t built for that kind of stress and hurt. She was built for smiles and joy. She’d always been the light in the center of the room when it came to this family. And it seemed as if that light had been permanently put out.

“What check?” Abagail said under her breath, not facing Warren. Not yet. She wanted to watch as Nicola walked completely out of the house and disappeared. Abagail realizedbelatedly that she wasn’t even listening for Warren’s answer because she was too caught up with Nicola leaving. Forcing herself to turn on Warren, Chaya, and Estelle, Abagail raised an eyebrow at them and waited for the answer.

“She uh… she just wants his money,” Chaya said, stuttering slightly in the beginning.

Had she said that already?

Abagail didn’t care. She focused on Warren. “How much money?”

“She demanded fifty thousand when I broke things off with her. Ridiculous. She won’t give me Nana’s ring back until I pay her.”

While fifty thousand dollars wouldn’t break their bank, money also didn’t grow on trees. Abagail let that information sit in the top of her chest as she mulled through all the possibilities. And what the hell could Nicola need that kind of money for? She was a young, capable woman. She could very easily get a job and work to earn a living.

“And you agreed.” Abagail didn’t ask it like a question, because it wasn’t. Nicola’s understanding was that Warren would give her money in exchange for the ring. She probably wouldn’t have shown up that night if that hadn’t been the case. “What right did you have to do that?”

“What?” Warren squeaked.

“You aren’t in charge of the accounts, Warren. You have no power except over the funds you receive from your trust, and I doubt you have that kind of cash lying around because you’re too stupid to actually do anything worthwhile with the money instead of just spending it.” Abagail narrowed her gaze at him. “And you’re stupid enough to let a woman like that go in exchange for someone exactly like you.” She gestured toward Chaya, who at least had the decency to look offended.

“Aunt Abagail!” Warren started, but she held up her hand to silence him.

“I’m appalled by your behavior tonight.” She flicked her gaze to Estelle, who at least looked down at her toes and shuffled her feet like she’d been the one who was scolded. Well, good. Because she’d been as shit a parent as Abagail’s brother had been when he was alive. They both cared far more about themselves than anyone else.

And it seemed Warren hadn’t fallen that far from the tree.

“You treated the woman you claimed to love for years like dirt.” Abagail wrinkled her nose in a sneer. “And all for what? To prove that you’rein lovewith Chaya?” She scoffed. “Grow up, Warren.”

“We’re engaged, Aunt Abagail,” Warren started, holding onto Chaya’s arm like it was his shield against her. “And I’d really like to be able to give her the ring that she deserves.”

Abagail’s stomach churned at that thought. Chaya deserved it? God, she couldn’t believe he’d even said that, nonetheless believed it. Abagail looked around the room. This was their engagement party, wasn’t it? She remembered something vaguely about the formal invite saying engagement, but she’d assumed Warren and Nicola…

Had he just taken those party plans and literally changed the women out like they were nothing to him? Fuck, they were nothing to him, weren’t they?

Abagail breathed in deeply, making eye contact with several of the other distant family members that were blood related, the others who were business partners or long-standing friends to the family. She recognized each of them. That’s exactly what this was. Shaking her head, she folded her hands together.

“If you’re getting married, then you better step up and start acting like you’re grown up enough to make these adult decisions.” Abagail bit the inside of her cheek. Why did she sooften feel like more of the parent to him than Estelle was? She hated it. He was the reason she hadn’t ever wanted children. Well, plus the fact that if she’d had children, they would have been under the same pressures that Warren had been growing up.

And her kids would have turned out the same way.

Spoiled.

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