Page 79 of Avalanche
Lani: When were you going to tell us?!
Lani: I thought it was a hoax at first when Summer showed me but apparently its for real? I know you’re probably in bed already but please call us when you get up, okay?
Guilt twists in my stomach as I read Lani’s messages. It’s been at least three weeks since I video chatted with my best friends. I’d been so caught up with everything here—training, working, the guys, Seth’s accident—I’d almost forgotten about life back home entirely.
The guilt is quickly overpowered by surprise as I take in the meaning of her words.
“She knows we got married,” I whisper, turning stare at Antoine’s sleepy figure in the dark. “They found out.”
It’s not like it was a secret, exactly. But I haven’t spoken to anyone from home in weeks. I certainly haven’t told anyone that Antoine and I had gotten married so he could try to claim his inheritance.
“What?” Antoine sits up in bed, pulling the covers off me in the process. I shiver, my phone fumbling from my hands as I attempt to hold the blankets in place. Liam grumbles in protest beside me. “What do you mean, they found out?”
I scramble to pick up my phone in the dark, then hold it up so he can see Lani’s text. “I didn’t tell her about it,” I explain as his eyes scan the line of messages from my friend. “I was going to call her, but I just got so busy with work and Seth and…”
And I hadn’t quite worked out how to explain my getting married to someone I’d only known a few months. As open minded as my friends are, they’re also protective. I just couldn’t envisage that conversation going well.
So I haven’t told anyone. Not even Tessa, who I see every day at work.
But somehow, Lani knows.
My mom must know too, I realize, as I flick through her string of texts. Do you think you’ll be going to France to live? I’d missed it the first time, dismissed it in my surprise at seeing anything from her at all. But there it is.
“I think my mom knows too,” I whisper, my fingers tightening around my phone as I glance between Antoine and Liam. “At least, she said something about my going to France…”
“Let me check something.” Liam grabs his own phone from the bedside table, squinting at the overly-bright screen. There’s a brief, tense silence punctuated by fingers tapping and followed by a triumphant huff as he thrusts his phone into Antoine’s hands. “There!” he exclaims. “That explains it.”
I sit up, pressing close beside Antoine, the blankets pooling at my lap. Liam turns to watch us, concern mingling with the mildest hint of amusement as we read the list of headlines.
French pharmaceutical heir finds love on the snow.
Society insider: French heir’s surprise marriage. What do we know about Lily Dean?
Love is in the heir: Pharma heir finds love with American snowboard instructor. But will it last?
“Oh my god,” I breathe, then cringe when Antoine clicks on one of the links.
A photo of me pops up—one from a year ago when I was at the beach with my friends. I’m mid laugh, with Lani on one side and Summer on the other, all three of us in bikinis. Behind us, the iconic Lanikai mokes sit amid blue green waters. It’s picture perfect. One of the very few photos I ever posted on social media. A perfectly acceptable photo.
Just not one I’d wanted to see on a news site.
“Oh my god,” I repeat.
“Putain de merde,” Antoine mutters, as he scrolls through the commentary. “C’est…”
My heart drops to my stomach as I read along with him, my eyes flicking to take in the words as quickly as possible.
Antoine Lafosse, grandson of founder of Bioluxe Pharmaceutical Corp, is set to inherit billions after an intense legal battle shook the French courts. He has reportedly married American snowboard instructor, Lily Dean, only days before a decision was reached this afternoon declaring the late Lafosse’s last Will and Testament valid. Inside sources say the marriage took place at a ski resort in the United States, where Mr Lafosse currently resides, with none of the Lafosse family present. Full details of the Will could not be obtained, but questions were raised during the hearing as to the legitimacy of the marriage, which was allegedly required in order for Mr Lafosse to secure his inheritance.
According to our sources, Lily Dean was enrolled as a law student at the University of Hawaii before moving to Park City, where she currently works as a snowboarding instructor at a ski resort. Her family own a number of small businesses in Hawaii.
“I think she’s just after the money,” one source close to the couple informed us. An ex-lover of Mr Lafosse, who declined to give his name citing privacy concerns, noted that “Mr Lafosse never gave any indication of being interested in women while [he] was dating him”, bringing into question whether this is a true ‘love’ marriage at all, or whether there are more insidious motives at play…
“You don’t need to read that.” Liam snatches the phone from Antoine’s trembling hands, scowling briefly at the article before turning it face-down on the bedside table.
I stare at Antoine, his expression hard to decipher in the near-darkness.
I think she’s just after the money. Is that what Antoine thinks? Is that what everyone thinks?
