Page 10 of Terms + Conditions
Michaela chews on the corner of her mouth. Her fingers intertwine and she cracks her knuckles. When her eyes lift from the countertop to meet mine, she asks, “How does that lead to the marriage thing?”
I sigh. “I went to Mom when the school suspended us and she tried to find a way to make it all go away.”
“And Brina could do that,” Michaela says, and I nod. “Why would she go to Brina, of all people? She didn’t even know her. Why wouldn’t she and Dad just hire a lawyer and try to—”
“Dad didn’t know anything. Mom told me not to tell him.” I shake my head, swiping the bottle between my hands. “And the Villa name means something. Mom knows that as well as everyone else. I don’t know specifics, Mom just said she knew someone who knew Brina. They were able to put her in touch with her.”
As disappointed as she was, the whole ordeal had worked in Mom’s favor. She had always admired Brina from afar. She heard the stories—we all did—and she had always wanted to get a taste of that world. Who wouldn’t? And in the end, she didn’t get just a taste, she got the whole meal.
“Why would you even agree to something like this?”
“I thought it was my only way out.”
“But if you weren’t involved—”
“We were all going to be investigated. Anyone who was there would be questioned and likely implicated. I knew it was going to get ugly and having something like that on my record…it would be hard to get a job at a decent firm.”
It was something Mom and I had discussed a handful of times since that day in her classroom. Whether the paddle was in my hand or not, I was there. That meant I was just as guilty as the others because I didn’t do anything to stop it. The only way I was going to be spared the investigation and whatever repercussions came with it would be to let Brina work her magic and make my name disappear from the record. The official story was that I was home that night helping my mom move some furniture.
“What about Elijah?” Finn asks. He means Elijah Prince, one of our mutual friends. “He was in your fraternity.”
“He was at home that night.”
“Unbelievable.” My sister sighs.
“I got my name cleared, got to graduate on time, and had a job ready for me when I graduated.”
“And what did Ellie get out of this?” Finn rests his hand on the back of Michaela’s chair, and I imagine he’s gently rubbing circles on her back through the purple dress she’s still wearing. He’s extremely attentive to her, more than her ex-husband, David, ever was when they were married.
“She got her full inheritance before turning thirty and before getting married, and she got to go to SCAD like she wanted. Her parents put a stipulation on her college money that she was supposed to go to Duke.” It was asinine and seemed totally out of character for them, but Elizabeth said they were extremely proud of their alma mater and expected their children to follow in their footsteps if they were going to pay for school. “And she had to be married to get her full inheritance before thirty.”
“All of this just to get out of trouble and get some money?” There it is, Finn can’t hide his shock any longer.
“Seems a little extreme if you ask me.” Michaela laughs darkly.
“Brina was looking for a way to get Liz out of her hair, and Mom was looking for a way to get me out of hers,” I say.
When the Villas adopted Elizabeth, Brina put up a good front to the public, but in truth, she wasn’t happy. Not only did she have one daughter she didn’t want, but now she had two, and one of them wasn’t even hers.
“But an arranged marriage—”
“People do it all the time in other cultures, hell sometimes in our own, and getnothingout of it. At least I got something.”
“So, this is it, then? You’re really going to just let her walk away,” Michaela says.
“She’s made her choice, MJ.”
“And what about you?”
“It’s complicated.”
“What’s so complicated about it?”
My head drops into my hands on the island between us. “It just is, okay?” Looking up at them, I say, “It’s not always black and white. If anyone should understand that, it’s you, MJ.”
Last year was more than a complicated shit show for her. Not only did she hide the fact she had started dating one of my best friends, but she hid her divorce from the family. That’s noteven the worst part; after the truth finally came out, she stupidly broke up with Finn because he didn’t tell herwhyhe had started his foundation for foster kids, Sheffield House. Truth be told, Finn used to be a party animal, traveling the world, living off the money his parents put in his bank account weekly…He was a mess until his adoptive father had enough and told him to get his shit together. He had to prove himself to keep his inheritance. Michaela found out, and instead of looking on the bright side of things, she broke it off with Finn and went back to David. Their reunion lasted longer than anyone expected. Five months, I think? David was running for Congress, and in doing so, he tried to turn Michaela into a completely different person. She realized she couldn’t be with him. Not only was he an obnoxious asshole, but she was in love with Finn. We all knew it, she just needed to figure it out for herself.
“I’m sorry for lying to you all these years, but legally, I didn’t have a choice.”
