Page 129 of Attached At Heart
“I see,” my mom tutted. “So then, why wait? Why wait for such a long,longtime?” She emphasized Blake’s words in the same manner that he did.
But Blake was unbothered by her attack. “I waited because, as you might know, Delaney made it clear to me that she didn’t want to settle down. And you could say I’m the settling down type.”
“So you’re not like your brother, huh?” my dad cut in, chuckling a little to himself as though he made a really funny joke. Then he went back to polishing off his steak.
Blake bristled at that. “Assuming you’re talking about Noah, he’s actually in a committed relationship. And I don’t expect that to be changing anytime soon.”
“Well.” My mom pursed her lips. “Then do tell. I’d love to know how you got our daughter to change her very stubborn mind about settling down. Since we all know that Delaney is not one to do things she doesn’t want to, especially if it doesn’t align with her…what do you always call it?” She glanced at me. “Life vision, right?”
I snorted. “I don’t know how you can honestly sit there and say that when I let you puppeteer me until I moved out. I danced for you, debuted for you, did everything just to make you?—”
I interrupted myself, clenching my jaw.
I’d always thought that if I made my parents happy, maybe one day they’d make me feel the same. But that didn’t happen. There was never any hope of that happening.
“If you did everything we wanted, you wouldn’t have run off to play with people’s hearts,” my mom snapped back.
I gritted my teeth. She said that like I’d gone off to run a reality dating competition and not become a fully trained cardiologist.
“What was it that you wanted me to do?” I countered. “Stay home and become some investor’s wife?”
Beside me, Blake stiffened.
“We would have liked to have some involvement in your marriage pursuits, yes,” my dad said carefully before taking asip of his red wine. “Why do you think we convinced your grandparents to include that addendum before they passed?”
My jaw dropped as my vision went hazy.
So this…this was apunishment, wasn’t it? For chasing dreams that they never wanted me to have.
“But of course you ignored it,” my mom said with a roll of her eyes. “Didn’t even think to include us. You can thank yourself that we’re here tonight.”
“Iscouredthe will I received,” I countered. “Trust me, there was no addendum. I had no idea I was supposed to include you in my marriage plans, and I assumed you wouldn’t be interested in meeting my husband, considering how much interest you’ve shown in other areas of my life.”
My mom frowned, shooting daggers at me with her eyes before switching to her husband. “Did you not send it to her?”
“Me?” My dad waved the thought away. “I’m sure Anderson would have supplied her with the updated version.”
“There wasnoupdated version,” I insisted through gritted teeth, annoyed that they didn’t have anything to say about the part of the conversation where they never cared about me unless it somehow impacted them. “Not that I received.”
“Clearly.” My mom sniffed and then straightened. “Well, then you might as well tell us more about your…elopement.” Her mouth twisted when she said the last word, like it left a bad taste in her mouth.
Blake cleared his throat. “I know the elopement might seem sudden to you?—”
“Sudden?” My mom laughed. “Not as sudden as you might think. Despite what we hoped would happen, I always suspected she would do this. Show up with a husband she manifested from thin air just to get our money.”
“It’s notyourmoney,” I argued, feeling my blood pressure continue to rise.
“Tell me, how much of a cut is she giving you?” she went on, looking at Blake and ignoring me. “I bet you have your one-year anniversary marked on your calendar, counting down the days until you can divorce. I don’t blame you for wanting to detach yourself from her, considering?—”
“Stop.” Blake nearly bellowed the word, and I jumped in my seat, startled. “Delaney is my wife, and she willbemy wife for as long as she allows me to be her husband. I refuse to sit here and listen to you disrespect her. She might not be living her life the way you want her to be, but each and every day, she cares more about the people around her than she cares about herself, and your continued insinuation that she is selfishly chasing her inheritance is unacceptable.”
I blinked at Blake, shocked and breathless, as my parents struggled with what to say to that. I couldn’t really blame them because I didn’t have any words, either. Even if I did know what to say, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to say anything through the emotion choking me. No one had ever defended me to my parents before. It had always just been me against them, in each and every argument.
“Please.” My mom brushed off her momentary speechlessness, but I could tell she was still a bit rankled by Blake’s assertion. “I’m sure that ring is from a cereal box or something.”
She gave a forced, haughty laugh, but Blake’s lips twitched with the slightest smile, surprising me. “Ah, I’m so glad you brought up the ring, Mrs. Delacroix.” He held out his hand to me, catching my eye. And this time, IknewI was on the outside looking in at something for the first time. Because I had no idea what he was about to say. “Lane, can I see it for a second?”
I nodded, wiggling it off my finger and placing it in his palm.
