Page 94 of Lethal Vows

My father and stepmother are waiting for me. As soon as I leave the airport, my father, despite being a ruthless man, has a kind smile when it’s directed at one of his children. His arms wrap around me immediately, and my stepmother, Sharon, offers me a small wave.

“Where is Honey?” I ask them.

“She’s going to meet us for dinner. I figured you would be down for a good meal,” my father says.

I turn to find my mother, who is already in the arms of another man. Who, I might add, she never told me she was here to see.

“I’ll see you later, sweetie.” My mother waves and gets into a car with said man.

“Hasn’t changed, I see,” my father comments. “But I’m thankful she got you here. Your sister has been dying to see you.” I technically haven’t seen my sister since I left, but I have spoken to her many times on the phone and even FaceTime.

In her early teens, she went through a phase where she was boy-crazed. I remember my father calling and asking me to talk some sense into her because I wasn’t the same at her age. But Honey and I couldn’t be more opposite. She’s bubbly, sweet, and she always talks to people with kindness.

As she grew older, our communication dwindled a little bit more each year. She was always happy with the fact that one day, she would be married and have children. It’s the romantic in her where I have done everything humanly possible to run far away from that idea and life.

“I’m excited to see her as well. I do have to see a friend tomorrow who had a baby recently.”

“Oh, that’s lovely.” My father puts an arm around me as we walk to his car, where his driver takes my bags as we climb in.

“You should tell her,” my stepmother says.

“Tell me what?”

“Your sister has had a lot going on lately,” my father says.

“Okay.”

“I just hope you can cheer her up,” he adds, looking at Sharon, who shakes her head.

Well, that was weird.

But being cryptic is definitely my father’s thing.

We pull up at the restaurant, and I brush my hands down my trousers. I should have probably asked to go home and shower first and do my makeup. I look like I haven’t slept for hours, which I didn’t, and I’m still wearing the sweats I wore on the plane. My hair is up in a messy bun, and my face is bare.

My father places his hand on my back as he tells me about a new business he has opened. As soon as we enter, I hear my father say Honey’s name.

When I look up, I stop dead in my tracks.

Sitting next to her is Crue.

He’s whispering something in her ear, and she’s smiling and giggling at him. Her eyes find mine, and she stills. Her lips pinch to a flat line before she stands.

And that’s when I see it.

A fucking massive engagement ring on her finger.

I look at Crue to see him eyeing me with venom.

“It’s okay, dear, just breathe,” my stepmother says. “It will all be over soon.”

I don’t want to breathe.

For fuck’s sake, I want to knock myself out and pretend I didn’t just walk in on this… this nightmare playing out in front of me.

Maybe it’s a joke.

Maybe she’s engaged to someone else and nothim.

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