Chapter 64

Chapter 64

l’anxiously watched my phone for the video to pop up under some not–so–clever title like “Werewolf Princess Pops Her Lid“. By the next day, though, it hadn’t appeared. I supposed that Lisa had used her connections in the media industry to make it disappear before it could gain any traction, or the people in our self- defense class were so scared of her after her treatment of Bradley that they didn’t dare cross her.

By the time work ended and I was closing up shop, I was certain that the video. wasn’t going to appear. I even started to think that Lisa’s threat to tell Andrew had not come to fruition.

Then Andrew walked through the front doors of the shop, a determined look on his face.

I mentally cursed Lisa, wondering what she might have told Andrew. Nothing good, that much I knew.

“Hello, Andrew,” I said with a forced smile. “I assume that you’re not here to check on the wedding plans again, are you?”

Andrew’s determined look melted into a smile.

“No, I’m here to flirt with the cute wedding planner. It looks like I’m going to have to settle for the gorgeous one, instead.”

I rolled my eyes but giggled, nonetheless.

“Really, Andrew, why are you here? I assure you that Jeffrey is doing his job just fine.”

“Yes, I can see that he is. I just came by to see how your self–defense class went last. night.”

“It was interesting. Lisa certainly seems to have a knack for it, if what I saw during the practice session was any indication.”

“Did you get to practice?”

“No, but maybe I’ll get to practice in the upcoming sessions.”

“Maybe I can help you outside of class.”

I smirked. I knew he would offer.

Chanier of

That would be nice. You’d need a lot of padding, though.”

Andrew cocked his brow at me.

“I’m sure that I could take any blow that you can throw at me.”

I chuckled.

“If you don’t believe me, just ask Lisa.”

Andrew tensed at this second mention of Lisa, but it was so brief that I might have imagined it.

“Did anything else noteworthy happen?”

For a moment, I contemplated not telling him about the argument with Lisa. Then I realized that Andrew probably wouldn’t have come to see me in person if he hadn’t already heard about it. It was better not to lie or omit it.

“Well, after the class, Lisa and I got into an argument, of sorts. More what happened was that Lisa kept saying things that seemed to try and get me to fight with her, but I didn’t take the bait. When I pointed out to her that there were people recording us, she backed off and left.”

“And that’s all?”

“Yes, that’s all. You can ask Jeffrey if you don’t believe me. He could probably make out most of it from wherever he was hiding.”

Andrew shook his head.

“No, no, I believe you. I just wished that you two got along better.”

I sighed and stared down at the counter.

“I don’t think that’s ever going to be a possibility.”

“Why do you think that?”

I hesitated. I knew that I couldn’t tell him the whole truth, but he had to know some of what was going on between Lisa and me. Nothing was going to change if it stayed between us.

“She doesn’t like me being around you, Andrew. She thinks that I’m trying to take advantage of you. She wants me out of your life.”

When Andrew didn’t answer, I sensed that something was wrong. I slowly looked

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up to find that his expression had darkened, his shoulders had tensed, and his jaw had clenched. I had never been afraid of Andrew before, but the anger that I could feel coming off of him at that moment got me close.

“Do you really think that my daughter is so petty that she wouldn’t want me to find. happiness? That she would deprive me of that chance?”

“I’m just telling you what she told me-

“No, what you’re doing is trying to make me believe that my daughter would make me choose between two people that I care about-

“I never said that-

“No, you implied it. And I don’t appreciate it.”

Andrew stormed out the door of the bridal shop and slammed it behind him, leaving me bewildered and full of regret.

After I returned to my apartment that night, I called Lily via video chat for our weekly meeting regarding the bridal shop. We were in the middle of discussing that week’s expenses when Lily cleared her throat.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Lily said. “You seem a bit distracted tonight.”

I should have known that I couldn’t hide anything from her, especially not on video chat.

“It’s nothing, really. Let’s just get this over with.”

“Come on, Crystal. I’m not only your boss; I’m your best friend, too. You know that you can trust me with anything”

Of course, I could trust her with anything–almost anything. I just didn’t want to bother her with something so trivial as me having a fight with a maybe–lover. Still, she did ask.

“I had a fight with Andrew. Well, it seemed like a normal conversation, then I guess it turned into a fight on his end. He stormed out of the shop.”

“Do you think he will go somewhere else for the wedding?”

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Chapter 64

“No, I doubt that. It’s far too late for that. I just don’t know if or when he’ll talk to me about anything outside of the wedding planning again.”

“Well, what was the fight about?”

“I told him that Lisa doesn’t want me in his life, and for some reason, that made him snap. He accused me of saying that Lisa doesn’t want him to find happiness and that she’s trying to make him choose between two people that he cares about, but I never said any of that.”

Lily nodded, but a smile snuck across her face.

“What?” I said. “What are you smiling about?”

“Nothing, nothing. It just seems that Andrew might care about you more than you realize.”

I blushed.

“How do you reckon that?”

“He flat out said it. He said that you’re his happiness and that you’re one of two people that Lisa is trying to make him choose between. He loves you.”

I shook my head.

“That’s…that’s not the point. Why did he get so angry?”

“Don’t you see? He thinks that if Lisa doesn’t want you in his life, then he’ll have to choose between the two of you. He doesn’t want to have to think about having one day choose between who could be the love of his life and his daughter.”

“That’s it? He doesn’t want to choose between us?”

“Would you?”

to

No, I wouldn’t want to. Andrew clearly loved Lisa and would do anything for her- something that he had proven that he would also do for me, time and time again. At the same time, Lisa loved Bob, and I could not exist in a world where Bob roamed freely.

“It might come down to that.“