Chapter 102

Moana As soon as Edrick and I stepped out of the fountain with our clothes dripping wet, we came face-to-face with Verona. Her eyes were wide open and her mouth hung agape, making me wonder just how much she saw of that entire interaction. She hadn’t been there the whole time, had she? Even just thinking about her seeing our kiss made my heart race.

All at once, Edrick and I both began to stutter out an explanation for ourselves — but Verona only held up her hand and shook her head.

“I don’t need any explanations,” she said with a slight chuckle. “Come with me. Let’s get you both some dry clothes.”

Edrick and I shot each other a glance before following Verona, who almost seemed to be hiding a bit of a smirk as she led us across the garden and into a colonnade. We entered the mansion through a wooden door on the side of the colonnade and came out into a dimly lit, empty hallway.

As we followed Verona through the hallways, I couldn’t stop thinking about my kiss with Edrick. It was a mistake, and I wasn’t denying that... but it was a sweet mistake that lingered on my lips. I could still taste the softness of Edrick’s lips. I could still feel his hands sliding up my waist and coming up to cup my cheeks. Meanwhile, inside of me, Mina became suddenly depressed and all but went to sleep as she came to the realization that I wasn’t going to let things get any further tonight... or ever, probably. I couldn’t help but think to myself if I should just take Michael’s money and leave, for everyone’s sake. It would only cause me more heartbreak to keep having encounters like this with Edrick, only for them to go nowhere, and it would hurt the baby to have such a strange dynamic between its parents. Not only that, but Edrick was probably already receiving a lot of heat from his father over our relationship.

Finally, Verona led us up a small stairway meant for servants and out into the hallway where our bedrooms had been the last time we were here. Edrick silently slipped into his room to change, but Verona stayed with me and led me into the guest room.

“Take that wet dress off,” she said, pointing to the bathroom once the door clicked shut behind us. I headed over to the bathroom with my proverbial tail tucked between my legs and did as she requested, peeling the damp fabric off of my skin, and dried myself with a towel. There was a hair dryer on the sink, so I quickly dried off my damp hair. Thankfully, my makeup was still perfectly intact despite my crying and the fountain accident that night, thanks to Tyrus’ expert application. At least one thing had turned out well that night.

When I managed to fix my hair and finally re-emerged from the bathroom, Verona was rifling through the wardrobe.

“It really was an accident,” I said, watching in my towel as she looked for something for me to wear. “I wanted to cool my feet off, but I slipped in the fountain.”

“There’s no need for any excuses, dear,” Verona said. She withdrew a long, black dress from the wardrobe and held it up to inspect it. “Hmm... This should work. It’s not too tight, so it won’t reveal your belly.”

Not that it’s necessary at this point, I thought to myself. Everyone already knows anyway, apparently.

Instead of saying that, however, I simply smiled and took the dress. I slipped it on over my head and Verona helped me get it adjusted; it actually fit quite well, and was comfortable.

“This was one of my dresses when I was about your age,” Verona said as she zipped the back up. “If you like it, you can keep it. I never wear it anymore.”

It really was a pretty dress. It had a vintage feel to it, with a faintly embossed floral design on the fabric and a fitted bodice. “T-Thank you,” I replied, watching in the mirror as Verona worked. “That’s very generous of you.”

Verona finished zipping up the dress and smiled, looking at me in the mirror. She held my arms and gave them a light squeeze.

“You know,” she said, “you’re such a beautiful girl. I can see why my son cares about you so much.”

My face went red. I didn’t know what to say, and even if I did have an idea, I wouldn’t have been able to get it out. To think that even Edrick’s mother had the impression that Edrick cared for me was both endearing and heart-wrenching, because on one hand I craved his affection and would never forget about that kiss in the fountain, but on the other hand I knew we could never be together. I could only smile weakly back at Verona in the mirror.

“Well then,” she said, patting my arms and stepping away. “Let’s get back to the party.”

I nodded, although I was certain that people would stare at my change of clothes and would start to gossip, and I would have much rather hidden in this very room because of that. However, I knew that Ella was probably wondering where I was; I was here for her, after all.

When Verona and I emerged from the guest room, Edrick was already waiting for us in the hallway. He was wearing almost the exact same clothes, which made me think that no one would even notice that he had changed.

And, as all three of us returned to the banquet hall, it seemed that I was right. No one looked at Edrick, but a few people were already beginning to stare at me as I walked back to the table with Verona. I could practically hear their whispers in my head as I began to imagine the things that they were saying about me or the words that they were calling me. It made me feel almost sick, and I almost touched my belly out of anxiety, but I caught myself and managed not to draw even more attention.

“Moana! Grandma!” Ella said a bit too loudly for my liking as we approached the table. “Where did you go? And, Moana... What happened to your dress?”

I tried my best to smile nonchalantly as I sat down next to Ella, thoroughly exhausted already from the events of the evening. “I just had a wardrobe malfunction,” I said, taking a napkin and wiping a bit of whipped cream off of the little girl’s cheek and choosing to ignore the fact that she was eating yet another dessert. “That’s all.”

“Oh.” Ella seemed a bit confused, but didn’t ask any more questions and returned to eating her dessert. Meanwhile, Edrick was already over at the bar.

When I looked up, I saw that he wasn’t alone, either. Kelly was with him.

And she was staring right at me with an angry scowl on her face. But that wasn’t what scared me the most...

What scared me even more was that she was handing her phone to Edrick, and his eyes went wide as he looked at the screen.