Page 11 of Not His Bride

She doesn’t look at me. Gathering her skirt in both hands, she steps off the dais and heads straight across the ballroom.

Because I’m frozen, I can only sit here.

I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.

An entire wedding reception heard me tell Phillip Jovi that I wanted Debbie. They heard me agree to marry Lilith because she was the only daughter available. They heard every stupid thing I said about hiring her a stylist and having her keep house while the rest of us handled the important work.

Then Lilith stood in front of all of them and asked for an annulment.

As my body finally catches up, my chair goes backward so hard it nearly tips when I stand.

“Lilith.”

She keeps walking.

People turn in their chairs to watch her. A few guests have their phones out now. The reporters don’t even bother pretending they aren’t taking pictures. Camera flashes go off near the front tables, one after another.

I step off the dais.

Debbie is beside the head table. Her champagne glass is in one hand and her phone is in the other. She watches Lilith leave with a smile she isn’t bothering to hide anymore.

I stop long enough to look at her. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Her smile slips. “She deserved to know.”

“There is a time and a place, and now is neither of them.”

She lifts a shoulder. “Should have told her before the wedding.”

It’s true. But when I found out I’d be marrying Lilith, I assumed Lilith was the lesser sister. I assumed I couldn’t grow to care about her. But I was wrong. In my short time with Lilith, I can already tell that we’ve all underestimated her. As brutal as Debbie was, everything that was shown in the video were my words and reactions.

Lilith is almost at the ballroom doors, getting farther away while I stand here, thinking about it.

Forget briskly walking, I’m full-on running, hoping I can reach her before she leaves. I watch as Lilith slips out the doors and into the lobby. I’m right behind her. The door shuts behind us.

Her ivory skirt trails across the floor behind her. The attendant near the doors looks unsure whether he should pretend none of this is happening. After a moment, he quickly scurries away.

“Lilith, please.”

She stops. I almost run into the back of her dress before I manage to stop myself.

Her shoulders move once beneath the thin fabric of her dress. Then she turns around. The black choker is around her neck. It’s the same one I remember seeing her wear at the Kenning wedding four weeks ago. Her hair is pinned the way it was upstairs earlier, except one of the curls has fallen loose along her cheek. Probably the one she was tinkering with in the bridal suite.

I immediately notice that her wedding ring is still on her finger. The sight of it gives me a stupid amount of hope, considering she asked for an annulment less than two minutes ago.

Lilith crosses her arms. “What?”

“I’m sorry.”

Lilith gives me a look. “That’s it?”

“No.” I pause to take a breath. “I wanted Debbie when I approached your father, that’s true. I thought she’d be a better fit, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. From almost the second we first spoke to each other today, I knew it was always supposed to be you.”

“Before today, you didn’t even know I had anything to do with my family’s business. A month ago, you were negotiating with my father because you wanted my sister.” She gestures back toward the ballroom. “So don’t stand here and tell me it was always supposed to be me. You didn’t choose me. You got me.”

I hate the way she says it because there’s nothing I can correct. That is exactly what happened.

“You’re right. I didn’t choose you then, but I’m choosing you now.”