Chapter Seven
Ailee
“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in Charlotte to see your father?” I demand, trying to control my emotions. My mind wants to jump to the most obvious explanation, but I take a deep breath. I’m not going to assume anything until I hear his explanation.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Chad says. Despite his blustery and accusatory tone, his eyes are wide and pleading. Please shut up.
Except I’m not going to shut up. For God’s sake, he just proposed to me last night! Got on his knees and told me he loved me, couldn’t think of a better future than one that we shared together.
“Honey, do you know this woman?” Autumn says, her eyes on Chad.
My mind turns blank. Guess that’s what happens when your head can’t process what’s going on. “I’m his—”
“She’s a patient.”
“A patient?” Autumn’s eyes narrow, her hands clutching Chad like she’s protecting her precious man from me. “Why is she wearing the anniversary gift you gave me, then?”
“Yes, why am I?” This ought to be good.
Chad maintains eye contact with Autumn, doing everything he can to avoid looking at me.
“I’m not sure. I found it in my office some time ago—you probably left it there when you came by, and I meant to bring it back and give it to you.
Guess she took it during our last appointment. She must have seen it on my desk.”
Katt raises both eyebrows. Dad chokes on his tea, and Mom clucks her tongue.
Blood shoots straight into my head as humiliation wells. “Are you calling me a thief?”
“No.” Chad finally turns back to me. “I’m giving my wife a possible explanation as to why you might be in possession of her ring.”
“Wife?” I screech.
He puts on a let’s-all-be-reasonable expression, then attempts to spread his arms and fails, since his wife is still clinging to him. “Look, I don’t want to make things more difficult. I know you’re obsessed with me, but all I’ve ever done is clean your teeth—”
“Yeah, with your tongue.” I fantasize about drilling his teeth without any anesthesia.
Chad flinches, his face turning white. Calculations flash in his eyes as he struggles for something to say that will salvage the situation.
“Oh my God, are you a home-wrecker?” Mom says with a hand over her chest. If she were wearing a necklace, she’d be clutching it.
Dad pats her back. His judgmental eyes accuse me of destroying a man’s family. Katt merely presses her lips together, but there’s a hint of gleeful schadenfreude in her gaze.
Tears start to fall down my cheeks. I feel terribly alone.
It’s obvious that Chad is a shitty human being and a cheater, but this?
“Shouldn’t you at least have some faith in me and ask me for my side of the story before ganging up on me?
He’s a stranger to you!” My voice rises at the end despite myself.
My parents look at me like that thought has never crossed their minds. My chest feels weighted down by a giant boulder.
“What’s going on, Klein?”
I close my eyes, then wipe the tears off my face as more of them fall.
Great. Just great. Now even my boss can witness this embarrassing scene.
There’s no way I’m attending Katt’s and his wedding.
I wish an alien ship would just suck me up into it.
Being kidnapped and experimented upon would be preferable to this.
“Hey, Josh!” Katt says with a wide grin. My parents wave as well, all smiles and warm welcome.
Josh ignores them. As I finally raise my eyes to his, the weight of his gaze intensifies the suffocating feeling knotting in my chest.
“She stole that ring,” my sister says when I stay quiet, trying to find some dignified explanation for the situation. She points at the ring I showed him just this morning. “Apparently she’s obsessed with her dentist.”
“The man is married,” Mom says in a scandalized voice.
“With a pregnant wife,” Dad adds in case Josh is blind and missed Autumn’s very noticeable bump.
I can barely breathe through the ball of resentment and misery lodged in my throat.
Chad won’t have to come up with anything to defend himself with because my family is doing all the dirty work.
Their accusations pierce me, making my heart bleed.
I brace myself for Josh’s judgment. What else could he say after what my family told him?
“Interesting.” Josh glances at the horrible ring I’d love to take off and throw in Chad’s face, except that feels like admitting that Autumn and the rest are correct—the jewelry doesn’t belong to me and I’m a weirdo who harbors an unhealthy obsession with her dentist.
I press my lips and firm my chin. The tears finally come under control. Guess I’ll get to maintain at least that much dignity.
“But Klein didn’t steal anything,” Josh states.
What? I jerk my face up at him, my jaw slack.
“But it’s the same ring as the one he gave his wife,” Katt insists before Autumn can say anything. The latter shoots my sister a grateful look, as bitterness surges within me again.
“Guess you just earned yourself a fan for life,” I mutter. “Better yet, maybe Autumn can be your sister.”
Autumn glares at me, while Katt snorts.
Josh lifts my hand, his thumb and forefinger toying with the diamond. “Actually, I gave her this ring.”
I blink slowly, unsure if I heard correctly. Katt gasps, and my parents look at him wide-eyed. Even Chad opens and closes his mouth a few times. “Um. About that. Er…” he begins finally.
“Hey, Chad. Long time no see. How’s your nose?” Josh’s smile doesn’t reach his eyes.
Wait…Josh and Chad know each other…?
“It’s fine,” Chad grinds out.
“Your plastic surgeon must be pretty good at his job, unlike you.”
Chad turns crimson. “Stay out of this.” He puffs his chest, although the move is counterproductive since it only accentuates the fact that he’s shorter than Josh.
And thinner too. Chad got his body from running and swimming mostly.
Josh is built like he could rip Chad in half and throw both pieces to the North Pole.
Katt steps in between the two men radiating enough testosterone-laden hostility to start World War III. “You don’t have to lie to protect Ailee, Josh.”
I almost nod—for once, she’s correct.
She adds, “I’d never ask you to sacrifice your integrity, not even to protect my family.”
“Your family?” he says blankly.
“Yeah. Ailee’s my twin sister. Fraternal, of course. And you know my mom, and that’s my dad.”
Josh gives her a funny look. “Huh. Would’ve never guessed you and Klein were twins.”
I press my lips together, ignoring the small pang in my gut. Nobody realizes we’re even sisters, so it shouldn’t bother me that he didn’t, either. We’re just too different in appearance and temperament.
Then his gaze cools. “But what makes you think you’re in a position to ask me anything?”
Katt turns white. “Josh—”
He puts his arm around my shoulders. His body heat envelops me, chasing away the chill. I shouldn’t let him hold me like this, but I can’t bring myself to pull away. Suddenly my family’s betrayal doesn’t seem so painful.
“It’s absurd.” Mom lets out a shaky laugh. “She said the ring was an engagement ring.” The subtext is clear: Why would a man like you want a girl like her?
Thanks, Mom. I bite my lip, feeling small.
Josh’s eyebrows pinch tightly, forming deep lines between them. “Yes, it is.” He shoots my parents an even look. “Because I proposed to her.” He turns to me with the most saccharine look in his eyes. “Didn’t you tell them, honey?”