Chapter 39 – Chrissy
Chapter
Thirty-Nine
CHRISSY
Sunlight slipped through my thin curtains, turning the scattered rose petals into a soft, ethereal carpet across my apartment’s cheap linoleum floor.
Ben’s arm lay loose over my waist, his breath steady against my neck.
For a quiet moment, I just listened to him, alive and here with me, even after everything that had happened.
It felt right. Last night had been a slow, careful reunion that stitched something broken back together between us.
But, unfortunately, morning dragged reality in with it: we only had one day left before Vivian was due to arrive.
I shifted carefully, mindful of his bandages. His eyes opened instantly, that piercing blue finding mine.
“Morning,” he murmured, his voice sleep-rough.
“Morning.” I brushed a kiss to his forehead. “Is your wound okay?”
“It’s sore, but manageable.” A faint smile curved his scarred lips. He tugged me closer, his touch gentle and reverent. “You?”
“Better now that you’re with me and I know you, and Henry, and Lucia are all okay.” I traced his jaw. “But we can’t stay in bed. The clock’s ticking, love.”
He nodded, his expression stone serious.
“We should call Henry before we do anything else, but my phone’s probably dead out in the truck. If I give you his number, will you call him?”
I grabbed my phone, dialed the number he called out to me, and put it on speaker.
Henry answered fast, relief thick in his voice.
“Chrissy?”
“Both of us,” I said. “Ben’s here with me. How’d you know it was me?”
“Good. Lucia’s been pacing, wondering how things went when you two reunited,” Henry gave a low exhale. “And I knew it was you because I saved your number in my phone when you clicked accept on the site for the Game, just in case I should ever need it, for any reason.”
“Tell her we’re all good,” Ben said. “We need you at Ashgrove House today. Both of you.”
“We’ll be there,” Henry replied. “Is there anything else I should know?”
We sketched out the basics for him: the roses, Alice’s shove, the busted stitches. Then we filled him in on the bigger worries: the trashed lodge that needed cleanup and Harris potentially feeding Vivian intel.
“I told him I’d fucked things up with Chrissy,” Ben told Henry, his voice hardening. “He asked me about wedding preparations, and he never mentioned to me that Chrissy had come looking for us. Twice.”
Henry went quiet a beat.
“He deliberately chose not to give you information that could have led to you reconciling with Chrissy sooner, which tells me he’s rooting for Vivian to take everything.”
“Logical,” Ben said. “We need to clear the staff out of the house and send Harris on some kind of wild goose chase so no one knows about me and Chrissy getting married today. Put everyone on paid leave through New Year’s, and put Harris in charge of cleanup at the lodge.
Make him feel important, and get him the hell away from Ashgrove House until we’ve handled what we need to handle today. ”
“Agreed,” Henry said. “Skeleton crew only, just me and Lucia. Everyone else will be gone by the time you arrive.”
I leaned into Ben’s good side. “It’s going to be a super small wedding. Just us four... and one guest, if we can make it work.”
Ben glanced at me, curious.
“Granny Irene,” I said. “That’s my only request. We’ll check her out of Bayview for the day so she can give me away. Henry and Lucia will be our witnesses.”
“Cara, yes. We’ll handle everything, don’t you worry.”
Henry cleared his throat.
“Done. Where in the house?”
Ben thought a moment.
“As much as I hate to say it, I love the idea of doing it in the solarium, like Harris suggested. It’s at the back of the house with all those big windows, and the plants from Mom’s old collection. Sunlight pours in this time of year. It’ll be intimate, like our own private chapel.”
Henry hummed approval.
“Perfect. It’ll be beautiful. The officiant I’ve had on standby is very discreet. He won’t say a word to anyone about the wedding taking place. I’ll confirm he’s ready for whenever we say go.”
“And Vivian?” I asked.
Ben’s arm tightened around me.
“She’ll show up tomorrow thinking she’s won.”
I smiled as an idea struck me.
“I think I’ve got a plan on how we can use it to our advantage. Something that will make sure that she pays for everything she’s done, to you, your dad, tampering with your brakes, the works, if we play it right.”
Ben chuckled and nuzzled my cheek.
“That’s music to my ears, baby. When are you going to let me in on this plan of yours?”
“Later,” I said, giving him a mischievous grin. “First things first, though, let’s get married and ensure that the clause plays out in your favor, not hers.”
“I trust you,” he murmured. “I’m sure your plan is brilliant.”
“See you soon,” Henry said, and the call ended.
Ben pulled me close again, careful.
“The solarium’s beautiful this time of year. You’ll love it.”
“I already do,” I whispered. “Because it’ll be ours.”
Chrissy
December 23, Late Afternoon
I never imagined I’d get married in a haunted house.
Okay, technically Ashgrove House wasn’t haunted…
but it felt like it should be. The ceilings were too high, the halls too long, and the ghosts in this place weren’t dead people.
They were all the choices made by us and the people around us, all the tragedies and triumphs we’d been through on our way to this day, this hour, and this wedding.
I smoothed my hands down the front of my dress for the tenth time, my fingers snagging on the wedding ensemble Lucia had sworn up and down she ‘threw together’ from storage.
Liar.
Nobody just ‘threw together’ something this pretty. The soft ivory lace dress hugged my waist and flared lightly at my hips, the neckline modest enough for my grandmother and still low enough that I knew exactly what kind of look Ben would give me when he saw it.
I caught my reflection in the old gilt mirror and almost didn’t recognize myself in such a gorgeous heirloom dress.
I still had the same big dark eyes, the same freckles across my nose, and the same too-wide mouth that always looked on the verge of saying something smart, but in this gown? I looked and felt like a modern-day princess.
His mother’s ring was still firmly on my ring finger, soon to be joined by a matching art deco wedding band. The little fake emerald caught the light and flashed like it knew the secret I’d been trying not to say out loud.
I was madly in love with Benjamin Stonewood, and I was about to marry him.
My stomach flipped like it wanted to climb out of my body and dive out the window. A brisk knock sounded on the dressing room door.
“Come in,” I called, trying not to sound like I was about to throw up on Lucia’s beautifully polished hardwood floors.
The door opened and Henry stepped in, not in his usual dark security attire, but in a charcoal suit that somehow made him look even more dangerous. He still moved like he had a gun within reach, even though today, he was holding a leather-bound book instead.
“Ready, kid?” he asked.
I huffed out a laugh.
“Absolutely not, but I can’t wait at the same time.”
One corner of his mouth tugged up.
“Good. That means you still have a functioning brain.”
He gave me a quick once-over, not creepy, just… assessing. Protective. His gaze lingered a beat on the engagement ring on my finger.
“She’d have liked you,” he said quietly. “His mother.”
The words punched straight through my chest. I swallowed, blinking hard.
“Don’t say that unless you really mean it,” I whispered. “I’m hanging on by a thread over here, Henry.”
He stepped closer and adjusted the little cluster of winter flowers Lucia had pinned in my hair: white camellias from the solarium, a sprig of pine, and a hint of deep red holly berries from the lodge garden.
“I don’t waste words,” he said. “You know that by now.”
Yeah. I did.
He offered his arm.
“Your grandmother’s already seated. Lucia’s threatening to throttle anyone who breathes too loud in the solarium. And your groom is down there pacing holes into a century-old rug. So unless you’ve changed your mind…”
I stared at his arm.
Had I changed my mind?
Ben had lied to me. Manipulated me. Tested me like I was a specimen in one of those twisted psychological experiments where they see how far they can push before someone breaks.
And I’d broken. Not the way he expected… but I’d broken all the same.
And yet… when the chips were down, I’d still chosen him.
Because when it came down to it, I knew exactly who he was now — scarred, obsessive, controlling, a little unhinged — and I also knew what he’d done when everything went to hell.
He’d let me go, rather than forcing me to marry him by the terms of the contract, which he would have been well within his rights to do. He’d handed me the prize money and handed me back my life, knowing it could cost him everything.
I’d watched him bleed for me. I’d heard the way his voice cracked when he told me he couldn’t keep lying, couldn’t keep playing his own game. That had been the moment I really fell in love with him, even if I’d wanted to claw his eyes out at the same time.
“I haven’t changed my mind,” I said, surprised by how steady my voice sounded.
Henry’s gaze softened for just a second.
“Then let’s go make this official before somebody upstairs decides to smite us all for everything we’re trying to pull off today and tomorrow.”
I snorted, looped my hand through his arm, and let him lead me out into the hallway, ready to step into my new life with Ben.