Chapter 10 #2
“If a man wants to break off an engagement, he can do so in a decent manner. Not via text on a group, and certainly not by posting a screenshot of said text on social media,” Dominic says.
“Then again, Matthew is anything but a man, which brings me back to my original point. Phoebe is better off without him.”
“If Matthew isn’t a man, then why were you such close friends with him?” Georgina questions, leaning back in her seat.
Theo scoffs. “We thought he was better than that, until he showed his true colors. It’s not the first time I’ve misread who someone really was,” he says. Clearly, Georgina takes those words personally.
“Oh, Theo, darling. Still moping over our breakup?”
Wait, what?
I’m pretty sure the entire table could hear my lungs deflating. Mom stares at me. Crystal raises an eyebrow. Georgina keeps her sights on Theo, who looks at me with a deep frown. Dominic and August briefly lower their gazes.
“Am I missing something here?” I ask, surprised by my own calm.
“Theo and Georgina were an item at one point,” Dominic mutters. “It didn’t last long. Nothing came of it.”
“Ancient history,” Theo adds.
Georgina laughs a little too loud. “Oh! You didn’t tell her! This is hilarious.” She gives me a cold grin. “Don’t worry, you’re not it for them, either.”
“You were never it to begin with,” Theo snaps. “I was the only one foolish enough to buy into your bullshit. Dominic and August saw right through you.”
Mom gasps, and it’s becoming clear that this dinner is devolving into something she definitely didn’t plan for. She claps her hands once, loud enough to bring the argument to an abrupt but decisive halt.
“I will have no such talk at my table. Gentlemen, Georgina, if we could air the dirty laundry at another date and in another place, I would appreciate it,” she says.
“Please accept my apology,” Theo is quick to reply.
“Sorry, Mama Helen,” Georgina mumbles, giving her a fake pout.
I wonder if I could hit her over the head with one of these fancy crystal glasses.
Mom would throw a fit about ruining her fine dining set.
I choose to take a deep breath and a generous gulp of wine instead.
Maggie returns to refill my glass, and I offer a thankful nod. She winks at me then disappears again.
“It’s been a rough couple of weeks, I’m sure we can all agree,” Mom says. “The wedding cancellation complicated everything.”
“I just don’t get what I’m being blamed for here,” I reiterate, emboldened by the strength Dominic, August, and Theo returned to me. “That I didn’t lose enough weight?”
Mom shrugs lightly. “It’s always been a problem for you.”
“No, it’s always been a problem for you. Matthew didn’t have any issues with my weight when he first approached me,” I reply. “Nor did he while he was courting me. All of this weight loss crap started shortly after he proposed, and I’m pretty sure it was his stupid problem, not mine.”
Crystal shakes her head. “Matthew might’ve thought you were good enough for a fling or a friends-with-benefits kind of thing, but the minute he proposed, it became serious. And that extra weight you carry is a problem for a man like him.”
“A man like him,” August scoffs. “I’m not sure we’re all speaking the same language here.”
“Bottom line, Phoebe,” my mother cuts in. “You’re not going to find a better man than Matthew to marry you. Frankly, everyone thought he was too good for you, anyway.”
“Too good for me,” I mutter and give Dominic a brief, stunned look. “It’s like I’m dream walking through my worst nightmare. Are you hearing this?”
“Yeah, and I’m trying to figure out a way to stop it in a civilized manner,” he replies.
Mom is relentless. “Yes. For your sake, Phoebe, you should just lose the weight and ask him to come back to you. You don’t need to lose much. Maybe twenty pounds, plus the five you obviously brought back with you from Hawaii.”
“I told you she wouldn’t stay away from the beach churros,” Crystal tells Georgina with a cruel giggle.
“She didn’t skimp on the dips, either,” Georgina adds, causing Crystal to laugh out loud.
“It’s called a honeymoon puff, and it’s usually something actual brides return with,” Mom adds, smiling as she looks at me.
I stare at her in disbelief, trying to wrap my head around the abhorrent deluge I just heard.
“Hold on. So let me get this straight. I’m to blame for Matthew dumping and humiliating me in public because I’m fat, and I should lose the weight, then beg him to take me back because nobody else will want me. Is that an accurate breakdown?”
“It’s the truth, whether you’re ready to accept it or not,” Mom says, looking content with herself.
August, on the other hand, is clenching his jaw to the point where I can see a muscle twitching furiously in his cheek. “Helen, is this why you invited us here tonight? To further hurt and humiliate your own daughter while we watch?” he calmly asks.
“We’re family,” Mom replies nonchalantly. “Honesty is key between us.”
“That’s not honesty. That’s malice and cruelty. Besides, you ladies seem to know a lot about what Phoebe should look like, but none of you asked us what we think,” he replies.
Georgina clucks her tongue. “We know what you think. She’s the flavor of the month. A pity shag, at most.”
“Phoebe is one of the most beautiful and most intelligent women we’ve ever had the pleasure to meet,” Dominic swiftly steps in.
“The fact that you don’t like the way she looks, well, that’s your problem and yours alone.
Most importantly, it’s not Phoebe’s, and it never should’ve been. And it most definitely is not ours.”
“We happen to like her curves,” August adds. “She’s different. And she’s better than any woman who tries to put her down because of her looks.”
The words reverberate with the kind of gravitas that my mother hasn’t heard in a long time. In fact, the last time someone stood up for me in such a way I was still a child. And the man who shut her down was my dad.
“Ah, so that’s what this is about. The three of you are screwing her,” Crystal sneers. “The rumors are true.”
“No, we’re loving the woman Matthew never deserved. Nor do any of you,” Theo announces and slaps his napkin against the table. A split second later, he gets up and comes over, offering me his hand.
“What are you doing?” I whisper, my eyes wide with shock but my heart bursting with emotions I didn’t expect to feel.
“Getting you the hell out of this place. They didn’t invite you here for dinner. They invited you here to humiliate you further,” he replies.
Slowly, I get up. Dominic and August join us.
Dominic looks at my mother. “We can’t spend a second longer in this place with any of you while you continue to treat your own family this way. It’s disgraceful.”
Mom sighs heavily while Crystal and Georgina mutter amongst themselves. As my men lead me toward the dining room doors, I realize I have never felt more powerful or more protected than in that moment.
“Phoebe,” Mom calls out just as we’re about to leave. “I didn’t call you here to question your eating habits or your mating preferences.”
“Oh really?”
“The goal was to give you one last chance to redeem yourself before I do the one thing I have dreaded doing since the news first broke about your Hawaiian shenanigans.”
I stop and turn on my heels to face her. She remains seated at the head of the table, the look on her face unsettling.
“Excuse me?”
“I plan to contest the annex in your father’s will,” she says.
The statement knocks the air out of my lungs and my jaw almost hits the floor. Crystal doesn’t seem at all surprised, and Georgina’s smile tells me she knew this was coming, as well. Both of them are enjoying every second of my astonishment.
“Come again?” August asks, confusion in his tone.
“My trust fund,” I whisper.
“On your twenty-fifth birthday, you stand to gain access to a generous trust fund and twenty-five-percent share in Baldwin Enterprises,” Mom says.
“I’ve enlisted a team of lawyers to contest that and ensure you never receive any of it on account of the unbearable shame you’ve brought upon our family and our good name. ”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, but I am. Did you really think you could embarrass us by traipsing about in Hawaii with three men and I wouldn’t do anything about it?” Mom snaps. “Your father must be turning in his grave as we speak!”
Dominic is quick to get me out of the dining room but not without delivering his final word. “She’ll see you in court, Helen.”
“God, oh my God,” I manage as they lead me back to the foyer.
Maggie tries to help us with our coats, but Theo is faster.
I give her an apologetic smile, my legs shaking as they guide me out of the mansion and down the front steps.
By the time we reach August’s car, I’m shaking like a leaf, my brain drawing a complete blank while I try to wrap my head around the entire evening.
“What the fuck just happened in there?” I finally ask, albeit rhetorically.
“Your mother is trying to strip you of what’s rightfully yours,” August replies. “That’s not going to happen.”
He says it won’t happen, but what if it does? August doesn’t know my mother as well as I do. She wouldn’t do something like this if she didn’t have a leg to stand on.
I think I’m going to be sick.