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“It is,” she agrees. “But ‘Stel…what’s going on? You’re engaged? Butnotto Sebastian? I thought he was your boyfriend? And if you’re engaged to someone else, why is he still with you, following you around?—”

“He acts like a bodyguard,” Rachel supplies, her forehead creased with confusion, too. “I know your father is rich, and things are a little different for you, but this is weird.”

“And what about a ring?” Cora chimes in. “Your fiancé gave you his credit card, but not a ring?”

“He wanted to wait to give me the ring at our engagement party,” I explain. “Which—I wanted to invite the three of you, I really did. But my dad wants it to be very small and intimate… which is his way of saying just the people who matter to him and his business.” I give the three of them an apologetic smile, my stomach twisting at the first lie. The party isn’t going to be small in the slightest, but when I asked if my friends could be invited, my father gave me a firmno. There was no room for argument.

“That sounds romantic,” Marilee allows. “The bit about the ring, at least—not your dad’s idea of a party. But it doesn’t explain the rest of it. We saw you with Sebastian just a couple of weeks ago, ‘Stel.”

“Look… I…” I let out a breath. “I wasn’t entirely honest,” I admit. “Sebastian isn’t my boyfriend. He never has been. It was just a cover story, so that I could come to your birthday party and have a way to fend off any interested guys. Like Tyler,” I add pointedly, when Marilee’s mouth drops open. “I’m sorry I lied. I really am. It’s just… going out like that isn’t something I usually do. I was overwhelmed as it was, especially after my brother…”

“Oh God, ‘Stel.” Marilee’s expression instantly turns sympathetic. “I’m sorry. I know that was a lot?—”

“I didn’t want to miss your birthday. My dad didn’t even want to let me go, but Sebastian and I figured out a way to sneak out and make it, and so he posed as my boyfriend.”

“So heisyour bodyguard,” Rachel interjects. “Shit, Estella. What kind of guy is your dad, that you need a bodyguard?”

“An overprotective one,” I say quickly, before she can head down any train of thought that might lead her to the truth. “And one who is very old-fashioned. Which leads me to the engagement?—”

“Oh my god.” Cora’s eyes go wide. “Is this anarrangedmarriage?”

“It…yes,” I admit helplessly, seeing all three women looking at me with shock. “It’s a friend of my dad’s. Someone with who he has business dealings, that will help our family grow, especially after my brother’s death. My brother would have inherited the family business, all of that, but now?—”

“Why don’t you just inherit it?” Marilee cuts in. “Why do you need to get married?”

I look at her, feeling my heart sink.This was a bad idea,I realize. Sebastian was right. There’s no way I can make her understand, not in any real way, or any of them. I can feel the gulf between us opening up even wider, the difference between my life and theirs so vast that I can’t bridge the gap.

“My father doesn’t want a woman running the family business,” I whisper helplessly, feeling hot shame crawl up my neck, as if it’s somehow my failing instead of his. “So I have to get married.”

Marilee drops her napkin, waving off the server as he tries to approach to get our appetizer order. “There’s something between you and Sebastian,” she declares firmly. “I know how I saw him looking at you. That’s not how abodyguardlooks at someone.”

“There isn’t,” I insist. “And even if there was—it doesn’t matter, Marilee. I have to get married.”

Silence hangs over the table for a long moment. “This isn’t normal, you understand that, right?” Cora finally asks. “This isn’t how people live, Estella. You don’t just…marry someone because you’re told to.”

“I do, unless I want to lose my family and my inheritance.” I meet her gaze helplessly.

“I know it doesn’t make sense?—”

“It doesn’t.” Marilee presses her lips together. “We’re not trying to be mean, ‘Stel…but come on. A few months ago, you were working on a thesis about the Renaissance for our senior capstone, and now you’re getting married to a man you barely know? When it’s clear there’s something going on with this other guy?—”

“There isn’t!” I snap, instantly regretting my sharp tone when I see the look on her face. “Sebastian is my father’s employee. He’s a professional. He’d never?—”

But he did.My lips tingle with the memory of Sebastian’s mouth crushed to mine, the feeling of his hands on my body, his hard length pressed against my thigh. The memory is sharp, almost painful, because I know I’ll never get to feel that again.

Not with him, anyway.

I know I’ve lost the argument when I feel the heat crawling up my neck. My friends aren’t idiots, and I can see the knowing look on Marilee’s face. She purses her lips, letting out a long breath.

“I think this is a mistake, ‘Stel. If you needed a place to stay, you could crash with one of us for a while…just until you got on your feet?—”

“And walk away from my family just like that? My whole life?” I stare at her, shocked that she would suggest something like that so easily. “Do you really think it’s that simple?”

“No, of course it’s not,” Rachel interjects. “It’s just?—”

“When is the big day?” Cora interrupts, looking at the other two women with an expression that says she knows this is a pointless conversation, and she’s trying to keep it from going so far off track that the day is ruined.

Not that it matters. Mylifeis ruined, as far as I can see. Today, going the same way isn’t all that surprising. And I guess Sebastian was right…I should have known that this couldn’t possibly make sense to them.