Chapter 3
I touched my burning cheek, my throat closing up.
Mom… I wasn’t trying to mess anything up….”
Don’t! I’m not your mom! Stop calling me that!”
Mrs. Reed’s words hit like a knife.
It makes me fucking SICK when you call me that. I wish you’d just disappear! Looking at you ONLY reminds me how badly I screwed over my REAL daughter!”
ive years ago, I got diagnosed with genetic leukemia. That’s when the Reeds discovered I wasn’t actually their girl.
urns out our old nanny had switched us as babies.
When they finally found Sophia, she was working under the table in Japan, drowning in debt.
nd me? I was busy planning some romantic graduation trip to Miami with Blake.
heir real daughter was struggling to survive, working shitty jobs just to pay rent.
hile 1-the nanny’s kid-was living it up in their mansion, getting everything handed to me.
ny mom would hate me. I totally get it.
in stabbed through my chest and my eyes started watering.
‘hen I stayed quiet, Mrs. Reed shoved me hard.
Answer me! You came back to fuck up my daughter’s wedding, didn’t you?!”
stumbled backward and my surgical scar hit the sharp edge of a table.
e pain was so intense I could barely stand up straight.
ophia suddenly appeared and caught me, frowning at her mom.
Mom, leave Stella alone. Her assistant booked this gig-she had no idea ”
ler mother’s the one who screwed us over. She’s actually pretty innocent in all this.”
Then Sophia frowned. Mrs. Reed immediately went into mom mode-just like she used to with me.
ack then when I was upset, she’d smooth my forehead and coo, “My little princess can’t be sad. We can’t have our baby girl upset about anything.”
ow she just said, “Sophia, find another singer. This one’s bad vibes.”
tried to push through the pain and act cool, but my voice cracked anyway.
feah, totally get a different singer. I’m gonna bounce…”
turned to leave and smacked right into Blake.
le stepped back, but I saw him clock the fresh handprint on my cheek.
couldn’t handle seeing his reaction, so I just kept my head down and rushed past him.
ley had to dip early, so I called an Uber.
cracked the window a bit. December in Riverside was brutal.
I was spacing out when my phone buzzed. Sophia had followed me on Insta
I hesitated for a sec, then followed her back.
She instantly DMed me.
[Hey Stella, don’t hate on my mom too much. I’m super sorry about earlier. Hope you’re not too pissed.]
Then another message: [So my wedding’s in three days and it’s way too late to find another singer. Any chance you’d still be down to do it?]
My fingers felt frozen as I stared at the screen, not knowing what to say back.
I scrolled through Sophia’s feed. Her pinned post was a photo of intertwined fingers next to white roses.
The caption:
[Feb 14 2022 – my first love story begins on the most magical snowy night~]
My stomach dropped. That was barely two weeks after Blake and I broke up.
The bitter taste in my mouth was overwhelming.
But I forced myself to get it together.
I’d told Blake: “Nobody’s that special.”
rurns out he actually listened. And moved on way faster than I did.
Whatever. Good for him.
The Uber stopped outside Westmont Apartments.
stepped out and the freezing air hit me hard. I pulled my scarf tight and speed-walked toward the entrance.
ust as I got to the lobby, a tall figure stepped out from the shadows and I froze.
Blake was leaning against the wall, still in his suit but with a black coat thrown over it. The dim streetlight hit his face at all the wrong angles.
couldn’t hide how shook I was. “How the hell do you know where I live?”
Blake’s voice was ice cold. “Your address was on the police report.”
Oh.” My voice dropped. “Right.”
forced myself to sound normal. “So what’s up?”
His eyes were totally unreadable. “Sophia and I are getting married soon. I don’t want any of our old story screwing with her big day.”
Skip the wedding gig. I’ll cover whatever you’re losing.”
So he drove all the way here just to tell me to stay away.
I’m good.”
I wasn’t being petty-I genuinely didn’t need his money. We never even signed anything, so why would I take a payout?
Sure, I’m broke as hell, but I’ve still got some dignity left.
But Blake kept insisting, acting like he wouldn’t leave until I took it.
I finally opened my Venmo.
He sent five hundred, and I caught his profile pic-a cute cartoon drawing of him and Sophia in wedding gear.
They looked annoyingly perfect together.
Blake started walking away.
After like two steps, he stopped and turned back.
“Stella, if we bump into each other again, let’s just act like strangers. I don’t want Sophia getting weird ideas.”
