Doctor Boss Is My Baby Daddy novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: The Gala

The donor gala was in the grand ballroom of a lakefront hotel, under chandeliers the size of cars.

I wore the only dress I owned that wasn't scrubs, a green one from a consignment shop.

Jody did my hair in the bathroom with a travel iron and three bobby pins.

"If anyone is mean to you," she said, "I'll commit a felony."

"Please don't."

"A small one."

We walked in together at seven.

Rhys was across the room, in a black suit, talking to the board chair.

He saw me the second I came through the doors.

He stopped in the middle of a sentence.

Then I saw who was standing beside Lenore at the front table, in a silver gown and a diamond necklace, with her hand on Bridget's arm.

My stepmother.

She was a donor now, apparently, or Lenore had made her one for the evening.

She turned her head and looked at me.

I should have gone to the bar.

Instead I walked straight to their table with my chin up, because I'd learned something that week.

If I waited for the blow, it would land anyway.

"Hello, Valeria," my stepmother said, loud and bright. "What a surprise. Bridget tells me you've been busy."

"Hello."

"We were just saying how brave you are. To keep going after everything."

"After what?"

She smiled at the board chair, who stood beside her with a glass of champagne.

"Oh, I don't want to embarrass her. She's very sensitive. Her father spoiled her, and she's never been able to take no for an answer, especially from men with money."

Around the table, a few heads turned.

"Mother," said Bridget, in a voice of perfect concern. "Not here."

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