Shielded by the Ruthless Military Boss novel · Chapter 13 of 24
Chapter 13: The Deed
I did not take the pen.
"I'm not signing on a doorstep," I said. "You want to tell people what my husband is, Mom? Tell them where they can all hear you."
My mother's eyes went to the colonel's bare chest and back to my face.
"Brunch at the Ashdown is at eleven," she said. "The whole club will be there."
"Then we'll be there."
"Good." She turned to the man in the overcoat. "Bring the papers."
When the car had gone, I shut the door and leaned on it.
"What paper were you going to bring?" I asked the colonel.
He was already buttoning a clean shirt.
"A folder I should have shown you a month ago."
"Show me now."
"At eleven," he said. "I would rather you hear it the same way she does."
I should have pushed.
I put on the gray dress instead, and the gold chain over my stitches, and I let him drive.
The terrace room at the Ashdown had white tablecloths, mimosas and forty people in pastel.
Every one of them looked up when we came in.
Last night's gala had traveled faster than we had.
My mother sat at the head table with the man in the overcoat on her left.
She waited until the waiter had finished pouring, and then she stood and tapped a spoon against her glass.
"Friends," she said. "I'd like to say something painful, and I'd like to say it once."
Nobody moved.
"My daughter has been through a frightening time. A man took advantage of that. He married a grieving, traumatized girl in six minutes, in a courthouse, with a stranger for a witness."
Keep reading free with an account. Start Shielded by the Ruthless Military Boss from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 12 · All chapters · Chapter 14 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend