He Hid His Secret Wife So I Stole His Sister's Boyfriend novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: The Gala

Four weeks later I walked into the Winfield ballroom in a navy dress that Dot had let out at the sides.

Three hundred people stood under the chandeliers with champagne in their hands.

Every one of them turned.

Jerome was on my left, in a black suit with his gray temples combed back.

Linnea was on my right, in pale blue, with her viola case left behind at Dot's and her chin up.

She was nearly eight months along, and clear-eyed, and she hadn't taken a pill in a month.

"They're staring," she said.

"Let them," said Jerome.

"I'm going to be sick."

"You're going to be magnificent," I said. "Hold my arm."

She held it.

At the head table the old man sat in a velvet chair with his cane laid across the cloth.

Tate stood behind him in a tuxedo, looking at his shoes.

Margo moved among the guests in a gown the color of old wine, smiling at everyone, touching an elbow here and a shoulder there.

She didn't look at Jerome once.

I had never seen her work a room so well.

An usher showed us to our seats, and every seat was at the old man's own table.

"Family," the old man said, as we sat, and the whole table heard.

I looked at the card at my place.

It said: Miss Willa Fenn, Winfield family.

I put it face down.

Dinner was long.

I ate everything on my plate, because the baby wanted it, and because I wanted to be the kind of woman who finishes her dinner before she ruins a party.

The board members at the next table kept looking over.

One of them, a gray-haired man whose wife had held the phone at the first dinner, caught my eye and looked away fast.

At nine o'clock, the old man tapped his glass.

← Chapter 18 · All chapters · Chapter 20 →

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