Chapter 7

I instantly caught her drift.

So, I filled in the blanks for her.

"Yeah. How do you suggest we save Julian from embarrassment?"

"Well..." Chloe looked down, biting her lip.

"What if someone stood in for you?

You know...to walk down the aisle."

"Exactly!" Julian snapped his fingers.

"That’s it! Chloe will wear the dress and walk the aisle for you.

You can stay home and rest.

It’s purely a PR stunt, Ava.

For the sake of both our families' reputations."

He was getting carried away.

"This way, Chloe doesn’t have to take a bridesmaid slot.

Two birds, one stone!

The ceremony is just a show anyway.

We need to do some solid damage control."

He looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to nod.

My hands clenched.

Blood backed up into my IV tube.

Compromise? No.

In his corporate sociopath brain, this was "risk management."

The "optimal solution."

A stand-in dress.

And now, a stand-in bride.

Right then, I was genuinely grateful.

Grateful for that wrong-sized gown.

Grateful for that lethal almond shake.

They snapped me awake right on time.

I looked at Julian.

"Okay."

Julian and Chloe both breathed a sigh of relief.

They smiled.

I smiled too.

They smiled because their little "PR crisis" was solved.

I smiled because my new life was finally going to begin.