Chapter 25
~BLAIR
My father was waiting in the study.
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William Monroe did not pace. He stood behind his desk with the same controlled stillness he used in boardrooms, but the anger underneath was obvious.
Articles were open on the tablet in front of him. Headlines that painted me as the manipulative daughter who had bought her way into a marriage and destroyed a childhood relationship for selfish reasons.
“This should never have been allowed to spread,” he said. “Private family matters do not belong out in the open for all to see. Half of these things are lies. I want to know who fed, it.”
“I don’t know who is responsible,” I said.
He looked at me for a long moment, then set the tablet down. “Are you unhappy in this marriage?”
I paused. It was the first time since the arrangement began that he had asked anything that sounded like it considered my feelings instead of alliances, or damage control.
For a second I wondered if he was actually offering me an exit-if one honest answer could undo the marriage and the damage from the articles and send me back to a life that didn’t include Grayson Shaw.
But suddenly, the thought of leaving him made my stomach feel sick.
The reaction was so immediate and so unwelcome that it startled me. I should have wanted out. The marriage had been forced, tense, and complicated from the first day. He had told me he would make me hate him. He had a woman he still loved. He had spent most of our time together keeping me at arm’s length.
And still, the idea of walking away made me feel like I might throw up.
“I’m fine,” I heard myself say. “He doesn’t force me to do anything I don’t want to. He keeps his distance. I can still do the things I enjoy. I don’t have a problem staying married to him.”
My father’s expression eased, satisfaction settling in. “Good. Then we fix this and move forward. Someone’ s getting fired. The truth will eventually surface. In the meantime, you continue to conduct yourself with dignity.”
I nodded.
When I stepped back into the main hallway, my siblings were already waiting like they had been listening through the study door.
Ethan spoke first, arms crossed, every inch the protective older brother. “You’re home early. Glad to see you.”
Caleb wrinkled his nose dramatically. “I smell egg.”
Tessa, seventeen and incapable of subtlety, circled me once and declared, “Someone egged the golden child. This is the best day of my life.”
Golden child? Wouldn’t that be Ethan?
Olivia shoved Tessa lightly. “Don’t be a brat. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said. “It’s just egg.”
Ethan was already on his phone. “It’s not ‘just egg. Someone got close enough to throw things at you in a secured area. I’m finding out who organized it. When I do, they’re going to wish they had kept their opinions on the internet. No one eggs my baby sis and gets away with it.”
“Ethan.”
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“I’m serious, Blair.” His eyes were indeed serious. “I’m not taking this lightly. Today it was egg. What if it’s a dangerous weapon next? Let me deal with this.”
Chapter 25
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Caleb leaned against the wall, more relaxed but watching me carefully. “For what it’s worth, the internet is being disgusting. I may have left a few comments under the worst posts, Anonymously.”
Tessa grinned. “I sent the meanest ones to my group chat so we could roast them. You’re welcome.”
“Please stop helping” I said, but I was already smiling despite myself
Olivia hooked her arm through mine. “Come on. You’re changing out of that dress before the smell permanently attaches to the furniture. And then you need to tell me everything that happened while you were away.”
She didn’t give me a choice. She steered me upstairs to my old room, shut the door, and pointed at the bed like we were fifteen again and about to have a pretty long girl talk.
“Details,” she said. “Honeymoon. Grayson. All of it. And don’t you dare say ‘it was fine.”
I sat, suddenly aware of my blushing face. “There isn’t that much to tell.”
“Liar. You’ve been married to Grayson Shaw for days now. The same Grayson Shaw who looks like he was designed in a lab to ruin lives. To play with emotions. To make girls from all over the world fall in love with him. I always thought he was so much sexier than Chase. That whole cold, intense thing? It grips you in. Chase was handsome in a boyish way. Grayson is…grown.”
“Olivia.”
“I’m just saying you ended up lucky.” She dropped onto the bed beside me, eyes bright with curiosity.” Forced marriage or not, that man is unfairly gorgeous. So? Is he as closed-off as he looks? Does he actually talk to you? Did anything happen on the island, or are you both still pretending you don’t notice each other?”
My cheeks were burning now. The gaps in my memory from our time by the pool made the question dangerous.
I still didn’t know what Grayson was refusing to discuss. I only knew the way he had looked at me afterward -guarded, tense, like something had shifted and he hated it.
“He’s complicated,” I said carefully. “Angry about the arrangement. Protective when it counts. We argue. A
lot.”
Olivia’s smile turned knowing. “You’re blushing.”
“I’m processing.”
“No. You’re blushing.”
“I am not-”
“You are.” She flopped back against the pillows, laughing. “I knew it. You can tell yourself this is all duty and damage control, but you just sat downstairs and told dad you were fine staying in this marriage. That is not the face of a woman counting down the days until the divorce.”
I pressed my hands to my cheeks and groaned. “Can we talk about literally anything else?”
“No.” Olivia propped herself up on her elbows, still grinning. “I want to know everything. Start with the honeymoon. And don’t skip the parts that make you red. Come on, I’m waiting.”
I stared at the ceiling and tried to figure out how to summarize days of tension, a missing memory, and the unsettling realization that leaving Grayson Shaw no longer felt like freedom.
Downstairs, my brothers were still plotting revenge while I was in my childhood bedroom with my sister, cheeks on fire, slowly accepting that this marriage was no longer something I wanted to run from.
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Chapter 26
Dex Morgan
Dex works to elevate each story with clean writing, emotional balance, and thoughtful flow for readers.