Harper


    I hated how she put me on the spot and it took me a few seconds to even react.


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    She knew that no matter what, I wasn’t going tosh out the way I would have, had Mr Aldridge not been


    present.


    To my surprise, it was Tiffany herself who seemed to panic when she said, “Mom, there’s no need to bring that up right now.”


    “Oh,e on sweetie. It’s okay.” Her mother chuckled dismissively. <fne73b> ???? ????s? ???????s ?? find[?]ovel</fne73b>


    Even with that, Tiffany still seemed a little ufortable and she wasn’t the only one. Grayson huffed loudly, his eyes darting between his mother–inw and me. Was I missing something?


    I nced at Maddox and all he did was just smirk at me, as if he liked where things were going and was just going to enjoy the show.


    “As far as I know, my daughter put everything behind her so she could focus on this new chapter, now that she’s going to be a mother. For whatever reason she did what she did to you-”


    “For whatever reason?” I snapped. “You say it like it’s not already obvious and…”


    I trailed off when Maddox leaned towards me and whispered in my ear. I had to keep my expression nk when all I wanted to do was grow wide eyed as I learned that Grayson and Tiffany didn’t talk about the Josh situation to anyone.


    Maddox even left it up to me to talk about it or just let it be.


    As he sat upright again, I faced the table, wondering what difference it was going to make if I brought up Josh. I didn’t know if Mr Aldridge wouldsh out at me, depending on whether he was going to believe me or not, but his reaction didn’t matter. Grayson’s reaction was all that mattered and I’d already seen how he’d stood by Tiffany’s side no matter how solid my evidence was.


    It was for this reason that I chose not to even bring it up.


    Since it was believed that there was no reason behind what Tiffany had done, the situation should’ve worked in my favor even more, but it didn’t. She needed to be painted as the one who was wrong foring after me the way she did, but Mrs Aldridge was her mother and that was enough to make any situation work in their favor.


    “Harper,” Tiffany said in a sweet voice, cing a hand on her chest. “I’m deeply sorry about what I did to you. I really did put the past behind me, but I just couldn’t help it and fell into old habits a-”


    “Enough.” Mr Aldridge sharply cut her off. “How dare you sit here and-”


    “Ah!” Tiffany suddenly whimpered, cing a hand on her stomach with her eyes shut in difort.


    Grayson and his mother–inw panicked the most and she even rushed to <b>her </b><b>so </b>they could check on her


    together.


    (<b>100 </b>


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    “Will you be happy if something happens to my grandchild?” Mrs Aldridge snapped at her husband, who was now worried and just stood in ce after getting up from his seat.


    I couldn’t tell if Tiffany was being serious or just trying to use her pregnancy to her advantage.


    It all became clear when she assured everyone she’d be fine, waited until they were back in their seats, then nced at me, as if to show me she had everyone wrapped around her finger.


    “I’m the one at fault, here.” Mrs Aldridge yed the victim. “I’m the one who brought up the incident in London. Starting now, we won’t talk about it. That’s not good for my poor daughter’s condition.”


    “Mom, it’s okay. I still want to apologize to-”


    “Oh, please, nonsense. Your well–being is more important here. Isn’t that right?” She looked around the table for approval.


    Mr Aldridge had a few moments where he’d spoken out strongly against his wife and daughter, but at that moment, he said nothing. Was he also wrapped around Tiffany’s finger? He didn’t seem like the type, but the situation made me feel that way.


    As Mrs Aldridge encouraged Tiffany to focus on taking care of herself, I felt Mr Aldridge looking in my direction. I looked up from my te, only to find that his gaze was on Maddox. I looked over <i>at </i>Maddox and he was doing the same thing. At that moment, it felt like they shared a knowing look.


    Then, Maddox looked at me, smirked and focused on his meal.


    It was none of my business. That wasn’t even a real rtionship but whatever was going on, I felt left out and I hated that it might be that way forever.


    Maddox stretched his hand to reach the bowl of potatoes, even straining his voice a little, but they were just out of reach.


    Mrs Aldrige was close enough to pass them on to him, but she pretended not to see him struggle, even talking about the uing ball that was meant to be a fundraising event. It was obvious that she just wanted him to ask and he did, but it was the way he did it that made me swallow my gasp.


    “Margot, pass me the bowl of potatoes.”


    Everyone went silent and she blinked rapidly at how he had addressed her. She smiled in disbelief but said nothing about it and I realized that wasn’t the first time he’d addressed her like that to her face.


    I nced at Mr Aldridge, expecting him to scold Maddox and address his step–mother ordingly, but he just cut his steak in silence, not even pausing for a second.


    The only ones who seemed like they had something to say about it were Tiffany and Grayson, but they knew too well Maddox wasn’t afraid of them.


    “I’d love to help,” Mrs Aldridge finally said, “but my hands are full. You can reach it by getting up.”


    Tiffany ced a hand on her lips to hold in herugh of satisfaction, and I caught Grayson pressing his lips together. He was obviously on Tiffany’s team.


    Maddox rose to his feet with ease, as if he knew that would happen but he still didn’t care. He must’ve done it just to further show me how much he didn’t give a shit about his step–mother.


    By the time lunch was over, my stomach was so full that I barely had room for dessert, but I wanted a taste of that chocte cake, even if it was just the tiniest slice.


    Tiffany and her mother belittled me in subtle ways, even making Grayson participate by constantly asking for his opinion and that was the only part that got on my nerves.


    Thanks to Mr Aldridge and Maddox, I barely paid attention to them as the three of us constantly spoke about the uing ball. It was already expected that I’d be in attendance.


    Mrs Aldridge couldn’t stand her husband’s genuine interest in wanting to get to know me and when she couldn’t take it anymore, she spoke louder than everyone else.


    “Hmm, this was so lovely. I’d love to do this again. Harper, now that you and my son are dating, you should bring your family next time. You obviously can’t bring your mother. May her soul continue resting in peace.”


    The sweet cake instantly tasted bitter in my mouth and my eyes narrowed at her. It was obvious <i>that </i>I didn’t appreciate thatment, but why would she stop there? She just had to make it worse with her next words.


    “Oh, I know! You can definitely bring your father, unless you still don’t know who he is.”