“Thank heavens.” I smirked, glad to see some of the tension gone from her shoulders.
“But Adam, I used to live a different life and also had a different name.”
“What?”
She took a fortifying breath. “My parents own Luxe Fashion in New York.” She peeked up at me. “I am their daughter, Astrid Luxe—well, I was until I changed my name.”
I shook my head, trying to make sense of everything she was saying. I remembered the name Luxe only because Cassie dreamed of belonging to their empire.
“Wait…” I held my hands in front of me. “Like the huge fashion brand Luxe…that one?” My eyebrows dipped in confusion.
“Yeah.” Her shoulders slumped.
I scoffed. “Cassie’s dream job, Luxe?” I raised my eyebrows.
She studied her socks with a frown. “Well, it wasn’t mine,” she whispered.
I looked around the room. “Is this some weird, sick joke you played on me?” I scoffed.
“Watch it in there, Coach!” Rose yelled from down the hall, and then her voice was muffled.
Faith flinched, spun her ring, and her jaw flexed tight. “No, this wasn’t about you at all,” she whispered. “This was about me.”
I rubbed my forehead. “I don’t understand.” I shut my eyes. “You lied to me; you lied to Danny.” My mind reeled, trying to grasp who this woman was in front of me.
She glanced up at me. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she took a sharp breath.
“I actually didn’t.” She shrugged. “I legally changed my name to Faith Lyons, although I hated the Lyons part before I even met you.” She wiped a tear.
I resisted the urge to comfort her.
Her voice was soft as she looked at the floor. “I grew up in a home I hated. With parents who were indifferent or completely disappointed in me. I grew up hating myself.” Hereyes flicked to mine. “I grew up in a world that was loud and fake.” She swallowed. “Without my parents’ knowledge, I became a teacher, changed my name, and took a job as far away as I could.” She spun her ring and flexed her jaw.
Was it becoming too much, was she going to have another panic attack? I hated how bad it made me feel to know I caused some of her distress.
“I hoped to leave the Luxe legacy far behind and find out what life could look like if I was just being me. Not Astrid Luxe.” Her brows drew together. “I just wanted to be me.” She choked back a sob.
I raised an eyebrow and grimaced. “Astrid…” I think she had said the name before, but I must have been too distracted by the family’s last name.
“Yep.”
I shook my head and tried to process it all.
Why was she telling me this now?
I stood and began pacing back and forth.
“I meant everything I have said to you. I have loved every moment of this life.” I turned to her, and she gave a sad smile. “In some ways, I never lived at all before Hillsdale. Not really.”
Broken-down, not-going-to-survive Hillsdale.
I pursed my lips. “So…what are you saying? Are you going back to that life, since your job at the school might not be around?” I tipped my chin as I tried to reconcile the two people that represented Faith now in my mind. The one sitting next to me, who loved baking and teaching second graders, and the one that was filthy rich, self-absorbed, and famous. I couldn’t get the two images to match. I rubbed my forehead. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m going to suck in my screams.” Danny’s saying brought my eyes to hers.
I blinked rapidly, trying to connect dots I couldn’t see. “What do you mean?”
She took a tight breath and held it before letting it out slowly. “My mom, or Meredith, as she prefers, cut me off financially as soon as I left, hoping I wouldn’t be able to survive without the family funds, and would have to come back and ‘claim my Luxe legacy.’” She did air quotes around the saying.
