Serena stared at me with a thoughtful expression. “I want to know everything that happened, so it's best you start from the beginning."
“I moved into his house, where he had the movers put everything into a guest room,” I started, as we moved further into the store. “I wasn’t having that, so I made them move everything into the master bedroom.”
Sabrina’s lips curved faintly, not surprised by my moving out. “Of course you did.”
“I paid them and went to bed.”
“And?” Serena prompted.
“I assumed he’d come home and climb in beside me.”
Sabrina tilted her head. “Did he?”
“No.”
We paused near a display table stacked with new releases. There were mainly young adult fiction, which wasn’t my favorite, so I just watched as Sabrina went through the books, choosing the ones she liked.
“I woke up this morning, only to find out he slept in a guest room.”
Sabrina exhaled sharply. “Unbelievable.”
Serena shook her head once. “Did you tell him how that made you feel?”
“I asked if he had any intention of having a real marriage with me.”
Elena appeared beside us again, pulling a trolley full of books. “And?”
“That’s when he admitted to thinking I was with him solely because he was rich.”
“That’s a fair assumption on his end,” Elena smiled sadly, ever the voice of reason. “You freaked out when he told you he was a billionaire, and then you practically begged him to marry you.”
“He had to marry someone, so why not me?” I rolled my eyes, not at all bothered by what she said. “Also, I had an appropriate reaction.”
“You made him show you his bank account.”
“Yes,” I rolled my eyes yet again. “That is what I call an appropriate reaction. He could have been lying to me.”
She nodded. “That’s true, but Eva, you have to remember that he doesn’t know you as well as we do. We know you’re not a money-obsessed woman, but he’s still learning who you are. Give him a little grace.”
When it came time to pay, I handed over the card to the cashier, who looked absolutely stunned at the three overflowing trolleys of books behind us. Her eyes moved from the card in her hand to the mountain of books, then back to me, as if she needed to confirm I was serious.
I was.
Sabrina stood beside me, one hand resting on a trolley handle, her expression caught somewhere between admiration and disbelief. The cashier began scanning, and with each beep, I grew a little more excited.
The total kept rising with every book. Hardcovers. Paperbacks. Box sets. Special editions. We had completely lost control the moment we walked in, and now the evidence of that lack of control was stacked in front of us for the entire store to see.
When the last book was scanned, the cashier turned the screen toward me.
The number was… large.
The cashier inserted it into the machine. It processed for a moment. Then it beeped. She frowned slightly. “It’s asking for the PIN.”
My heart dropped straight to my stomach. Of course, it was asking for the PIN. It was an enormous purchase. Why wouldn’t it? Elena slowly reached for my arm and gently pulled me a few steps to the side.
“You have the PIN for his card, right?” she asked quietly.
My face burned instantly. No. I did not have the PIN. I had absolutely no idea what it was.
