Page 91 of The Rented Bride

After Hours confirmed with sources close to the couple that for Trent and Cassandra, it was love at first sight. Goodbye glitz and glam. Hello girl next door.

After the wedding, Cassandra returned to Miami where she is part owner in Daley Enterprises Event Planning. It is unknown if the happy couple will make their home in Miami, but the two were seen last night at Castillo del Paraíso.

We know how Lindsey Freemont loves publicity. After Hours tried getting a comment, but in typical Hollywood style, Lindsey shoved the cameraman and shouted obscenities at the reporter. No one likes getting dumped for another woman, but for the beautiful Lindsey Freemont, it’s got to hurt that Cassandra had the diamond ring on her finger even before Lindsey announced her engagement with Trent.

Congratulations to the new Mrs. Weston!

Cassie stared at the article. How had After Hours gotten the story? Trent had told only his inner circle the truth about their marriage, so it couldn’t be one of them. Then she remembered. Trent. A friend of his. What was his name? Tomas something or other.

“This isn’t possible,” she said under her breath.

“Then you are saying this article is a lie?” her mother said.

Cassie yanked her head up. She’d forgotten they were there. God in heaven, they knew. Her mother knew she was married. How could she lie, when she couldn’t possibly tell them the truth?

“Jesus Christ, Cassie,” Mia said.

“Watch your language,” her mother scolded. “How could you get married and not tell us?” her mother demanded. “Who is Trent Weston? How long have you known him? Why have you never told us about him?”

“God dammit, Cassie, are you pregnant?” Bobby demanded.

“Robert Franco Adams,” their mother said sharply. “I said, watch your mouth.”

“Ma—”

“No,” she cut him off. “We do not take the Lord’s name in vain.” She turned her stare onto Cassie. “Everyone leave us alone. I want to talk to my daughter.”

“Ma,” Bobby said in unison with Mia’s, “Mother.”

“Enough,” she said. “I want to talk to Cassie. Leave us alone.”

Cassie shot a beseeching look at Sophia who shrugged and mouthed I’m sorry. There was no deterring Mom once her mind was made up about something. Everyone filed out of the room, and Cassie racked her brain for something to say. She couldn’t—not in a million years—tell her mother the truth. It wasn’t as if she could claim she’d never slept with Trent. The way things were going, she wouldn’t be surprised to find that someone had photographed Trent leaving her hotel this morning.

The door clicked shut leaving her alone with her mother.

Mom sat on the edge of the bed. “What is going on, Cassandra? This article said you married this man in Colorado. Is it true?”

Cassie nodded and her heart broke a little at the hurt in her mother’s eyes. “It’s not what you think, Mom.”

“Is Bobby right, are you pregnant?”

“No,” Cassie blurted.

A shrewd light entered her mother’s eyes. “How long have you known him?”

As usual, she had gone straight to the heart of the matter. There was no help for it.

“A week.”

Stunned shock transformed her mother’s face. “How is this possible? I have never known you to be rash. This article says it was love at first sight. I suppose when you believe you are in love, it’s easy to do something spontaneous. But you lied, you didn’t tell me. This man, your husband, called you the other day while you were at home and you said he was a client. Why?”

“Mom, I—”

Her phone rang. Cassie jumped. She glanced at the phone on the nightstand. Trent’s name flashed on the screen. She couldn’t talk to him with her mother sitting there. God, how was she going to tell Trent that her family would never countenance an annulment or divorce? She couldn’t imagine what Father Victor would say.

The phone rang a second and third time.

“Pick it up,” her mother said. “A wife does not ignore her husband’s phone call.”