Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 31800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 159(@200wpm)___ 127(@250wpm)___ 106(@300wpm)
Shouldn’t you have thought of praying before going to bed with the sheikh?
I know, I’m sorry.
Well, it’s too late.
What do you mean?
We don’t do divorce, darling.
I never said I wanted one—
Then we don’t have a problem, do we?
Six hours earlier
Grandma Jackie’s kitchen wraps around me like a hug the second I walk in, and all the panicky feelings I struggled to overcome in the stylist’s shiny, shimmery, and splendid salon finally start to fade.
This place is not only comfortably familiar; it’s also the complete opposite, with everything here making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The scent of vanilla and fresh bread. The sound of eggs being beaten. And best of all is the way my Grandma Jackie makes me feel as she turns to look at me.
The wisdom in her eyes. The calmness of her expression. And oh, the gentleness of her smile.
Before I know it, I’ve already run into her arms, just like how I used to do when I was a little girl, and it was Grandma Jackie whom I only trusted to keep me safe when the world didn’t make sense.
“It’s going to be alright, dear. It’s going to be alright.”
She guides me to the tattered couch by the window, just like how she always would all these years. Whether I’m a little girl, a teenager, or an adult—I don’t think part of me will ever change. I trust what she has to say, and I always will.
“I’ll give you a few more seconds to let it all out, and then you will wipe your tears and compose yourself.”
Right.
I think I also forgot to say that Grandma Jackie wasn’t always a baker. Prior to discovering her passion for beating dough, she used to beat up the bad guys for a living. She served in the police force for over two decades, retired early when Grandpa Jackson, her partner, was killed in action.
A part of my heart died with him, she once explained. And that’s not good in my line of work. Not fair to my colleagues, to fight alongside someone who’s ready to go to Heaven.
“All good now?” Grandma Jackie asks when I’m done sniffing and blowing my nose with the dish towel she handed me.
“Yes, ma’am.” I always call her this when she’s in her tough cop mode.
“When the three of us talked earlier, I thought we had everything settled.”
“I thought so, too.”
“But you suddenly had cold feet?”
“I...” I don’t know. Is that what this is all about? Is this just cold feet, and nothing else?
“Am I really doing the right thing here?” I blurt out.
“You know it’s too late to ask that.”
I swallow hard. “You really think they’ll kill me if I divorce him?”
“Do you truly want to divorce him?”
“I...I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie.” She gives me a look. No, wait. It’s the look. The kind that used to make suspects squirm, and it has the same effect on me as it did then, and so I also end up squirming.
“I...I...”
Grandma Jackie lets out a sigh. “Alright, let’s try making it easier then. Close your eyes and imagine another woman kissing Lykan.”
How dare she!
“But this woman...”
A monster!
“Is lovely inside and out—”
Wait...what?
My eyes fly open. “But—”
“I’m not yet finished,” Grandma Jackie chides.
Ugh.
I reluctantly close my eyes again.
“So, where was I?”
In my worst nightmare.
“This woman kissing Lykan...she’s not only beautiful inside and out.”
She was just lovely earlier, hmph.
How did she end up beautiful in just a matter of seconds?
“In fact, I’d go as far as saying—objectively speaking—”
I have a bad feeling about this.
“She’s even prettier than you.”
Knew it.
“And most importantly of all, this other woman loves Lykan with all her heart, with all her mind, and all her soul.”
Oh.
“Now, open your eyes,” Grandma Jackie orders.
I don’t want to—ouch!
My eyes fly open in indignation, but Grandma Jackie doesn’t even have the grace to look properly guilty after stepping on my foot.
“Let me ask you again. How do you feel about Lykan?”
I shrug.
“Scarlette.”
It’s the tone this time. The one she uses to let suspects know she’s this close to throwing them into jail if they don’t confess...and of course it’s still as effective as it always was, even on me.
“What if this is just infatuation?”
I think...
“It was just last week that I was head over heels in love with Vaughn.”
I think I’m babbling and grasping straws...
“Ever since I was sixteen, Grandma! Sixteen! So how is it possible—”
Because I’m scared...
“Oh, but it is, sweetheart. Your feelings for Lykan are very much possible and true because you were only infatuated with Vaughn.”
...of that.
“And it’s time you accept this and move on.”
I’m so tempted to laugh and cry again. “You make it sound so easy.”
“No, Scarlette. I’m just saying it’s quite simple. Not easy, but simple.”
“How can any of this be simple?” I ask helplessly. “I’ve only known him for days.”
“While you have known Vaughn for years,” she points out, “but guess who ended up making you forget everything I taught you about saving yourself for marriage?”