I opened my mouth to tell her to go to hell, and she saw it, cutting me off before I could speak.

“There’s more. The producer wants to offer you your own show. After the display at the wedding, she’s planning to paint you as the underdog, the unknowing heroine.”

“What had they expected to paint me as? A fool?”

But she laughed, making a mockery of my pain. “Really, it couldn’t have worked out better for you.”

“I’m afraid I’d have to disagree,” I noted.

Dutifully, she ignored me. “They’ll spin off into a show featuring you as the celebrity wedding planner. Think of it, Lila—think of what it could mean for your career. And not just for you … if you keep using that little flower shop you’re so fond of, it could help them too.”

And that was it. That was where she knew she had me. I could see it on her face, that superior confidence, softened by a gentle face and easy words.

I thought I’d ruined Longbourne. But I could save it.

I could save them all.

They’d easily make the money to either buy out their Bower contract or pay for what was sure to be an unconscionable amount of money.

All I had to do was sell out.

I sat in the opulent leather chair across from the most powerful woman in my sphere who offered me everything I’d dreamed of for so long, and then some. It was all right there, waiting in her expectant palm. I only had to reach out and take it.

So I drew a breath that I knew would change everything and did what I had to do.

28

Directions to Hell

KASH

I’d never thought Mondays were the worst until today.

My days usually blurred together, Saturdays the same as Wednesdays in the greenhouse. But today I woke with heavy dread. I was not where I thought I’d be. Not today. Not in life.

Luke’s words had shaken my certainty, my resolve, and as a result, I spent the rest of that day holding on for her to text or call. I shouldn’t have expected to see her walking through the greenhouse door, not after everything. But I did. And she hadn’t.

All night, I’d thought about us. About her.

About the hellfire she’d endure when she walked into work today.