Looks aside, Audrey had never quite seen what Clarke and Elizabeth saw in each other. Clarke was carefree and outgoing, where Elizabeth was uptight and reserved. They’d dated for nearly a year—the longest romantic relationship of Clarke’s life—and yet, Audrey hadn’t been surprised in the least when Elizabeth had taken a job in DC and Clarke had opted to stay behind.

But seeing the way Elizabeth looked at Clarke just a little too long, her assessment of Audrey just a bit too calculating, Audrey was betting Elizabeth had plans for Clarke that did not involve him walking down the aisle with Audrey.

“Yes, the ring is lovely,” Linda said with a dismissive glance, handing Clarke and Audrey champagne flutes. “And don’t worry, dear, I’m sure if you change your mind and want something different, you can get a full refund, am I right?”

“Ah—”

“Exchange,” Clarke interrupted. “I think that’s the word you wanted. Not refund.”

Audrey looked up at Clarke, unsurprised to see the tension in his jaw as he engaged in a staring contest with is mother.

“Of course,” Linda murmured. “Alton, grab those other champagne flutes. We need to toast your new daughter-in-law.”

Clarke’s father joined them, giving Audrey an absent peck on the cheek that, while hardly affectionate, at least had less chill than his wife’s greeting.

Clarke didn’t get along with his father much more than he did his mother, but Audrey had never felt as wary of Alton as she did Linda. The man was distant, to be sure, and he let his wife order him around far more than Audrey would have expected for a powerful CEO. She’d never quite been able to crack the man’s aloof surface, but she didn’t think it was personal, merely a function of him inheriting an enormous company that had been passed down in his family ever since the company’s earliest days as a railroad production. It had evolved into advertising for railroads, then advertising for all things transportation, then just advertising, until it eventually became the ginormous media conglomerate it was today. In other words, the man had a lot on his plate and always seemed more distracted than vindictive. Unlike Linda, who never missed a single detail.

Audrey knew Linda’s use of the word refund hadn’t been a slip of the tongue at all.

Annoyingly, Linda was also dead right about Audrey’s intentions with the ring. Audrey had made sure, before Clarke put his credit card down, that they could, in fact, get a full refund on the ring when they ended this next week.

Audrey had half planned on ending it today. But then Clarke’s mom had invited them to dinner to “discuss the development,” and Clarke had been just annoyed enough with his mother to rise to the bait and carry on the charade for one more night.