Molly yanked her hands out of Chad’s grasp.
Her mother, Coleen, fixed her with a stern look. "What's going on here?"
"It's not true!" Molly burst out.
But everyone else seemed to disagree. Chad chimed in, "Over the summer."
Vivian wasn't having it. "No way. Just a few days ago, Molly told me it was just sibling stuff between you two."
Jade was fuming. Vivian was trying to break up her and Chad, and now she was almost forced into marrying him.
Vivian turned to Molly. "You can't be with Chad. You're siblings; it's not right."
Jade snapped, "So, we can't be together, but you can? Aren’t you just after our family's money? You're not even blood-related, and neither am I. If it’s about who’s closer, it’s me and my mom. And now you’re trying to mess with my family here on my turf? Vivian, if you had no brains to begin with, why compete with a pig for its intellect?"
Molly sighed. "I've seen people sabotage others, but never someone as dumb as you, Vivian. You ended up screwing yourself over, and dragged me down with you."
She regretted sending those photos to provoke Vivian yesterday. How could she have known they'd end up causing her such trouble with Chad?
Coleen questioned her daughter, "So, is there something going on between you and Chad?"
Molly looked her mother in the eye and said, "No."
But Chad countered, "Mom, you saw the truth last night. Molly's just embarrassed to admit it."
"It's not true! Mom, seriously, I have thick skin – super thick. Don't listen to him; he's making stuff up," Molly insisted, her voice desperate.
Chad faced their mother’s angry glare, confident she believed him.
Molly turned to her father. "Dad, you believe me, right?"
Kendrick asked, "Where did you sleep last night?"
Molly hesitated. "At a... hotel."
"And Chad?" her father pressed.
Chad silently pulled out his hotel keycard and then another one, both with the room number 2806.
Molly, looking at the identical keycards, was filled with regret. "Dad, I can explain, really."
Kendrick was unconvinced.
Molly turned to her grandparents, Grandma Aubree and Grandpa Elmer. "Grandma, Grandpa, I..."
But they turned their backs on her. Grandma Aubree wasn't blind to what she had seen at the doorway.
Now, Molly sat with her head in her hands in the Byrne family living room, silent, knowing she was beyond defense; all she could do was sigh.
Chad broke the silence, "Since you all know, I'm willing to marry Molly and take responsibility."
"No way!" Molly’s eyes widened as she vehemently objected.
Coleen stood up. "Molly, come upstairs with me."
Molly followed her mother to the study.
Before Coleen could interrogate her, Molly started, "Mom, there's nothing between Chad and me – absolutely nothing."
"How does he know about your birthmark?"
Molly bit her lip. "He saw it by accident."
"And the kiss in the photo?"
"It was an accident."
"And the same hotel room?"
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Sweet Mischief's Rollercoaster Romance