There is only one right girl, one person I want to spend the rest of my life figuring out. One woman I’m falling a little more in love with every day.
I couldn’t admit it to myself until this morning, but I can’t deny it anymore. There is no one like this woman, not her twin or anyone else.
She’s the one I want—just her.
I turn to her now, resting my hand on her uninjured one as I say, “I’m ready.”
Her eyes search mine. “Ready for what?”
“For the engagement ceremony.” I curl my fingers around hers. “I’m ready to make this official.”
“Me, too.” She nibbles her lip for a moment before she adds, “I care about you, Andrew. A lot.”
“I care about you, too,” I say, but I don’t add her name.
I’m still not sure who she is, this woman I’m falling for, but hopefully by tonight…
If I dare…
And I think I do.
Chapter Twenty
Sabrina
The instant I’m alone in my rooms, I lock the door, yank my phone from my purse, and dial Lizzy’s number, cursing when the call goes straight to voicemail.
Hoping that she has her ringer turned off but will see the screen light up as my text comes in, I shoot off an emergency alert—
Lizzy, call me back. The engagement ceremony is tonight, and I have to talk to you.
Call me! Now!
This is more important than bras or panties or our family going bankrupt or anything else. Call me! Please!
I wait five minutes that last an eternity, pacing back and forth on the plush carpet, feeling more trapped in this gorgeously appointed room than I ever did in our crumbling house.
Back in Rinderland, I could be myself. I spoke my mind and lived my truth and fell in love with whoever I wanted to fall in love with.
I hate that Lizzy never felt that she had the same options or freedom.
I hate that she felt compelled to turn her back on love because of a promise our parents made when she was a child.
But most of all, I hate that I’ve failed her.
Betrayed her…
I can’t finish what we started. I can’t go through with this. I just can’t, not when I feel the way I do about Andrew.
Heart flopping fitfully in my chest, I text her again—Please, answer me, Lizzy! I have to leave Gallantia. Tonight. I don’t want to go without talking it over with you first, but I will if I have to. I can’t lie to Andrew and his family anymore. I can’t, and I won’t.
Lizzy, do you understand me?
Call me!
We have to figure out what to do next, how to handle the fallout after I leave.
Hello?
Where are you? Why aren’t you answering your phone?! I thought we talked about this!
Gnawing on the inside of my cheek and cursing under my breath, I try calling my sister again and again and again until I reach a number on the wrong side of crazy.
But I’ve been on the wrong side of crazy since I agreed to this stupid plan.
I should never have come to Gallantia. I should never have left my mountain.
But if you hadn’t left, you would never have found the man you want to spend the rest of your life with.
“I haven’t found him,” I mutter, swiping the tears from my eyes with the back of my fist, refusing to break down completely. “Because he doesn’t know who I am. He thinks I’m my sister, and if he finds out the truth, he’s going to hate me forever.”
It’s true.
He will hate me forever. He basically said as much at the museum.
Andrew doesn’t want to be played for a fool, and I can’t blame him. Not even a little bit. If our situations were reversed, I’d kick his lying, scheming butt out the door the moment I had proof that he’d deceived me.
No one likes a liar, especially a liar who plays games with your heart.
“But I never meant to play games with his heart,” I say, pacing faster as I tap a frantic rhythm on my phone screen, keeping it illuminated as I will Lizzy to call me. “It was an accident.”
I didn’t mean to fall in love with Andrew, and I certainly never imagined he’d feel the same way about me. But the look in his eyes when he told me he was ready for the ceremony tonight…
Just thinking about it makes my chest feel like it’s about to collapse.
I can’t do this to him. Or myself. I only want to hear him promising me forever if he knows exactly who he’s promising it to.
I skid to a stop…
That’s it. I can’t wait for Lizzy.
I have to come clean, even if it blows up in my face and shames my entire family. I can’t just run away. I owe Andrew the truth, and I owe us both a chance to see if we can make this work as Andrew and Sabrina.