knew it wothout opening her eyes. The scent. The beeping of the monitor. It was increasing as she roused. Suddenly her ears started working more properly and it was loud. Even behind her eyeli

r body refused to respond. She l

es flashed on the screen. Her mother, Judy, desperately tried to turn it off.

ckedly smart. Instead Genny threw the remote and turned to Anna desp

hear but we are here okay?" Genny snapped a bit louder, directed toward Judy and Dylan, "An

ath and opened her eyes again and began sobbing. Clutching to her sister, Anna shook with sobs. Genny and soon Judy su

She stared at the screen over, frozen on the image of herself at the worst possible moment. Repulsed Anna turned away humiliate

ll crossed his chest after saying it and marched to get the remote and shove back in the batt

gad in store. After wrangling the batteries in he pushed back his blonde hair. He aimed the remote at the TV as it if personally offended him and slammed his thumbs on the buttons. Anna kept her gaze

Anna failed her hands, tears still pouring down her cheeks against her will. She saw something.

o looked devastated. Marissa and Emily were seen rushing toward Anna and Maddie. Anna was already on the floor with Jaxon kneeling still poised as liquid dripped off of him. Dylan and Cesar were moving from the

her face. Those same lips were curved in a subtle, yet unmistakable smile. Chaos erupted like a halo around her while she sat

ie and managed to

anaged to swindle Jaxon into proposing to the woman. Jaxon was fated to marry a weak, poor, plain, plump woman. Dylan knew Jaxon was dating down, and no amount of "being a nice person" from Anna was going to change that. Jaxon wasn't just out of

She asked, "I.

hair. Anna noticed for the first time he was still

ave you ever really

ebee's. It wasn't fancy. In fact he drove one of his father's company loaner vehicles. It was still nicer th

ut himself with her. She encouraged him, she supported him. Anna was smart, not nearly as smart ad Genny, but she did graduate and did get her degrees, from

lazy. That he could pop by at 2 am and watch a movie and forget the world. If they had ever been intimate Anna would have thought there was an ulterior motive. But n

ead. She inhaled, shaken still. She drew in her bre

o Dylan's knowledge, and he knew a lot about Jaxon. Dylan was confident Jax9

I'm not. He's see

na. For once he actually isn't. So if you're t

Stop." She turned to her daughter with concern, "An

axon was matching with other women online. She explained how he hid it. How he had been ac

lso knew, it wasn't Jaxon's idea to propose, but Brent had been pressuring Jaxon. That they got into a huge fight about it, but whatever B

fted and kissed his fist. He knew he ha

was puffier than usual and ger eyes were red. She l

, "I know what yo

to try to convince my sister she sister see w

but okay. Listen. Have you eve

Does she have to walk in on th

t of Anna's room this i

e backed toward the door, "I'm many things but ask Anna

Dylan, "He's right. I've never known

n't even get a date for my best friend's engagement right? I asked him to help me. I asked him to scout some girls for me o

Genny retort

No. L

Anna, that's his best friend. Dy

"True, but. I asked him to help me. Like that movi

this man's mouth. It was obvious Genny felt the same but

s all the words and the other guy is all lik

the Cyrano de Bergerac defense?" Genn

ask him. Tell him to show you hi

his to be true. She wanted to think that it was a misunderstanding. Anna thought about this, what if it was? If it was a misunderst

h. He was sitting here for awhile until we kinda forced

n disbelief but assert

the hall. Anna returned her sore eyes to the screen where Faith's smile was all she could focus on. Judy wa

ed out and just shook lightly with tremors of anguish. Judy rubbed he

went through. Marissa and Mr. Mishra were greeted by Judy, "Mariss

gone home to change. Marissa was now in a less formal sari with a few dozen less gold bangles and neck