Becoming My Ex’s Mother in Law by Aurora Starling
Chapter 78

Chapter 78

My conscience cleared of any problems with Andrew, I slept better that night than I had since replaceing the glass in my lunch. I woke up the next morning fully refreshed and happier than I had felt in a long time. I didn’t need to see myself in the mirror to know that I was glowing.

I couldn’t kid myself any longer. I was in love with Andrew Dubois, and now, we were in a relationship, albeit a secret one.

My joy was not long–lived, though. As I got dressed, I received a text from Lily.

WTH is this?!?!

It came with a link to a tabloid article. Despite my reluctance to read such things early in the morning. I knew I had to read it if Lily was sending it to me, especially with a message like that. The headline read:

CELEBRITY WEDDING PLANNER CRYSTAL BLANCHARD SNEAKS OFF DURING RECEPTION FOR SEXY RENDEZVOUS

Underneath it was a picture of me, obviously taken with a cell phone, as I walked out of the stairwell, still looking slightly disheveled. My hair was a mess, one of the straps of my dress had sl*pped, and I had stopped to adjust

1 one of my shoes. It certainly did look like I was doing the walk of shame.

Fortunately, whoever the photographer was, they hadn’t gotten Andrew in the picture. After a quick skim of the article, it seemed that Andrew wasn’t mentioned at all.

Unfortunately, the article did accuse me of sl*pping away during weddings to have S**. It didn’t specify with whom, but that didn’t seem to matter. It wouldn’t matter to Lily if I couldn’t come up with a good excuse as to why I was caught leaving the stairwell that way.

as

It took me a few minutes, but I finally came up with what I hoped was a not completely acceptable–but more acceptable–excuse and sent Lily a reply.

I had a meltdown at the wedding. I went into the stairwell for some privacy and pulled my hair out a bit. In my frustration, I guess the strap of my dress came down, and when I came out of the stairwell, I had to adjust my shoe.

At least the part about my shoe wasn’t a lie.

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After a few anxiety–ridden minutes, Lily replied.

Fine. Get to work, and we’ll conference call about we’re going to do for damage control.

I cringed. Maybe she had bought it, maybe she hadn’t. I couldn’t tell.

Either way, I had to get to work. ASAP. If I had a job anymore.

As I walked into Ever After Weddings‘ bridal shop, every head turned to glare at me. Even Terri seemed less jovial than normal. It made me hesitant to speak, but I had to let them know about the conference call,

“Good morning, everyone,” I said, trying to not show how anxious I was. “Lily wants to have a conference call, so we should all head into the employee lounge before we officially open.”

Without another word, everyone headed to the employee lounge. I grabbed the company laptop, shot Lily a text saying that we were getting ready for the conference call, and joined everyone in the lounge. Once everyone was settled, we signed into the conference call, and Lily appeared on the screen.

She looked both drained and furious at the same time. I immediately wanted to shrink away, but I forced myself to stay firm. I had to act like I had nothing to feel sorry for, or else she would get suspicious.

“Morning, everyone,” Lily said.

“Morning,” everyone mumbled back.

“So, I’m sure that everyone has seen today’s debacle.”

I flinched as a dozen eyes snapped to me.

“Well,” Lily continued, “I have been assured that it was all a mistake, and nothing of the like happened at the Durand–Jacobson wedding. The rest of you told me that at every other wedding, Crystal has been fully present, so we can all assume that these rumors are just that, rumors.”

I barely prevented myself from letting out a sigh of relief.

“That being said-” Lily’s tone became more serious- “we need to do some

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damage control. We have already lost three clients this morning, each of them. citing this article as the reason.”

We all groaned.

“What do you suggest?” I asked, keeping my voice as firm as possible.

“Crystal, you have done an excellent job as Head Wedding Planner, so I do not want you to lose that position,” Lily began. “However, I think it would be in everyone’s best interest if you took on a more supervisory position, working from behind the scenes while Terri and everyone else handle the clients and attend the weddings.”

I deflated. While it wasn’t a demotion, it certainly felt like it.

“So, I will be making sure that everything runs smoothly, but I won’t be interacting with anyone personally?” I clarified.

“None of the clients, no. You will still be contacting vendors and stylists, but I think that you need to back away from the forefront of the business until these rumors blow over.”

I felt like I could cry, but I didn’t. I had brought this on myself, so I knew that I had to live with the consequences.

“All right. What about Lisa Dubois’s wedding?”

“I think that Terri should take over those responsibilities.”

Those words pierced my heart like a knife. Not only had that wedding been my pet project, but it had introduced me to Andrew and was one of few chances I had to get my revenge on Bob.

“Who’s going to tell An–the Alpha King?”

“Since you have established such a close relationship with him. I was thinking that you should do it.”

I could feel everyone’s eyes fall on me again. Some of them pitied me, and others, I knew, thought that I was getting what was coming to me. I that, inevitably, I had to be the one to tell him.

“All right,” I said.

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“Good,” Lily replied. “Anyone have any questions?”

After the conference call had concluded, we had divided the weddings up according to the new guidelines, and everyone went about their tasks for the day, I returned to the employee lounge for some privacy while calling Andrew. I figured that I should get this over with sooner rather than later. My heart leapt into my throat as the phone rang.

“Crystal?” Andrew answered. “Are you okay?”

I considered lying to him, telling him that I was fine. Then I figured that he must have seen the article already if he was asking me that, so there was no point in hiding my feelings from him. Besides, we were dating now; shouldn’t‘ I be honest with him–about most things?

“No, I’m not,” I said, trying to keep my voice as level as possible. “Have your seen the article?”

Andrew’s voice stayed steady, but I could hear hints of concern laced throughout.

“Yes, I read it. You know that I know it’s not true.”

“Except-”

“Yes, except for us.” He paused. “What did you tell Lily?”

“That I had a meltdown.”

“And?”

“She believed me.”

“Really?”

“It’s a stressful job.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

I took a deep breath, but even doing that, I had a hard time keeping it together.

“Lily’s putting me in a more supervisory position. I will no longer be

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interacting with clients directly.”

Andrew took so long to respond that I started to worry that the call had been dropped.

“Andrew?”

“What does that mean for Lisa’s wedding?”

Finally hearing his voice again startled me a little, but I pushed forward.

“Terri will be taking it over. I’ll help transition-”

“No.”

“What do you mean, ‘no“?”

“I mean that you are going to plan her wedding, no one else.”

I blinked in surprise.

“But Lily said-”

“You leave Lily to me,” he said firmly. This was not just Andrew speaking; this was the Alpha King. “You have done a fantastic job so far, and I will not have you demoted needlessly.”

“Andrew, this about more than just me. This is about the company’s reputation. With those rumors flying around-”

“I don’t care. It’s either you or no one.”

I was surprised by Andrew’s conviction. He was so dedicated to his daughter that I would think her wedding would come first. The fact that he was risking it for my career warmed my heart.

“Thank Andrew.”

you,

“You’ve more than earned it, Crystal. Now, I should probably call Lily and tell her my decision.”

“All right. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Talk to you later.”

Chapter 78

I hung up the call, butterflies fluttering in my stomach and a broad

smile stretching across my face.