Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 558 -

*Natalia*

Mia and I had a long lunch after the dress appointment. She tried to get me to vent about Bianca, but I hadn't wanted to talk about it then. I felt off balance after seeing her at the dress shop. It felt like I was stuck in some kind of a bad movie -a bad sequel at that.

Tallon and I had fought our way through so much to be together, and now that it was time to settle down together, some crazy ex had popped up to make trouble. It made me so angry.

By the time I got home, I really regretted the decision not to talk to Mia about how I was feeling. I knew I should have gotten it all off my chest over drinks, because now I was dwelling again. I could try to pretend that I didn't care about whatever Bianca was up to, but I wasn't fooling anyone.

Maybe it was because of my background, but I had a very hard time believing that she wasn't trying to do something underhanded. No one snuck around and acted so fake sweet unless they wanted something.

Bianca was up to something sinister. There was no doubt left about that. The way she had eyed the dress made that clear. She must have been standing there listening to me talk about how much I loved the dress but wasn't ready to commit to

it.

I could picture her grinning as she realized that I wasn't going to pay the downpayment to hold the dress. She was going to take it from me. I had no doubt that if I called the shop right now, they would tell me that the dress had been sold.

I looked at my phone and considered calling the shop to ask about the dress. I was sure that Angelica would still be there, and she would know exactly what I was talking about. I was so confident that Bianca had bought it that it wasn't even worth asking the question. I knew that hearing it confirmed would only make me more upset.

I was quiet the entire drive home. When I got into the house, I found Tallon waiting for me. I was frustrated that I wouldn't have a chance to try to clear my head before facing him. I wasn't really surprised that he was waiting, though. I had been gone a lot longer than I planned, and although I had texted him that we were stopping for food, I hadn't updated him beyond that.

"I was starting to worry," he said in greeting.

I shrugged half-heartedly. "It was much more of a production than I thought it would be, and we got lunch after."

"It sounds like you and Mia are becoming fast friends," he observed.

I smiled. "I think we are. It's really nice."

"I'm glad," he said. "Did you replace a dress that you like?"

I sighed. "Sort of. I found a lot of them that were pretty, and there was one that I really liked, but I just wasn't ready to pull the trigger on it yet."

"That's alright," he said. "We can go back for it."

"Not likely," I muttered.

"Why not?" he asked in confusion.

"Because Bianca showed up," I snapped.

Tallon looked shocked at my sudden outburst, and I immediately felt bad. I took a deep breath through my nose to calm myself.

"I don't understand," he said.

"As I was talking to the woman about the dress and explaining that I wasn't ready to buy it yet, Bianca showed up. She stood there and listened to my conversation, and when I turned around, she was staring at the dress like she'd just won the lottery. I guarantee you she bought it the moment I left. She probably didn't even try it on."

Tallon was staring at me in disbelief as I spoke, and the expression made me feel ridiculous.

"So, you didn't see her buy it?" he asked.

"No," I confessed. "But I would bet anything that she did."

He didn't look convinced. "I know that it seems bizarre, but isn't it possible that she just happened to choose the same dress shop? There are only so many high-end bridal boutiques in town...."

He trailed off as my frown deepened. He stepped forward and took my hands comfortingly. "I just don't think we should get worked up about it yet."

"I just know that she's up to something," I insisted. "Tallon, I can tell when someone is being deceptive, and she is. Why can't you take my word for it?"

I was so frustrated that he wasn't taking me seriously. I had a bad feeling about Bianca from the moment that she arrived, and she just kept showing up in places that she shouldn't be. I knew that she was trying to get under my skin at the very least.

"Darling," he said gently, "you're under a lot of stress. I know that there's a lot of pressure on you to make all these decisions and that you want it to be perfect. I think that you're just worried about something going wrong and you're reading too much into it."

My jaw dropped and I stared at him in disbelief. Did he really just say that it was all in my head?

"The bridal show, the bakery, the bridal boutique," I said slowly and pointedly, "and she just happens to be there at the same time as me every time? I'm not a mathematician, but I think the odds of this being a coincidence are astronomical." I stepped away from him and crossed my arms over my chest. I felt like he was calling me hysterical, and I wanted to scream.

"I'm not saying that you're wrong," he said. "I just think that we shouldn't jump to conclusions." There was a weird inflection in his voice that I hadn't heard from Tallon before. He almost sounded nervous.

I narrowed my eyes at him. I wondered what he would have to be nervous about, unless there was something about Bianca that he wasn't telling me.

The thought that he was holding something back had occurred to me before, but at the time I hadn't wanted to pry. Now, I needed to know if Bianca was as big of a threat as I worried that she was. "What are you not telling me?" I demanded.

Tallon scoffed and crossed his own arms. "Don't accuse me of hiding things," he said firmly. "I'm just trying to reassure you that there's nothing to worry about. Bianca isn't going to ruin our day. Even if she is trying to play some kind of a game, there's nothing she can do to derail the wedding." He dropped his arms and made a visible effort to relax his posture. "You said that she bought the dress you wanted," he said more gently. "If that is true, then I'll have one made for you that surpasses it in beauty and style. There's nothing that she can accomplish by prying into our wedding plans."

"So why is she following me then?" I asked.

"Knowing Bianca, she's probably jealous and wants to copy your wedding plans."

I blinked as I took in his words. "Copy me?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "There's nothing original about that woman. I didn't date her long, but it was long enough to know that she is always concerned with what other people were doing. There's not an original bone in her body. She wants whatever the trends are, and she copies celebrities that she wants to be like. If some pop star is photographed wearing a certain top, you can bet Bianca will have a knockoff by the end of the week."

I felt my shoulders relax slightly. "You think she's just trying to rip off our wedding plans because she doesn't know what to do for her own wedding?"

"I think that she's jealous of you and knows that you will have access to a lavish wedding that she can only dream of, so she's going to copy as much from you as she can," he said confidently.

"So, she's copying me because she's jealous of your money," I said flatly.

Tallon nodded. I felt anger flare up in my chest. It felt like such a dismissive answer, and it took me out of the situation almost completely. I felt like he was saying that my value was based on his money. I knew that wasn't what he meant, but that was the way it had come across. I rolled my eyes and walked past Tallon.

"Natalia..." he said in frustration.

"I'm going to clear my head," I called over my shoulder.

I knew that he would be upset by my storming off, but if I didn't take some time to cool off, we were going to fight, and I didn't want that.

Tallon didn't try to stop me as I walked quickly to the back door and went out into the yard.

I shut the door firmly behind me, then walked off into the garden.

I paced around for a while, huffing out angry breaths and cursing quietly to myself. I gestured wildly as I imagined confronting Bianca back at the bridal shop.

I should have told her to leave me the hell alone. I should have demanded that she explain herself. I didn't, though. I'd hurried off and didn't look back.

I just wanted her out of my life.

After a while, I stopped and sat down heavily on a stone bench in the garden.

I was angry that Tallon didn't believe me. That's what it boiled down to.

It wasn't all about the wedding. I knew that the wedding itself was just a ritual and a celebration, and that it didn't change the strength of our relationship. At least, it wouldn't change our relationship unless we let it.

I ran my fingers through my hair and groaned. Was this what Bianca wanted? Was she winding me up in the hopes that it would drive a wedge between Tallon and me?

I wouldn't let Bianca or anyone else take Tallon from me. I would fight anyone to stay by his side, but it seemed like the only one I had to fight right now was myself. I was being irrational.

Tallon might just be right, I thought. He did know her better than I did, after all. Maybe she was jealous that she had lost out on marrying Tallon, and she was trying to copy our wedding as some kind of twisted revenge. Stranger things had happened.

I just wanted the wedding to be perfect. I wanted it to be a memorable event that would show everyone how much care and thought that Tallon and I put into the celebration of our love.

My life had been such a mess and so very lonely. This was my chance to have something beautiful and loving in my life. It was my chance to be the focus for once, in a positive way. I wanted that. It might be silly and a little selfish, but I wanted

it.

I wanted to stand at the altar with Tallon in front of our friends and family and finally know that I belong somewhere... and that I was really not alone anymore.

No one was going to take that from me.