If I'd known what that "surprise" was, I would have told her to cancel it immediately.
I hadn't planned on crossing paths with Patrick again.
But a family elder had a birthday coming up. Our families went way back, so naturally we'd end up at the same party.
When I arrived with a gift in hand, though, what I walked into was no birthday celebration.
It was a proposal.
Patrick was down on one knee.
He spotted me the moment I walked in. The corner of his mouth curled into something mocking.
Then, slowly and deliberately, he slid the diamond ring onto Effie's finger.
"Congratulations!"
My parents were the first to start clapping.
I stared at them, bewildered. "Isn't today Grandpa's birthday?"
"It is! But your grandfather said he wanted to double the celebration."
I frowned. "You were all in that much of a rush to get them engaged? I genuinely thought this was—"
"Ahem." My father cleared his throat. "The reason we kept it from you was precisely because we were afraid you'd ruin it."
"Did you know? Patrick's been appointed national director of Ascend Group."
Ascend?
I froze.
That was the company my partner and I had founded.