Chapter Nine

Grace’s POV

“Grace, you need to think about what is best for you. You can’t let them force you into doing something you are uncomfortable with.”

Max’s voice was calm but firm as he leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. His sharp blue eyes studied me carefully. The easygoing charm he usually wore was gone, replaced with something much more serious. He was worried about me. It was so nice having someone worry about me and not for their own gain.

I swallowed hard, stirring the remnants of my drink with my straw. “It’s not like that. They just want to make sure I’m okay.”

Max rubbed his hand over his jaw. “And what do you want? Have you even stopped to ask yourself that?”

The question made me stiffen. What did I want? I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I had spent so long letting Helena, my mother, and now even Hunter decide what was best for me that I wasn’t sure I had an answer. The thing was, I wasn’t a weak woman, just hopelessly in love with a man that didn’t see me that way.

Max’s expression softened slightly, but he didn’t let up. “You say it makes sense, that it’s logical. But does it feel right? Do you even want to live with them?”

I glanced away, unable to hold his gaze. “I don’t know.” God, no, but I couldn’t tell Max that. I would have to explain why. Seeing Hunter and Helena all the time, so together, so happy.

“Yes, you do,” Max countered. “You just don’t want to admit it.”

I sighed, feeling trapped. “They’re my family.”

“That doesn’t mean they should get to dictate your life. You have to stop thinking about what they want and start thinking about what you want.” He reached across the table, covering my hand with his. “You deserve to have a say in your own life, Grace.”

His words hit deeper than I wanted them to. I let out a shaky breath and forced a small smile.

When it was time to head back to work, I told Max I wanted to walk. “I just need to clear my head. Walking will help.”

Max studied me for a moment before nodding. “Alright. But we are making a date for this weekend. I’ll message you.” He kissed my cheek.

“Okay.” I grabbed my purse and stepped outside, letting the cool air hit my face. I needed space. I needed to breathe.

I walked for what felt like forever, though it had only been a block, but my feet felt like they had lead blocks tied to them.

I let my thoughts swirl. Max had a way of forcing me to confront things I wasn’t ready for. I knew he was right.

How long had it been since I made a decision just for myself? Since I chose something because I wanted it, not because Helena, my mother, or even Hunter thought it was best? I might be Helena’s younger sister, but I was twenty-four years old.

I thought back to when I was younger. Helena had always been the dominant one, always the one leading. As children, she decided what games we played. As teenagers, she dictated what we wore. And now, as adults, she was still steering my life, Only now, it was under the guise of “helping” me.

I shook my head. No, that wasn’t fair. She loved me. Didn’t she? Helena could be overbearing, but she wouldn’t deliberately hurt me. Lost in thought, I turned a corner near a high-end hotel and stopped abruptly.

Helena.

She stepped out of the entrance, laughing at something as she tilted her head back. The sound was light, playful, so familiar, yet so foreign in this setting. And then, just as my brain processed what I was seeing, she fell into the arms of a man who was most definitely not Hunter.

He was tall, muscular, and devastatingly attractive, with dark hair and a cocky grin. He pulled her against him, his hands resting on her waist as he leaned in and kissed her, slow and deep, like he had done it a hundred times before. And Helena? She melted into him, curling her fingers into his shirt as if she belonged there.

My stomach dropped. I stood frozen on the sidewalk, watching as my sister, Hunter’s wife, practically devoured another man in broad daylight. She wasn’t even trying to be discreet.

The way she looked at him, it was hunger, pure and unfiltered. Nothing like the polished, sweet way she looked at Hunter. How long had this been going on? Here I thought their marriage was perfect.

The man unlocked the car by the curb. I didn’t even pay attention to the make and model. I was focused on the scene in front of me. The man murmured something in her ear before kissing her one last time and getting inside. Helena watched him drive away, fixing her hair before pulling out her phone, her expression smoothing into something unreadable. Then, just like that, she turned and walked off, as if she hadn’t just shattered everything I thought I knew about her and her marriage.

My hands were shaking.

Helena was cheating on Hunter.

I had always known she could be vain, selfish, self-absorbed even. But this? This was something else.

I took a shaky breath. I had to tell him. Hunter deserved to know.

By the time I reached the office, my nerves were shot. My heart pounded as I stood outside Hunter’s door, my fist hovering just above the wood. My palms were damp, my throat dry.

Tell him. I raised my hand and knocked.

“Come in,” came Hunter’s deep voice.

I pushed the door open, stepping inside. He was at his desk, looking up at me with a curious expression. “Grace?”

I hesitated. The words were right there on my tongue, ready to spill out. Hunter, I saw Helena. She was with another man. She’s cheating on you.

But then I looked at him… really looked at him. The way his brows furrowed slightly in concern, the way he sat forward like he was ready to listen to whatever I had to say. Was he reading the distress on my face?

He loved her.

And despite everything I had just seen, despite knowing she didn’t deserve him, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be the one to break him.

Hunter sighed and leaned back in his chair. “What is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I swallowed hard. That proved my face was an open book. “I… I just wanted to say that I’ll move in.” Why the hell had I said that?

His brows lifted in surprise. “You will?”

I forced a nod. “Yeah. You and Helena are right. It makes sense.”

For a moment, Hunter just studied me, as if trying to figure out what had changed. But then he nodded, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “I think it’s the right decision.”

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, plastering on a smile as best as I could. “Me too.”

But deep down, I knew the truth.

I didn’t agree because I thought it was the right decision. I told him that because I could not tell him the truth. I just couldn’t.

I was now going to move in with them, and the thought alone terrified me.