Chapter 26

Aria's POV I took a deep breath, deciding to just dive in headfirst. If I was going down, I might as well go down spectacularly. "Actually, we met at a charity gala," I began, weaving truth with fiction. "I was there with my... former fiancé." I noticed Evelyn's eyebrows raise slightly. "Aiden was across the room, and our eyes met." I smiled, remembering not a romantic connection but the cold, calculating look he'd given me when I first approached him with my proposal. "Nothing happened that night, of course. I was engaged to someone else." I stirred my tea, wondering how much Aiden had told his grandmother about my very public humiliation. "But fate has strange ways." "Indeed it does," Evelyn agreed, her sharp eyes never leaving my face. "After my engagement ended..." I carefully edited out the altar abandonment, "I found myself at a business meeting where Aiden was present. He recognized me immediately." This much was true, at least. "And you know your grandson—once he sets his mind