Chapter 24

She couldn't fully believe he'd actually left. Thought maybe he was putting on another act to mess with her. So she got out of bed, opened the bathroom door-yep, his clothes were still tossed on the chair, looked like they were waiting for her to do laundry. She checked the study too. No sign of him. He really was gone. Maybe he went home-that's exactly what she'd been hoping for. Pushing away that weird feeling of disappointment, she crawled back under the covers and randomly flipped through her book, pretending to read. The next day was Lucian's grandfather's 80th birthday. The old man never liked anything too loud or flashy, so there was no big party, didn't even want distant relatives showing up-just a family dinner with everyone close. The whole Sterling clan wore bright smiles. The older he got, the more childlike Grandpa Sterling became-always warm and kind to everyone, even the house staff adored him. But Grandma had worn herself out yesterday planning the celebration, and by e