Page 125 of Bride By Coronation

"Who is it?" he asks.

I swallow hard, revealing, "My mom."

My phone rings again.

"Maybe you should answer it," he suggests.

"And say what?"

The ring blares again.

"I don't know, but not hearing from you will probably hurt her further. And I didn't take my queen to be a coward."

"Coward?"

He crosses his arms and stares at me.

He's right.

In the middle of the next ring, I hit the screen. My stomach flips, and I slowly put the phone to my ear, answering, "Hey, Mom."

Her voice shakes. "Is it true?"

I blink hard, trying not to get emotional, but a tear escapes. I swipe at it and admit, "Yes. I married Kirill Petrov."

She takes a tormented breath of air.

I close my eyes, hating how much I'm hurting her.

She clears her throat, then asks, "How did this happen, Fiona?"

My chest tightens. I take a minute to think, then decide to be honest about whatever I can tell her. I confess, "We met over a year ago. It was the night I took Zara out for her bachelorette party."

She seethes, "You've been dating him for over a year?"

"No. We didn't meet again until I ran into him at the coffee shop near Sean's building. That wasn't too long ago." My pulse skyrockets.

She shrieks, "It wasn't too long ago? And you married him?"

My insides tremble, and I open my eyes. More tears fall. "Yes. I did."

Tense silence fills the line.

She lowers her voice, accusing, "How could you marry a man you barely know?"

"It...it just happened," I lie, unable to tell her the full story and hating myself for it.

Fear laces her tone. She frets, "He's a Petrov. You don't know what you've done, Fiona."

Heart palpitations rip through my chest. I struggle to breathe, responding, "He's not like the Petrovs our families hate."

"Like hell he isn't!" she declares.

"Mom—"

"You need to get away from him, Fiona. Whatever you've done can be undone. Tell me where you're at, and we'll come get you," she orders.

I squeeze my eyes shut and press my hand to my chest. I barely get out, "It can't be undone, Mom."

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