Secretly Mine

When I arrived home later that evening, I noticed that there was a lot of hustle and bustle in the house. My automatic response was to flee. After the surprise engagement I was forced into with Karl, every time there was something happening around the house, I would begin to feel frightened and uncomfortable.

"Leslie, you’re home. Come here and choose which one of these dresses you want. I can’t decide between the two." My mother waved me over to her side.

She had a large catalogue open in front of her that was filled with dress designs. Our family worked closely with a private designer, and this must be the latest catalog.

"What’s the event?" I asked nervously as I walked over to look at the booklet.

Fear spread through me. I fully expected to look into the catalog and see a full spread of wedding dresses. Though I haven’t seen Karl since the night of the auction event, I was still very painfully aware that I was engaged to him.

"Hurry up. Why are you dragging your feet?" she scolded.

I sucked in a deep breath and walked over to her side. As soon as I noticed that the dresses weren’t wedding dresses, I instantly felt relieved.

At least it’s not the worst-case scenario.

There were three different evening gowns laid out in front of me. They were all very opulent and much more ornate than our typical gowns.

My mother looked at my confused face, "Did you forget? The annual charity gala is right around the corner."

Oh, the charity gala...