Chapter 301

Bonus 1: The Perfect Dress

Nina

The sun had already slipped below the skyline by the time I entered “Belle Ame Bridal,” with Jessica and Lori by my side.

We were on a mission-a mission that I had been avoiding like the plague.

Finding the perfect wedding dress, something that should have been exciting, was a stark reminder of my mother’s absence. She was somewhere overseas, unreachable, and it felt like a part of my heart was missing.

No matter how often I called her, no matter how many voicemails I left and letters I wrote, I didn’t get a response. It was both worrisome and depressing at the same time, and as my wedding with Enzo ticked closer, I just felt worse and worse by the day.

I kept telling myself that she was safe; she was likely busy and forgot to change her number over to the international line. Maybe she and Taylor bought a house or rented an apartment and didn’t update their address yet.

But there was another little voice inside of me… Something telling me that because she wasn’t my “real” mom, that she had decided to abandon me.

I knew my biological father now. I never got the chance to meet my biological mother, but I knew who she was now.

But it didn’t make my love for my adoptive mother any less potent; if anything, after all this time that I had spent learning about both my past and her past, I felt more love for her than ever. Our history together wasn’t the best, but I was prepared to spend the rest of my life making up for that with her. I wanted a real relationship with my adoptive mother, one in which we could actually get to know each other for once instead of hating each other.

I couldn’t do that, however, if she wouldn’t talk to me.

“Nina, you can’t avoid it any longer,” Jessica reminded me gently as we walked into the little bridal store, which had only recently reopened its doors after the Crescent debacle. “Enzo and you are getting married in less than a month.”

her words but not my readiness. “I know, Jessica. I just… I wish my mom were here. That’s

could offer another comforting statement, Lori interrupted. She was always more stoic than the rest of us, but right now, I think that I actually kind of needed

me over toward the racks

bridal shop, the walls were practically lined with tulle and silk. The dresses sparkled under the

wrapped up candy, an A-line with a lace overlay made me itch, and a ball gown made

was standing on the little platform in front of the mirror, wearing a silky blush pink dress that looked

and my heart was only growing heavier with

sliding around my shoulders. “Hey, it’s okay, Nina. Your mom

lifting

the ache. One mother was dead before I ever even got to know her, and it felt as though the other mother had just

back tomorrow,” I said, picking my skirt up and stepping down off of the platform. “I’m getting

shot each other a quizzical look, but neither of them said anything as I

the corner of the shop caught my eye. I paused for a moment just as

out a gown that

that flared out slightly from the hips, trailing into a beautiful sweep train. There

murmured, unable to

owner, a woman named Marta, who’d been assisting us all afternoon without batting an eye at my indecisiveness, turned

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