The Bound Between Us

Chapter 17

Anastasia didn’t beat around the bush She understood Demi’s intentions, went along with it, and also used it as a chance to nip Cason’s ideas in the bud Her frankness left Monica with no room to salvage the situation

Cason shot Monica a look, his eyes asking what was going on. Monica hadn’t spilled the beans about Anastasia’s marriage before.

Monica was at her wits end Anastasia’s wedding was news to her too. As an onlooker, it wasn’t her place to comment.

The folks at the table shared awkward glances, waiting for Cason’s reaction. Cason held onto his drink tightly, feeling quite bummed, and took a big gulp. A classmate joked, trying to break the ice, “Anastasia, how come you didn’t tell us all about your wedding? That’s pretty low, don’t you think? You think we’re beneath you or something? We’re all friends here, you just had to say the word and we would have been there.”

It was all just small talk

The old classmates that hadn’t kept in touch since high school. If they suddenly received a wedding invitation, it would likely stir up some gossip.

That was life. It was all human relations.

Anastasia pretended and said, “We’ve already got our marriage license, but we haven’t had time to hold the wedding yet. Once we’ve picked a date, we’ll definitely invite you all to the ceremony.”

Anastasia wasn’t planning on throwing a party in the first place; she just wanted to shut everyone up. And just like she expected, the classmate’s smile froze onto his face, he awkwardly laughed it off and promised to come, before keeping quiet.

herself. This was the Anastasia she knew, using words

didn’t you bring your husband afong? We’d love to

towards Anastasia melted away,

all get together, we’re all here anyway.” Demi egged her on, “Don’t you all want to see what

looks like?”

we

My husband owns a fireworks factory. We could hang

bringing up her marriage would shut everyone up, but it only led to more questions. Anastasia politely said, “He works at Elysian Technologies, he’s really

when the next meeting would be?

Elysian Technologies, Demi glanced at a visibly upset Cason, and smiled at Anastasia. That’s a big company,

of us tried applying to Elysian Technologies after graduation, but none of us made it past the first round, we were

hiring standards, with great benefits. It’s an industry leader, countless graduates hope

your husband must be really impressive, to be able to

at Elysian Technologies, she didn’t know

not know? Anastasia, that’s not right. Are you afraid we’ll ask your husband for favors?”

Technologies is impressive, but it’s not like Anastasia’s husband is the CEO of Elysian Technologies. He’s

and besides, he’s still

lightbulb moment for many