“And I was grateful.”
“Then prove it.”
Noah stared at her.
“What?”
“Tell everyone this was a misunderstanding. We’ll get married, and afterward your mother can go back wherever she came from.”
The room became silent.
Noah slowly removed his wedding boutonniere.
He placed the white rose on the table.
“No.”
Claire stared at it.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I am.”
“Over her?”
Noah looked at Margaret.
Then he looked back at the woman he had intended to marry.
“Especially over her.”
Claire’s expression twisted.
“You’ll regret this.”
“Maybe I’ll regret a lot of things,” Noah said.
“But I won’t regret finally standing beside my mother.”
Claire ripped the engagement ring from her finger and threw it across the room.
It struck the marble floor and bounced beneath a chair.
Margaret flinched.
Noah did not move.
“Please leave,” he said.
Claire looked toward her parents.
Neither could offer her the victory she expected.
Then she turned and stormed away.
Her mother followed.
Leonard remained in the doorway for a moment.
