Chapter 179

“Break your engagement,” I tell her, feeling this swell of pride and determination in me. I know who I want to be. I want to be the type of person that puts trust in people. I think that's possible, even without being naïve or gullible. Lizzie stares at me like I've lost my mind. “You're not happy with Marcel Stone. From the little you've said about him, and the brief times I've seen you with him, you don't seem very excited to be engaged.” I glance back at Andrew, and he shrugs his shoulders.

“It's not always that easy,” he whispers back, and I realize then that their money doesn't give them the freedom they think it does. Their blue blood doesn't always mean the grass is greener. Charlie would never force me to marry someone I didn't love. And he sure as hell would never predicate his love on an ultimatum.

Then again, I know not all families work the same. Not all families are glued together by love and trust. Some are built on money and expectations.

“No, it's n