The Contract With Her Father's Billionaire Rival-Chapter 42. A Black Sheer Gown.

Breathe.

Breathe.

Nicolette told herself as she ran down the hallway. Her heart was pounding with different emotions, and she just needed space to deal with them.

She didn’t want to deal with the wedding or greet guests she didn’t even know their names—not when she was looking like this, and definitely not while still in Clara’s wedding dress.

Her heart tightened with pain as she went further down the hallway, ready to bury herself somewhere in this big house until she was okay.

How could it go from pleasure to pain?

One minute she was relishing the moment with Alaric, and the next, she was stripped naked by his psycho mother.

She placed a hand on her chest as if she could squeeze the pain out. She was burning with humiliation, and it hurt so badly.

She reached the end of the hallway and realized there was another staircase. She followed it, craving privacy on this crazy day that had spiraled from bad to good and then back to worse.

She climbed the stairs, which led to another hallway, narrower than the one downstairs. She heard footsteps approaching, and without thinking, she opened the first door to her right and slipped inside.

Anything to be alone for now.

She sighed as she looked around the room she had entered. It looked abandoned, and she felt confident that no one would disturb her here.

Pulling off the white cloth covering a couch, she quickly covered her mouth. Dust filled the air, and she waved it away with her hand before sitting down.

Why hadn’t she been angrier when Clara and Violet hit her?

The answer surged through her, and the humiliation doubled in her chest.

She hugged herself, trying to let the feeling pass over her.

It was that day at Alaric’s office, when she had allowed them to throw her out. Her heart flipped with shame, and she just wanted to tear it out of her chest.

That was why she had frozen when they approached her.

Something about them had scared her, and that same thing now made her angry.

"You can’t let them walk over you," she muttered under her breath. "You have to show them."

Yes.

Determination coursed through her, and she stood up from the couch. She was Mrs. Allens now, and whether Clara and Violet liked it or not, they had no choice but to treat her as such.

She clenched her fists as she began to pace around the room. She had to start showing her place, but first, she had to get out of this dress.

Her thoughts drifted to Alaric, and she wondered how and why he thought giving her his mother’s wedding dress was a great idea.

But instead of getting pissed like she had wanted, her mind flooded with the hot moment from earlier, and the heat crept up her face.

Not time for that.

Focus.

She sighed, trying to smother the images, trying to stop herself from reacting to the thoughts.

She gathered herself, determined to leave the room, when she heard a voice outside the door. At first, she thought it was one person before realizing it was two.

"Do you think she really knows him?" a female voice asked, hushed like she didn’t want to be heard.

"I mean, she’s getting married—already married to him—so she should know. Nobody gets married to a man without knowing him," another voice answered.

Nicolette straightened up. Were they talking about her?

"And she’s okay with that? She’s okay with marrying a man with that sort of history?" the first voice asked.

"She is an Allens, and that’s all that should matter to her, right? She’s rolling in money," the second one said.

They were talking about her!

Nicolette leaned in closer, disbelief racing through her.

What was wrong with Alaric?

What was his history about?

"He’s a powerful man—and rich, too. I guess that’s what women these days do. Find a man, they don’t care about his past, they just—" the voice paused, and a moment later, Nicolette heard Anna’s voice.

"Don’t you have anything else to do?" Anna asked.

Silence. Then feet shuffled away.

Nicolette thought Anna knew she was in the room and waited. When the door didn’t open, she soon realized Anna wasn’t coming in.

She didn’t like how the women had spoken about her, but she was determined to find out what Alaric was hiding.

She stepped out of the room and made her way downstairs. She was heading down the hallway when she heard Suzie’s voice.

"Lettie?"

Nicolette turned.

"I’ve been looking all over for you," Suzie said, approaching with Walter by her side.

Walter ran up to her. "Lettie! Lettie!"

Nicolette bent to her knees and hugged him tightly. "My baby. I’ve missed you."

Walter played with her hair, a shy smile on his face. "I missed you too. I saw a doggy!"

"Hey, baby, let’s not disturb Lettie at the moment," Suzie said, gently taking Walter from Nicolette’s arms.

Nicolette nodded, grateful that Suzie could tell she wasn’t in the best mood and she didn’t want Walter to feel bad.

"Are you okay?" Suzie asked, concern in her tone.

"Yes," Nicolette breathed.

Suzie gave her a look. "Your zipper is open." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Nicolette bit her lip, realizing her lie had been caught. "I... I’m trying to be good, Suzie. I just need a moment to myself."

Suzie nodded, offering a warm smile. "I completely understand. We’ll be waiting outside for you."

"Thank you, Suzie," she said, gratitude coloring her voice.

Nicolette made her way to her room. Once she got inside, she stripped out of the wedding dress and tossed it aside.

She moved to the box of dresses Suzie had brought and pulled out a black sheer gown adorned with diamonds and petals.

This was the only expensive dress she had, and she had only worn it once, for a small party at her gallery opening.

She had been saving it for another occasion—probably if Robert had proposed.

Well, that wasn’t happening ever.

She moved to the bathroom, cleaned herself up, carefully avoiding her hair and makeup, and then dressed.

She applied more red lipstick on her plump lips and admired her reflection.

Do not let any fucker walk over you.

Her jaw tightened with determination, and with a fierce look, she walked out of the room.

Time to get this party started.

As she walked back into the venue, she felt all eyes turn toward her.

Maybe this was a bad idea.

Wearing black on her wedding day was bold enough, and now she was showing cleavage and skin.

She swallowed, keeping her smile to stay in place as her eyes roamed around, searching for Suzie—or at least Alaric. Any familiar face at all.

But her smile faltered when her eyes landed on a stranger.

Her breath hitched.

It couldn’t be.

No way it was him.

But when he stood up, with two bodyguards behind him and started approaching, Nicolette stiffened. Unable to move.

The square jaw, the sleek black hair, the gold nose ring were unmistakable.

Lucian Crawford.

The man she had been running from.

What the fuck was he doing here? At her wedding?