“She was just…”
“Humiliated,” Sawyer filled in. “It sucks to feel like people are judging you. To know that some people think you just don’t belong in their crowd.”
Duke nodded, knowing that if any of them understood her perspective, it was him. Sawyer had grown up with similar means, all the while mingling with the wealthiest crowd in all of LA.
“I’ve never made her feel that way.” Duke could hardly believe the sentence had fallen from his lips. The more accurate statement would have been that he’d never viewed others as outsiders because of their financial status. There was no argument that what he’d done prior made Viv believe otherwise.
“I just got a text from Kat,” Zander said, slowing as they approached a busy sidewalk. “Says Viv wants them to take her home. We’re supposed to meet them at Vivia’s place.”
“Okay,” Duke said, a beat of relief coming over him. “So she just wants to hurry and get away from the crowd?”
Zander lifted his gaze from the screen to Duke. A nearby street sign illuminated his expression in blue hues. “No, man. Betzy’s going to drive, the other girls are going with them, and me, James, and Sawyer are going to head there so we can get our wives.”
“It doesn’t say anything about me?” Duke leaned over to look at the screen, catching a few simple words at the bottom of the text.
Tell Duke to go home. Vivia needs some time.
“How am I being made out to be the bad guy here?” Duke asked, balling up his fist once more. He pictured himself grabbing the nearby trashcan, hoisting it over his head, and hurling it into the street like the Hulk or King Kong or…
“I’ve got to get out of here,” he mumbled. “Catch you later.” He heard a few of them attempting to call him back or offer words of comfort. They were halfhearted attempts; the men knew him well enough that he wouldn’t stick around.
“…head over there to pick up your wives,” he grumbled under his breath. How nice it must be to know those women belonged to them. That they belonged to each other. He wanted that with Vivi too. It’s all he could think about in the days that passed.
He’d even signed up for a popular ring of the day club online. Spent time while in the office looking at rings, scouting dates, and dreaming up the perfect way to ask her to marry him.
James’ words came back to him. “You should have said that you do love Vivia.”
If he could go back, Duke might do that very thing. At the time, he hadn’t wanted to validate Sylvia and her ranting session. It seemed like the best thing was to move forward with the program like he’d done. Try to make a small joke in the awkwardness along the way.
Duke came to the entrance where the valet waited, but rather than pick up his car, he opted to pick up his pace instead, tearing off his suit coat and balling it in his fist. Heaven knew he had steam to let out before he got behind the wheel. And if he climbed into his car at this point, there’d be no stopping him from heading over to Vivi’s house.
She needed time, fine. Perhaps he needed time too. He only hoped that, whatever frustrations Viv was dealing with, she wouldn’t gear them at him. Duke loved her more than he’d ever loved anyone, and if she couldn’t see that by now, he wasn’t sure how they’d ever move forward.
Chapter 21
The laptop screen glowed bright in the darkness of Viv’s room as she scrolled past one post about the gala after the next.
It had taken less than an hour for the footage to go viral. There were even videos with commentary by popular vloggers.
One titled Public Freak-out By Drunken Rich Chick. Another called Rich Gala Girl Gone Wild. But the one that caught Viv’s attention most was titled Who’s This Veritå Chick, Anyway?
She knew how popular video blogging had become, but Viv was surprised to see that this one already had over a million views. She hovered the cursor over the link, wondering if she had it in her to watch it.
It felt as if her fate would be revealed in the content alone. To have attention put on her at a live public event—using her real name, even—the idea terrified her. She was a single mother, after all.
A heavy layer of misgivings dumped onto her shoulders, burdening her