Unexpected Love

Chapter 8

Stella eyed Violet, puzzling, as she mentally and emotionally prepared herself for what she was about to tell her. She knows already, just by the mixture of emotions reflecting in her friend's eyes, that what she has to tell her is going to destroy any faith she had left in rebuilding a relationship with her family.

Violet hated what she was about to say and didn't want to tell her, but she couldn't keep what she knew to herself; it would slowly eat at her till she exploded.

"I was up all night, Stella, battling within myself if I should tell you what I learned or even if I should believe it." She paused as Stella sat down beside her. "You're my best friend, and I have never kept anything from you. I've always been honest with you, straightforward; even if I knew you would get mad at me, I still told you. And I know you have always been completely honest with me."

Stella grabbed her hand. "No matter what the situation was, even if it hurt you, I still told you. Because that's what real friends do. Just tell me, Violet, whatever it is I can handle it. Hell." She laughed. " It probably won't even faze me; I'm so used to their petty bullshit by now. Nothing you or Grant could say would surprise me. And Grant is probably just saying some bullshit stuff to you, knowing you will tell me, to keep the drama train going. They love their drama."

Violet sighed. "Believe me, I thought that at first too, but I saw the text messages, and I even reached out to a few people who confirmed Grant's story too. And as I sat back last night and thought about everything, things started making sense."

"Why would Grant reveal anything to you? I mean, he can't stand you, so I don't understand why he would just suddenly confide in you." Stella was curious. Grant didn't even want Violet at their wedding because he said she was too nosey and bossy.

"Well, I might have told him..." She moved off the bed quickly. Stella gave her a What the hell look. "That if he was completely honest with me and Evan, we would help him get you back."

" What?" Stella yelled in disbelief.

"I needed something to bargain with him; I knew there was another reason he showed up in New York like that, and I knew your family was up to something. I've been trying to connect the dots for years, I just found out more than I wanted to know."

"I'm with Kelly; I'm not going back to Grant; I don't want Grant."

"I know that; trust me, I would never try to push you and Grant together. I can't stand that bastard; he just gets under my skin something terrible." She made a cringy face. "I just said that to get him to open up to me. I honestly didn't think it was going to be that easy, but once he started talking, he didn't shut up."

"Why did he come to New York?" She honestly didn't want to know, but her curiosity was getting the best of her.

Violet sat back down; she took Stella's hand into hers. "Do you remember Brandy Johnson?"

Stella thought for a moment. "We went to school with her, right? At least the name sounds familiar."

"Yeah, she was in drama club with us."

"Okay, what does she have to do with any of this?"

"She was who Grant was engaged to."

Stella was confused. "He told me it was someone we didn't know, and he met her in college."

"They were in college together; that wasn't a lie. But you do know her."

"So What?" Stella shrugs. "He lied about who he was engaged to, I don't care anymore. That's the past."

Violet nods and says, "I agree. Now to the twisted and cruel part of the story."

"The cruel part?"

" Grant was a few weeks away from marrying Brandy. But he said that he loved her but occasionally thought about you. So he was thinking about going to New York and looking you up, just to see if the spark was still there. So he went to your parent's house and was going to tell them about his engagement, but your mom and April were telling him how miserable you were and that you told them you missed him. "