Wheel You Marry Me?

CHAPTER 4.

It had been a week since I sprained my ankle. The swelling was gone, and I could finally walk without limping. As I strolled downtown, enjoying the fresh air and pretending life wasn't the chaotic mess it really was, I found myself standing outside one of Eleanor Tyler's boutiques.

Eleanor Tyler.

A name everyone in town knew, the queen of fashion, wife to the city's most prominent businessman, and mother to none other than Ryan Tyler. She was elegance personified, always on the covers of glossy magazines, always perfectly poised. Rumour had it that half the country's female celebrities wore her brand.

The boutique's glass windows sparkled in the sunlight. Mannequins stood like royalty in their stylish gowns. One dress in particular, turquoise, off-shoulder, floor-length caught my eye. I stepped inside, the soft scent of lavender and leather greeting me. I reached out and gently touched the fabric, closing my eyes just for a second and imagining myself in it. Confident. Beautiful. Unstoppable.

"You can't afford it. Just leave."

I froze. That voice, crisp, sharp, and laced with disdain snapped me out of my daydream.

I turned and there she was. Eleanor Tyler herself.

She looked like she'd stepped off a runway, dressed in a peach midi dress that clung to her like it had been made for her body alone. White heels, flawless makeup, her blonde hair pin-straight with elegant curls at the ends. Everything about her screamed wealth and control.

"I... I was just looking," I stammered.

I turned to leave, embarrassed, but then her voice called out again. "Wait."

I paused, one hand on the door.

She walked towards me slowly, arms crossed like she was inspecting something beneath her.

"You're Scarlet's daughter, aren't you?" she asked, eyeing me from head to toe.

"I-I am," I said, not sure where this was going.

She gave me a half-smile, the kind that didn't reach her eyes. "Hmm. Thought so. You might want to wash your hair, dear. It smells."

I blinked. I had just washed it yesterday.

"I mean, you don't want to end up like your mother. Stealing things she couldn't afford."

She turned and walked away, leaving me stunned, heart hammering in my chest. Was my mother... a thief?

I walked out, the bell above the boutique door chiming like a mockery.

My day off from Skylar's café couldn't have come sooner. I needed a friend, and she was the one person who could always make me laugh—even when I didn't want to. I headed to the shop. The place was nearly empty, save for a few customers.

I knocked on her office door. No answer only the muffled sound of a sad breakup song playing on loop.

I pushed the door open and found Skylar curled up in her chair, a chocolate bar in hand and mascara smudged under her eyes.

"Sky?" I asked gently, sitting beside her. "What's wrong?"

She exhaled. "He left me. Three years together, and he dumped me through a text. And guess what? He still asked me not to change the Netflix password."

I blinked. "Wow. That's next-level petty."

"Right?!" she sniffled. "He's such a jerk. And I—ugh—I let him in. I gave him everything. And he left like I was nothing."

"You're not nothing, Sky. He's the idiot. You deserve way better."

She wiped her eyes and nodded like she was hyping herself up. "You're right. You're so right. I can't sit here and cry over this loser. I need to go out. We need to go out."