Ride With Me (Paige and Jace) novel Chapter 316

CHAPTER 177-1

Paige’s POV

I stared at the invitation on my phone for so long that the screen eventually went dark, and I had to tap it again before I could read the message.

Dinner tomorrow. Six-thirty. Everyone together. No pressure.

No pressure.

Those two words should have made the decision easier, but instead they made everything more complicated because my parents had never been people I could trust with my emotions.

For years, I had wanted them to see me.

I had wanted them to understand that I had been hurt, and I had wanted them to admit that Charlotte had not been the innocent daughter they believed she was.

Now they were finally doing exactly that, and I had no idea whether I was ready to hear it.

Jace sat across from me in the office at Lawson Customs, and he watched quietly while I read the invitation again.

“You don’t have to go.” He said.

“I know.” I said.

“You also don’t have to stay if you do go.” He said.

“I know that too.” I said and he smiled.

“Then the decision is yours.” He said and I looked at him.

“What would you do?” I asked.

“I would probably go, but I’m not you.” He said and that answer made me smile.

“You aren’t going to tell me what I should do?” I asked.

“No, because you have spent enough of your life having other people tell you what you should feel.” He said.

His words stayed with me and I looked down at my phone again.

“I think I want to go.” I said.

“Then go.” He said.

“What if it goes badly?” I asked.

“Then you leave.” He said.

“What if they expect me to forgive everything?” I asked.

1/3

CHAPTER 12.

“Then you tell them you’re not ready.” He said and I nodded.

What if Charlotte is there?” I asked.

“She probably will be.” He said and I sighed.

“She is changing.” I said.

“She is trying to change.” He said and I looked at him.

“That’s fair.” I said as Jace reached across the desk and took my hand.

“You don’t owe anybody forgiveness, Paige, but you can give yourself permission to see whether things are different.” He said and I squeezed his hand.

“I think I need to know.” I said.

The next evening, I drove to my parents’ house alone because I wanted to walk into that house on my own terms.

The Lawson mansion looked exactly as I remembered it, and for a moment, I was transported back to being a child who had spent years trying to understand why she never seemed to fit into her own family.

I sat in the driveway for a few seconds before getting out.

The front door opened before I reached it, and Victoria stood there and she smiled nervously.

“Thank you for coming.” She said.

“I said I would.” I said.

“I know.” She said as she stepped aside.

“Come in.” She added.

I walked inside, and everything looked familiar.

The furniture had barely changed, and the dining room still held the large table where so many family arguments had taken place.

Tonight, however, nobody was arguing.

Charles stood near the table, and Charlotte was already seated.

She looked at me but didn’t immediately speak.

I appreciated that and Victoria closed the door behind me.

“Dinner is ready.” Victoria said.

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