The Kiss that Sparked it All novel Chapter 2683

Daphne Olsen replied, [What? Didn't your folks just wrap up a dinner party? And now another one? Can't escape again like the last time, huh? If you go, I’ll go.]

Regina texted, [Yeah. This time, my dad made it clear: no escapes. Seriously, if I have to sit through another one of these shindigs tomorrow night alone, I’ll be squirming in my seat the whole time.]

[Brace yourself for the matchmaking mayhem!] Daphne joked.

Regina’s frown deepened as she texted back, [I'm not kidding. I'd rather run laps around the track than sit through that dinner. It's so dull, facing a bunch of guys I don't know, all wearing their phony smiles like masks. We’re all trapped in this charade—why put us through it?]

Daphne sent a hugging emoji, her digital embrace a small comfort. [I don't get it either. Why is your father in such a rush? You're only twenty, for heaven's sake—the prime of your life!]

[It's all because of that mother-daughter duo whispering poison in my dad's ear. You know how he is—soft as dough. Imogen’s been filling his head with tales of who’s getting engaged and how I haven’t even dated yet. That gets him all worked up, thinking there’s something wrong with me.]

Regina could only vent so freely about them to her closest friend.

Daphne responded, [It’s beyond me why she’s so obsessed with marrying you off. She should worry more about her own daughter, who’s flunking at the international school—embarrassing if you ask me!]

They both knew Imogen’s hurry to see Regina wed was driven by fear that the lion's share of the Tanner fortune might slip through her fingers. But Madeline wasn’t even a Tanner by birth, so why did she act as if any of it was hers?

[Pipe dreams.] Daphne declared, summing up the antics of the mother and daughter.