Samantha’s POV:
A day before the trip, my nerves were a tangled mess. As I packed my bags, I kept repeating our fabricated story in my head, trying to memorize every detail like it was the script of my life.
“This has to be perfect,” I muttered to myself, folding yet another sweater and placing it neatly into the suitcase.
I couldn’t afford to mess up. Not for my sake, and definitely not for Julian’s. He was putting himself out there, sacrificing his time and energy to help me survive my mother’s inevitable scrutiny at my sister’s wedding. The thought of letting him down made my stomach twist.
“Ugh!” I groaned in frustration, tossing my notebook onto the bed where Rosy was lounging.
“Is everything all set?” she asked, sitting up and watching me with an amused grin as I moved between m
