The One (The Selection, #3)

by Kiera Cass

“What was that about?” I asked, nodding toward the door. “Oh, Celeste was making it clear that if I hurt you, she’d make me cry,” he said with a smile.

“Yes, Mom,” I joked. She looked back at me, her face like stone. “I mean, ma’am. Ma’am.” Her eyes started glistening, and she blinked a few times, turning forward again. “If it ends as I suspect it will, Mom will be just fine.”

And there we were, in the background of it all, holding on to one another. The Perfectionist, the Sweetheart, the Diva . . . and me.

“Maxon, some of those marks are on your back so they wouldn’t be on mine, and I love you for them.”

“Break my heart. Break it a thousand times if you like. It was only ever yours to break anyway.”

“If you live,” I whispered, “I’ll let you call me your dear. I won’t complain, I promise.”

This isn’t happily ever after. It’s so much more than that.