Chapter 13 +25 BONUS Just as I was stewing in my frustration , my phone buzzed with a message from Sean . " Look outside . " I was confused , so I texted back a question mark , but he didn't respond . I got up and walked to the floor - to- ceiling window . A second later , someone on the dark beach lit a line of fireworks . One after another , they shot into the sky . The explosions shattered the quiet night , and somehow , the noise calmed the storm inside me . Three long minutes passed before the last of the fireworks fizzled out . I looked down at the beach . Sean was still there , motionless , facing me like a statue . Then , his message came through . " You're more beautiful than the fireworks . " He'd never said anything so straightforward before , but somehow , it didn't bother me . I opened the text and finally typed the question that had been burning in the back of my mind . " Why did you agree to marry me ? Did we know each other before ? " I hit send . When I waited for his reply , my heart lodged somewhere in my throat . I wasn't completely clueless about Sean . He came from a well - known family , and within our social circle , he'd once admitted that he was already in love with someone else . That confession broke more than a few hearts . And yet , no one had ever actually seen a woman by Sean's side . People had been gossiping for two years that maybe he just wasn't into women . So , when the Lennons first suggested a marriage of convenience between Sean and me , that uncertainty was exactly what made Mom and Dad hesitate .