Page 71 of The Princess and the Fraud

The next morning, I was blissfully unaware for thirty seconds.

My eyes were closed, and the only thought I had was that I didn’t want to abandon my warm, soft sheets to get up for work. At least I’d have Paige to keep me company at the pool today, and our shifts didn’t start til noon. Plenty of time to hit the snooze for five extra minutes. And, at least in the pool, I could be certain I wouldn’t run into Aaron.

Almost as if his name triggered the avalanche, the night before came rushing back at me, each bullet point hitting me like actual gunshots.

Being stuck on an elevator with Aaron. Hearing Aaron’s vulnerable confession. Proposing to Aaron.

Proposing to Aaron.

Grant.

Grant.

Rescinding my proposal to Aaron five minutes later.

An easy choice, isn’t it?

I jolted upright in bed, as if I could physically wrench myself out of the memory. I smacked a palm over my mouth, breath hitched, eyes locked on the far wall.

Marry me.

Had I really said that? Just—blurted it out like an idiot? It wasn’t some throwaway offer, like letting someone take the last dinner roll at a restaurant. This was marriage. ToAaron Astor. What had possessed my brain cells to stage a mass exodus?

No, I knew why they had. The moment had cracked open something in him, a glimpse past the carefully constructed exterior he always wore. A curtain pulling back to reveal the vulnerable side Aaron kept hidden. And seeing him unravel had unlocked something insideme. I hated how, despite everything, I kept noticing the little things that didn’t align with the version of him I wanted to believe in.

And just like I’d wanted someone to save me from myself back in June, I’d wanted to save him from himself in that moment.

Marry me.

More like crawl under a rock with me because death by humiliation was a real possibility. Preferable, even.

And then—guilt. Crushing. Even if Ihadproposed, I shouldn’t have taken it back five minutes later. But what was I supposed to do? Marry him because I was too much of a people pleaser to say something?

Actually? It was reallyhisfault. Aaron never should’ve been enticed in the first place. Besides, gun to his head, I bet he didn’t want to marry me, anyway. He wanted an heiress. He wanted someone sophisticated. That was why he’d targeted Margot, and now Fiona. He was probably just pouting because he could.

Ugh, ugh, ugh.

Getting ready for work was slow, because I cringed once a minute as the pathetic words echoed in my head. It was official: I’d never be able to look Aaron in the eye again.

And thenGrant. It still felt surreal, like out of everything that’d happened,thathad been the part I dreamed. The elevator doors parting, revealing his pajama-clad figure. He’d grabbed me so easily, smiled so naturally, as if time had never passed and things between us had never changed. I wavered between feeling vastly confused about it and completely enraged.

I had not been heartbroken upon seeing him, though. And that was interesting.

And it was also interesting that he hadn’t been the first person I thought of when I woke up. It’d been Aaron.

My mind scattered through those topics the entire drive to Alderton-Du Ponte, and as I turned onto the cobblestoned roadway, my heart rate spiked like I broke into a dead sprint. I circled back to the employee lot. Maybe the universe would be on my side, and I wouldn’t run into him. Either of them.Please, please. Mom, if you’re listening, I could use your divine intervention.

Trisha was in the employee lounge, and she didn’t even look up at me when I walked in. I glanced at the clock, noting it was five minutes until the top of the hour. “Where’s Paige?” I asked her as I unwound my scarf. “She’s supposed to start at noon, too.”

“Mr. Roberts called her to his office when she got here.”

“About what?”

Trisha gave an unconcerned shrug.

I waited around for the clock to chime, but Paige didn’t come in. She must’ve gone straight to the pool instead of seeking me out. Frowning, I started off in that direction.

I made it to the mouth of the employee wing when I heard it—crying.

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