Page 64 of Margo and the Faux Good Luck Beau
“The whole thing was. Sukie wanted us to have international stardom. Your dad would know. That’s hard to do. When my mother saw that we weren’t going to be an overnight success, she pushed me even harder.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“There’s more. Backtracking a little, my grandparents were very wealthy. My mother stood to inherit nearly a billion dollars. Shortly before my grandfather passed away, my parents divorced. I was like nine or ten. Never saw my father again. Come to find out, years later, my grandfather changed his will last minute. He wrote that my mother would only get a portion of the inheritance—and I’d get the rest—when I got married. But this also means she’s still tied to me until I tie the knot. Also, there was a deadline clause. I had to marry by thirty.”
“One more year.”
“Not knowing any of this, before he passed, he made me promise to marry for love. For no other reason.”
Margo watches rapt as if I’m revealing historical secrets. “But you proposed the marriage of convenience.”
I scrub my hand through my hair. “I did, but I also—maybe I just knew. Love at first sight or something,” I mumble, feeling way out of my comfort zone.
“Love?”
Our gazes meet, but she doesn’t push me to say more. Maybe because she knows this is new for me. Perhaps because she’s still afraid to be loved.
“Understandably, Sukie was upset.”
“You call your mother by her first name?”
“She was my manager. Said it was more professional.”
“More like made you less like her son. Someone she could manipulate more easily.” Margo’s eyes flash and her tone is sharp like she’ll raise a sword to defend me.
I exhale, prepared to tell Margo something I’ve never shared with anyone. “I realize now that my existence was purely a business arrangement. She was never affectionate. Never showed or said she cared.”
“Never told you that she loved you?” Margo whispers, eyes searching mine.
She speaks the truth that I can’t and I nod in confirmation.
Margo brushes her hand across my cheek. “She missed out on someone special.”
I kiss Margo’s hand and then continue my story, knowing we’re both showing the other how we feel and soon may be able to say it too.
“When I was about eleven, Sukie decided to put my voice to good use. Signed me up for dance lessons, took me to auditions, and all kinds of things. By age thirteen, 5PRNZS were born.” I spell it out for Margo with the number five and then the letters that stand forprinces, then I explain that Concordia is a monarchy, so there are actually royals, hence the name.
“But you’re not an actual prince.”
Having kept this story in for so many years, I let out a long sigh. “Thankfully, no.”
“My father was in the music industry. I wonder how many versions of your mother he came across.”
“All of them. No decent parent would sacrifice their child’s innocence for a payday. But that’s what happened.”
“Considering you’re no longer a member of the 5PRNZS, what happened?”
“You have no idea how badly I wanted out of that music contract. I tried everything. But as a minor, I was helpless. So I prayed. Hockey appeared like ice from heaven.”
She smiles. “Do you still have to get married?”
“Getting married means finally severing ties with my mother over my grandfather’s will.” I exhale a sigh through my nose. “Iknow this sounds harsh, but she’ll go to any lengths to get her money, including trying to get me to marry Pixie Galaxie.”
“The pop star?”
I nod. “She’s a nightmare.”
“But she seems so sweet.”
