Page 7 of The Wife Deception
Me:
You know I can see your texts?
I said at last.
Tyler:
So is it true?
Me:
Yes.
5
Aire
Ihad finished moving my things from my apartment to Nolan's townhouse when I saw the image. I was tired and doom scrolling when I saw my face staring back at me. I was walking down the courthouse steps in my wedding gown, Nolan beside me, looking like he would rather be anywhere else. It was strange, being in this situation where people report about you, talk about you, as though they know you when they don't. The person I was imitating wasn't new to this, but I was. And people were harsh. The tea channels were reporting on this as though I had committed some sort of crime by simply marrying Nolan. People were praying formy downfall. Or rather, I should say, Aelin's downfall.
And speaking of which, where was she? Did she see this and laugh at what my grandfather put me through or did she truly had no idea? If I had to guess, she was on an island somewhere enjoying herself. Nolan hadn't called me yet, and I wondered if I should tell him the news had leaked. Judging by his look of revulsion when I jokingly said I called the paparazzi, he would probably think this was my doing.
I jumped when my phone rang. It wasn't Nolan. Worse, it was my grandfather.
"Where are you? Are you alone?" he asked in between bouts of coughs.
"Yes." How else was one supposed to reply to such odd questions? "The news of our marriage leaked." I added.
"It didn't leak. I called the press."
"Oh. Why?" It seemed like such an odd move, considering Aelin probably didn't know what was happening.
"My god, you're slow aren't you? I did it, so he's tied to you and won't go back on this deal."
Something told me Nolan would do whatever he wanted to, regardless of what anyone thought. He didn't strike me as a people pleaser.
"Wouldn't it make things difficult if-if my face is… People might realize I am not Aelin."
"People are dumb. And besides, you two look alike, so there's no need to worry."
I wasn't sure we were that similar. But I remember summers at grandfather's mansion back when I was young, where Aelin and I would confuse the staff even though we were born from different mothers and were months apart in age. Father never liked me spending time there and as I got older, the less I saw Aelin. And the less I looked like Aelin. Even with the nose job, there were still some differences that I could see, and Aelin was one of the most photographed people in the world. All it would take was some obsessive, jobless person to work it out.
"What if Aelin comes back?" I said.
"There's no need to worry about her." He sounded much more reassuring than he's ever sounded. Like he wanted me to truly believe it.
"Where is she?"
Cough. "Does it matter?"
"Does she know? About me pretending to be her? Because if she doesn't know, then I don't think…"
Cough. Cough. "She knows."
She knew! Great! Except it only brought up more questions. Unfortunately, he hung up the phone before I could ask more. Why had he added that clause in the pre-nup and why was he so sure his plan was going to work? It's not as if I wanted to back off. I just wanted to be sure Iunderstood what exactly was happening so I could play my role better, but grandfather, as always, liked to keep his cards close to his chest. This entire ordeal marked the first time Grandfather ever spoke to me extensively, and I found it oddly comforting to be finally included in family affairs. It was the first time I ever truly sensed what it meant to be a Burgess. Bizarre as it was.
I sent Nolan the image and told him I had nothing to do with it leaking to the press. He didn't respond. Wonder if he was still mad about the clause. It also made me want to look into that thing he had implied. The Christmas choir DUI.
I did a simple search. Aelin Burgess Christmas choir DUI. Nothing came up. A wash of relief came over me. But didn't he say it was buried? How does one search for buried information? That was the beginning of my afternoon's long quest to find out what exactly happened. I was about to give up when, seven pages deep into a google search, I found a forum of b-list New York celebrities. From what I could gather, it was a place where paparazzi, celebrity stalkers and straight up stalkers hung around to give each other celebrity whereabouts tips and simple gossip.
