rch and fear. He was ushered into the morning room where Tiffany was already holding

" Eleanor cooed, c

into the beige wallpaper. The tail

other one?" th

Last season. Modest. She doesn't need to shine; she just

or

er attention sharpened to a raz

bottom of his pile. He handed Elara a grey dress. It was shapel

," Victori

ric was itchy. It hung off her frame,

god, she looks like she

look smaller, more pathetic. She looked at t

wo-story room filled with books no one in this family read. She

heavy mahogany doors

in. "Since the accident. He's paralyzed from the w

orne family needs a wife for him to secure his trust fund release. They don't

dle him?" Richard asked.

to the press. She just has to survive a year until the merger is com

er fingernails dug into her palms until skin broke.

il they left.

He had written his passwords on a sticky note tucked under his blotter-a security flaw she had noted in her foster father's

pped photos of the blood type reports. A, A, and B. Impossible biology. She didn't know the full s

let. She bypassed the family's parental

: Julia

h res

all Stre

ent two y

ury. Wheel

t him one m

t outbursts at t

iny paparazzi shots. Julian in a wh

e zoomed in on a photo taken three months ago.

ilter to enhanc

les were white. The

. The triceps definition was extreme. But it was the legs that caught

within months. Julian had been in that chair for

There was no glaze of alcoholism. No dullnes

as f

of pearls. "Here," she said, her voice dripping with fake sweet

lastic. She could

morrow," Tiffany smirked. "Good

looked in the mirror and gave

d that her terror campai

pearls off and tossed them into the trash can. Sh

t need to be charming. She needed to be th

to be his