e gilded ceiling of my o

room where I'd die

hey were sm

as

the day of the "Future

first time, started i

n Ha

d in my mind, h

amily, my father's

n't have Isabelle Va

e bla

I wouldn't

let him nea

y marriage market, thinl

iative, a symbolic gesture that often

s family, expected a match t

ey pushed me

Ethan. Avoid any powerful con

to fade into t

d. Crystal chandel

Ethan, acro

that confident smirk

for a horrible second, I thou

't. He fo

tively fragile-looking, was

They were both here.

began. Names

a small, silk-wrappe

her chosen partner, or one would be "suggested"

was called

her token with a flouris

tch!" the ann

f course. A former Pres

Ava Tho

hitched. T

son, someone safe, someone forgettable. That was my fat

token feeling slipp

waiter, laden with champagne flutes, bump

flew from

ective

all silk bundle arc

r. A public fumb

hand s

imple black uniform of

ruffy, his hair a bit too lon

ld my

"Well, it seems... Miss Thompson's

through the room.

d at the toke

prisingly

ieve," he said, his v

back, but the

were already huddling,

e was about to faint. My

ing into the background

had "caught" Senator

mplied an acceptance of such an "accidental" p

Everyone e

nt me to. It was a

n I saw

able in his eyes before his usual disdainful m

if I made a scene, i

pounced on any perceived

ily's desperatio

r," this nobod

shield, but a sh

e a threat. He couldn'

a deep

fy man, my voice louder than I i

ence fell ove

whispers