LOGINShe was teary by the end, which made me feel like I'd absolutely nailed it. "I now pronounce you husband and wife," the officiant said. "You may kiss your bride." I pulled Paige into my arms and kissed her while everyone cheered. At the reception, Danny gave his best man speech with way too mu
ASHER I'd performed in front of millions of people, won three acting awards, and done my own stunts in a movie where I nearly died twice. But standing in this room waiting to get married, I was more terrified than I'd ever been in my entire life. Ten dates. That's what I'd told Paige we neede
When my parents came back from their conference, Damon told me he wanted our families to know about our relationship officially. I was nervous, but I agreed. The next evening, everyone gathered in the main living room. My parents, Aunt Sky and her husband, Victor, Ella, Asher and his new girlf
My heart started racing. "Really? You can do that?" "If you have the recording, yes. If not, I can go to Frank and get it from him." "I have it," I said quickly. "I made Frank send it to me. I thought if my dad ever found out and tried to go after Frank's mother, I could use the recording to thr
I'd missed this so much. Missed him so much. "I missed you," he whispered between kisses. "God, I missed you so much. It was driving me crazy." "I missed you too," I breathed. "So much." He lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he carried me to the bed. We fell onto the ma
PRINCESS After standing there for a while watching Damon walk away, I couldn't let him just leave. Not after everything. Not after searching for him all day in a wedding dress like some kind of romantic comedy protagonist who'd lost her mind. I followed him into the house and went straight
ESSENCE I sat there, still trying to wrap my head around it all. Lucian—that boy. The boy I once saved at the orphanage. The boy who had once looked at me with tearful eyes and said he didn’t want to live anymore. It was him. All this time, it was him. While he spoke, memories began creeping bac
LUCIAN “You don’t need to worry about all the extra details,” I told her, brushing a knuckle gently down her cheek. “You’ve had enough on your plate lately.” She gave a soft smile, leaning into my hand. I loved it when she did that. “I already reached out to our lawyer,” I added. “Tomorrow du
"You know what?" I said, dusting imaginary lint off my sleeve. "I want to leave. There's no reason for me to stay here anymore. Goodbye, Caroline." I turned to leave but Caroline caught my hand gently. Her touch was soft, but her eyes were searching. "Listen, Essence. No matter what anyone here
And now, apparently, she couldn’t anymore. I glanced down at my phone for the tenth time in an hour. 6: I6 p.m. Only a few more hours, then I could head home and talk to her. Apologize. Explain. I could finally come clean about what happened with Yvonne. I hated knowing I was keeping it from h







