le's

w one second you're broke bartender girl, and the next you're gliding around in designer heel

ler

sn't come w

entire student loan debt. It comes with realizing that you just agreed to be paraded around like a trophy in front of people who would happily eat you alive if

a selection of gowns pre-approved by Mr. Carter's team," she says in her clipped, don't-m

irst dress is pale blue and strapless, making me look like a washed-out Disney princess. The second is deep crimson, tight in all the wrong places, and manages to scream desperate

cognize the girl staring back. The girl in the mirror doesn't have dark circles under her eyes

ear of pretending to belong in Adrik Carter's impossible wo

buy a latte without c

ars and defense mechanisms. These people? They were born with sil

of that world. I'm just

he squeezes my shoulder. "You've survived worse." Yeah. I survived growing up invisible. I survived being

en fake relationships require strategic planning. Sandra clicks through a PowerPoint presentation like we're prepping for a hostile corporate takeover. "These are the key talking points," she says, h

f his all-black outfits, glances up from his ph

Sandra does not look amused. "No," she says. "The public needs to believe this relationshi

e about each other (Adrik: he

ll so.

as

lle

ow, it st

arter Foundation Gala tomorrow night," Sandra continues briskly. "Pose for photos, give a few short

off my sou

ters might ask. By the end of it, my brain feels like it's been run over by a fleet of Teslas. "And remember," she says as I gather my

mile like

to back out." I think of Lila, off the eviction notice taped to the door last week, of the crushing weight of everything I owe. I

eassu

omfor

...

. I don't know whether to be p

l makeup and staring at myself. The ring Adrik gave me glints on my fing

my eyes, I can

shing c

ques

e small talk and the

Ad

ys A

ng nex

. Unre

ehow...

nge co

r, Noelle. You made your choice. Now you have to live with

till wearing my pajamas, staring at the ring. "You look like someone

omeone else, you know," she says. "You just have to survive. Play the ga

She grins. "Because life's complicated enou

and fake smiles. You'll still be Noelle Winters. And no amount of money or contracts or Carter drama can change that." I hope she's

don't surviv

etending b

the thou

he real cir

I put on

ri

sm

ially become Adri

y or