An American Cinderella

“Please say something, Aria,” Henry begged. He stood, his hands outstretched to me. “Say anything.”

Time froze. It was probably just my brain trying to process a million things all at once, but for a space of a breath, I had complete clarity.

I was an idiot.

I was in love with the prince of Paradisa.

I would ruin him.

My stepmother was attempting to sell his trade secrets. As I had nothing to give her, she was going to ruin me. We’d been seen by enough people at this party that it would be all over the news. I would bring ruin down upon him.

Then, if I somehow managed to find a way to not have my name in the papers, my stepmother would use me to gather more information. I was dating the prince of a wealthy country. There would be no end to her torment.

When I thought he was a simple businessman, this wouldn’t have been a problem, or at least not an insurmountable one.

But the Prince?

I looked up at him, standing there with moonlight in his hair and hope in his eyes.

I couldn’t do this to him. I wouldn’t do this to him.

And then my moment of clarity ended and the world crashed around my shoulders. Suddenly, I could hear nothing but the traffic below and the hum of the heating and cooling system. I couldn’t hear myself think.

Panic set it.

“I...”

I looked at him and I panicked at what I would do to him.

And so I ran.

I dropped his coat from my shoulders and I bolted out the door and down the stairs. I managed to press my mask to my face as the sound of music came around me. It wasn’t much, but maybe it would keep my wretched secrets from hurting him. I ran through the party, my dress streaming out behind me.

I managed not to trip. I managed to make it all the way out to the red carpet before realizing I didn’t have a way home. My hand holding the mask to my face fell to my side. Panic still had my heart pounding and the lacing on the dress made it hard to breath.

“Aria!” I heard Henry’s voice behind me, but I didn’t stop.

More voices called out behind me. I dropped the mask without thinking and took off into the street.

Chapter 25

I ran through the streets of downtown Washington DC ducking cars and twisting between buildings. My beautiful blue dress trailed out behind me like a flag. Tears streamed down my face and I could barely see.

How in the world had my wonderful night ended up like this?

How was Henry a freaking prince?

He loved me and I had to run from him. I had to protect him from me and what my stepmother was forcing me to do. I would ruin him.

I ducked around into an alley to try and catch my breath. It had been a few minutes since I’d last heard anyone call my name. I didn’t want Henry to chase me. I would only end up hurting him if he did.

I leaned against a brick wall, my chest heaving and hurting. I just wanted to go home and hide. I wished I had never met Henry, because then I wouldn’t have this hurt in my chest. I wouldn’t put him at risk that way. If he had never run into me, I wouldn’t have to worry about him. The last thing I wanted was to hurt him, but I seemed destined to.

My feet hurt. Running in heels was not an easy thing to do, and definitely not good for the bones in my feet. Now that I had stopped, everything hurt. My dress was too tight, my shoes too tall, and my heart too heavy.

I pulled out my phone to call myself a cab, except I found that my phone was dead. The downside to a cheap phone was that the battery was terrible. I had no way to call for help.

I started to laugh, mostly because I didn’t want to cry anymore. The only way for my night to get worse was for it to start raining.

Immediately upon thinking that, I glanced up at the sky not wanting to jinx myself. Luckily, the skies remained full of stars rather than clouds. I wasn’t that unlucky just yet. Still, I didn’t want to risk more bad luck, so I needed to get home soon.

I wiped at my face, trying to pull myself together before moving out of the alley. If I could find a cab, I could get home. I wasn’t sure that going home was the best place for me, but I didn’t have anywhere else to go.

I straightened up and put on my best “big girl” face. I just had to be strong until I got home and had the door locked behind me. I stepped out of the alley and realized that I had run nearly all the way to my office.