Back to a fiancée and world where I would never belong. Because this is what happens in the real Cinderella story. The prince has to marry a princess, and people like us? We have to find peace in the ashes.
Fifty-Eight
STORY
* * *
I folded and refolded the square Grayson had given me, stuck sitting behind the flowery partition as they said their vows. I was the girl behind the girl, literally.
“Do you, Charlotte du Lac, take Grayson Crowne to be your husband?” the minister asked.
I lifted my head, staring at the flowers that separated us, imagining her staring up at him from beneath her pretty veil, her even prettier dress.
“I do.” Her soft, even voice drifted through.
“And do you, Grayson Crowne, take Charlotte du Lac to be your wife?”
A moment passed like a year as I waited for Grayson to answer.
“I do,” he said.
“Ow,” I gasped, all the breath leaving me like the time I’d had the wind knocked out of me.
I fell against the wall. I knew it was coming, so I didn’t think it would hurt as much, but it still felt like I’d been shot in the chest.
I gripped the square harder.
This was the only ending.
I knew when they kissed by the cheers.
When the music started up, I could imagine when they walked down the aisle, out the door, and presumably into a new life.
I sat in the dark for a while, thumbing the locket. I trailed the clasp with my thumb, sticking my nail into the groove. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what was inside Grayson Crowne’s heart. I was afraid if I did, I couldn’t hate him.
And I needed to hate him.
I waited until I was certain there was no one in the room to walk out from behind the partition. Walked in a daze through the halls, until the snap of fingers stopped me. I blinked and looked into the eyes of Ms. Barn.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Where the hell have you been?”
“Around…”
Ms. Barn glared. “Mrs. Grayson Crowne will need her second, third, and fourth dress. You’ll have to prepare her for the reception. Mrs. Tansy was not pleased with the size of the ceremony, so the reception is going to more than make up for it…”
Mrs. Grayson Crowne.
I blinked, stunned. I felt like I’d been shocked. Mrs. Grayson Crowne. The name thumped against my heart like someone stepping on a bruise.
“Story?” She peered at me.
“Right,” I barely got out. “Of course. Wait, you’re calling me Story again.”
“You’re no longer a part of the du Lac household. Welcome home.” Ms. Barn smiled at me, but her expression carried something else.
Something darker.
I couldn’t figure it out, but moments later, when I returned to the servants’ quarters to change before refreshing Lottie’s dresses, I got my answer.