CHAPTER 262

Days passed, and we continued our roles for the public. The engagement was splashed across every tabloid, every entertainment show. "Margarette and William: An Unlikely Love Story," they called it, but behind the scenes, everything felt off-kilter.

One evening, Aunt Lou talked to me, her voice light but curious.

“So,” she started slowly, “I saw the news. You and William, hmmn?” I could hear the hope in her voice, the expectation that I was moving forward, that maybe William could be someone who’d bring light back into my life. But the warmth in her tone only served to underscore the lie.

“Yes and it’s complicated, Aunt Lou,” I replied, not sure how to explain. “Things are…well, they’re not exactly what they seem.”

She let out a small sigh, pausing as if she were piecing together what I’d left unsaid. “Margarette, child, you don’t have to explain if you don’t feel like it. I just want to make sure you’re not pushing yourself into anything that doesn’t feel right.”

I appreciated her und