"Perhaps," he agreed, and for a brief moment she thought she saw something gentler, more introspective beneath the boisterous bluster. "But excessive is rather my calling card, as I'm sure you've guessed."Why settle for dull simplicity when one can revel in the biggest spectacles?"There was a pregnant pause there, as if he was looking for the right words to convey something more than just showmanship. When he continued, his voice became softer and richer, almost intimate."Look, I appreciate that a larger-than-life, media-drenched mock wedding isn't your ideal scenario. Being under such constant limelight and scrutiny would be...abrasive for anyone, let alone a more private soul."Isabelle felt her breath catch as he made the perceptive assessment... as if he had managed to pinprick straight through to some hidden kernel of vulnerability she hadn't even consciously acknowledged herself. She drew the phone away slightly, eyeing it with newfound uneasiness.How was this supposedly sel
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