All Chapters of She's No Beauty Queen: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Mark took pictures throughout the entire event and kept a close eye on Lily as she continued interacting with the kids. She had an animated reading style as well, including funny voices for different characters and hand gestures. Every kid in the room was enthralled.He got one particularly great candid shot of her acting out one of the scenes in the book as all the kids sat there obviously hanging on her every word. His boss would decide which ones were usable for the social media accounts but he had a feeling he should hang on to this one on his own.Lily might want it later. She looked like she was having a lot of fun right now even though she was wearing uncomfortable clothes and pretending to be someone else.Once all the stories were read, they were supposed to leave but all the kids wanted to keep talking to her and she did not disappoint her new friends. A little girl named Danielle, who had been given the mermaid bear Aqua, asked if she was a princess like Olivia because of h

Lily was polishing off the last of her cookie when they pulled up in front of the house. Aria ran out to greet her enthusiastically and reached up to be held. She picked up her niece and continued walking.“Mommy?” the little girl asked hopefully, which broke Lily’s heart.“No, sweetie, it’s Lily. Remember me?”“Yes,” she said a bit sadly before burying her face in her aunt’s shoulder. It was clear as day that she had thought her mom finally came home and got her hopes dashed. Poor baby.Eddie was standing by the door when they walked up and a pained look crossed his face seeing Lily hold his daughter. He was probably thinking of Angel because they looked so much alike. That broke her heart more. This little family had been so affected by her absence.Lily didn’t understand how her twin could leave her family behind so often to go on publicity tours and such. If Angel didn’t come back in the next month, she would have to take a couple days off of school to go on one in her stead in an

Things slowed down a bit around 7 PM. They would be there until closing at 8 and then Lily would spend an hour or two working on her research paper before bed.She nearly jumped out of her skin when Mark spoke to her during a slow time where nobody was coming by. “You doing alright?”“Egg-yolk jellies eat other jellies so sometimes other species of marine life use them to hitchhike,” she blurted. This was a bad habit of hers. If she was in the middle of going over her encyclopedic knowledge in her head and someone interrupted her, she unconsciously said whatever random fact she was on.He looked completely confused. “Egg-yolk jellies?”“They get their name because they’re translucent except for a mass of yellow in the middle that looks like an egg yolk,” Lily mumbled in embarrassment. “Sorry. You caught me off guard and that was what I was thinking about.”“It’s fine. But what were you saying about hitchhiking?”“Oh! Crabs and amphipods have been found riding on top of or inside of th

Mark frowned. Edward had seemed so sure she was still alive earlier when he insisted on continuing with their plan as if she was.“We don’t know for sure that she’s dead. She might be out there still. Lily thinks she is,” he pointed out.He let out a sardonic laugh. “Don’t get me started on Lily! I have to keep seeing a woman who has Angel’s face but isn’t Angel in order to keep up appearances before we get a solid answer. Even though I think she’s never coming back, I have to act like she is on the off-chance because if I break our deal, she’ll have no reason to stay.“Isn’t that pathetic? I already believe she’s gone yet I’m still clinging to the foolish notion that she might be alive for such a paranoid reason. She’s already gone either way. It’s been two weeks; if she was going to show up by now, she would have.”“What exactly is your deal?” Mark couldn’t help but ask.He had been wondering for ages but didn’t think it was his place to comment on his boss’s love life or lack there

Angelina didn’t remember anything from when she ate dinner with her manager at her house to when she woke up in Eddie’s arms sore all over and covered in hickeys. She froze for a moment in panic at the gaps in her memory before realizing what had happened.Her manager must have given her something and made a deal with Eddie about getting that sponsorship after all. He was a really good actor! He actually made her believe that they were friends.By the time she came to her senses enough to get up and run away, he yawned and opened his eyes, sleepily mumbling “good morning, beautiful.” He didn’t seem fazed or apologetic in the slightest.With strength Angelina didn’t know she had, she shoved him off of her and wrapped the sheet around herself protectively. She couldn’t think of words nasty enough to hurl at him for taking advantage of her when she finally thought she found someone she could trust.Had Eddie not done it the night they met because there were too many witnesses? Or because