🖤 Chapter 8 – Public Image
214 Words
“Smile.”
His voice was low, controlled, right beside my ear.
Cameras flashed around us.
Lights. Reporters. Fake laughter.
I forced a smile as his arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer than necessary.
“Relax,” he murmured. “You look like you’re about to run.”
“Maybe I am,” I whispered back.
His grip tightened slightly.
“Not tonight.”
A reporter stepped forward. “You both look very much in love.”
I almost laughed.
Love?
If only they knew.
“She makes it easy,” he said smoothly, his fingers brushing my arm like it meant something.
My breath caught.
Actor.
That’s what he was.
Perfect. Convincing. Dangerous.
“And how does it feel being newly married?” another reporter asked me.
I hesitated.
His hand tightened again—a silent warning.
“It’s…” I forced a smile. “A dream.”
A lie.
A beautiful, painful lie.
The cameras flashed brighter.
And just when I thought I could survive the night—
A woman stepped forward.
Elegant. Confident. Dangerous.
Her eyes locked onto mine.
Then slowly…
She smiled.
“You must be the new wife,” she said.
Something about her tone made my stomach twist.
Because it wasn’t friendly.
It was a warning.
- Writer
