Who Gets My Billion-Dollar Slipper?

Chapter 3

A dangerous chill flashed through his eyes. "Aren't you asking too many questions tonight?"

His gentle expression quickly returned. "We're getting married tomorrow. You should go home and get some rest."

Fear spread through me. I nodded quickly and left.

When I returned home, Diana and her daughters were still awake, waiting in the sitting room. The moment they saw me, they crowded around.

"How did it go? Did you find out who the prince's love is?"

I said nothing and merely shook my head.

Defeat and despair immediately filled their eyes.

Chloe even began to cry. "I don't want to die. Why don't we run away?"

Diana snapped, "And go where? The prince holds all the power in the kingdom. No matter how far we run, he'll hunt us down."

Vanessa drew a deep breath and made up her mind. "There are only 4 hours until dawn. Running might buy us a few extra days. That's better than dying immediately."

But I changed course, my tone resolute. "We can't run.

"There will be a wedding.

"And I'll be the bride."

Vanessa stared at me in disbelief. "I don't like you, but have you forgotten how horribly you died last time?"

Diana frowned. "Don't tell me you still love him after he turned you into a pincushion. If that's true, I'll have to wonder whether I was too nice to you before."

The glass slipper, worth a fortune, still sat nearby.

If Vanessa wore it, the prince would cut off her legs and lock her in the dungeon, where infected wounds would slowly kill her.

If Chloe wore it, he would throw her from a tower, leaving her to die in agony with every bone in her body shattered.

If Diana wore it, he would hold her under the fountain until she drowned. Her bloated corpse wouldn't be returned to the Hart residence until days later.

And if I wore it, I would suffer the cruelest death of all.

To punish a mistress who had supposedly reached beyond her station, the prince had stabbed me 49 times, making sure that not one wound was immediately fatal.

Blood slowly drained from my body as the warmth seeped away.

The sensation of life ebbing from me had filled me with unspeakable terror and despair. It was torture by a thousand cuts.

Even the three enemies who had spent years despising me had felt heartbroken when they saw my body.

The glass slipper scattered dazzling light across the room, but all it reflected were the gruesome deaths the four of us had endured.

Still, I walked over and slipped it onto my foot without hesitation. "I know it's dangerous, but this is the only way all four of us can survive!"

Chloe asked in astonishment, "What did you find out?"

Telling them the truth would make tomorrow's plan more likely to succeed.

But if my suspicion was correct, the truth was so bizarre and terrifying that I couldn't drag all three of them into it.

I shook my head. "Sorry, I can't tell you yet."

Vanessa's expression turned grave. "What do you need us to do?"

I looked at them. "Attend the wedding as planned and pretend you don't know anything."

Diana crushed the feather fan in her hand. "He'll stab you to death on your wedding night, and you want us to act as if everything is fine?"

The three of them watched me with genuine concern. They were completely on my side now.

When I thought back on everything they'd done to me, I realized it had never gone beyond petty squabbles over small sums of money. They had never put my life in danger.

Yet the man I trusted and adored had tortured me to death with unimaginable cruelty on our wedding night.

I steadied myself and decided to tell them the truth after all.

"When I went to see the prince tonight, he suddenly kissed me on the lips.

"That one gesture made me realize exactly who his love is.

"She really is one of the four of us, and she's the last person any of us would ever suspect. She is..."