GOWNS, LIES, FIRST LOOKS
581 Words
Gowns, Lies, and First Looks
The boutique was in the kind of district Liana had only walked through to get somewhere else—where store windows shimmered and the prices never had tags.
She stepped out of the sleek black town car, trying not to look as uncomfortable as she felt. The assistant waiting for her wore heels sharper than her voice.
“Miss Grey? I’m Isabelle. Mr. Blackwood sent me to help you with your selections. Come this way.”
The boutique’s interior looked like a jewelry box—glass, gold, and velvet everywhere. Racks of gowns shimmered like something out of a movie. Liana couldn’t even guess what they cost.
She ran her hand across a pale blue silk dress. “How much is this one?”
Isabelle glanced over. “If you have to ask, Mr. Blackwood would say it’s irrelevant.”
Liana gave a tight smile. Right. Of course he would.
They tried dress after dress. The mirrors were too honest. The zippers too unforgiving. By the sixth one, Liana was sweating and tired of pretending to feel elegant.
She stepped out of the fitting room in a black gown with an open back and subtle shimmer along the hem.
Isabelle’s brows lifted. “That one. Definitely that one.”
“I look like someone else.”
“You look like Mrs. Blackwood.”
Liana stared at her reflection. That woman in the mirror—poised, clean lines, no visible cracks—wasn’t real. But she’d have to become her. At least in public.
As they wrapped up, Isabelle handed her a sleek envelope. “This is your new ID. Credit cards. Access pass for Blackwood Tower. You’re officially part of the profile now.”
Liana took it, trying to ignore the weight in her chest. “How many other women have played this role?”
Isabelle didn’t answer. Just gave her a tight smile and walked away.
⸻
That night, Darius came home late.
She was in the library—yes, the house had a library—flipping through a photo book she didn’t really care about, just to pass the time.
He paused when he saw her.
“You didn’t have to wait up,” he said.
“I wasn’t waiting.” She looked up. “Your assistant gave me these.”
She held up the envelope.
Darius nodded. “Everything you need to function as my wife.”
Liana raised a brow. “You say that like I’m a software update.”
He almost smiled. Almost.
Instead, he sat across from her and loosened his tie. He looked tired, like someone who hadn’t slept in years.
“How was the fitting?” he asked.
“Intimidating. Isabelle’s terrifying. Also, I’m pretty sure one of those dresses cost more than my student debt.”
“Probably,” he said without flinching.
She studied him. “Is it exhausting? Being this detached all the time?”
He didn’t respond right away.
Then, in a voice lower than usual, he said, “It’s easier.”
“Than what?”
He looked her in the eye. “Caring.”
The air thickened.
Liana could’ve made a joke. Changed the subject. Broken the tension.
But instead, she said, “What happened to you?”
Something flickered in his eyes. But then it was gone, shuttered behind that wall he lived behind.
He stood. “I’ll see you at breakfast.”
And just like that, the wall was back up.
- Writer
