Adrian’s POV
What I hated most of all was pretending.
Elara thought I was punishing her when I told her to always smile when we were together but she didn’t know that I hated it more than she did. Every fake smile felt like acid in my mouth. Since she came into my life, I’d become someone else. In public, I had to smile, laugh even, because a stone-faced fiancé would raise suspicion. She was supposed to make me happy, right? That was the illusion we sold. So I reserved those smiles for her alone, keeping my composure for the world that couldn’t know our engagement was a lie.
I hated pretending that Elara wasn’t the most beautiful woman in every damn room. With her poise, her confidence, her presence that commanded attention. She was impossible to ignore. But I already hated how I felt
