Friday came faster than I was ready for .
I've spent the last three days hiding in my room. Didn't want to cause trouble Learning where everything was so I wouldn't get lost in this beautiful mansion . Trying on the fancy clothes and feeling like I was playing dress up. I'm still not used to it Googling stuff like "how to act at fancy parties" because I literally had no clue what I was doing.
Mrs. Chen was invaluable for bringing meals to my room every day. The few dinners with Adrian were so awkward that I couldn't handle it. Him on his phone. Me pushing food around my plate. Neither of us is talking.
Thursday night James emailed me this PDF about gala etiquette. Which fork to use for what? How to hold a champagne glass. Topics to avoid in conversation. I read it like five times and still felt totally unprepared.
It's Friday morning, someone knocked at the door I rushed to open it
"Alina? I'm Monica, your stylist for this evening."
She was maybe thirty, super put together, carrying a bunch of huge bags. She started doing my makeup, my hair. Made me sit while she worked on my face. It felt weird having a stranger touch me like that. I've never done this before
"Your skin is quite dry honey. Do you have a skincare routine?"
"I mean I wash my face?"
She made this little humming sound. Like she was judging me but trying to be nice about it.
When she finally let me look in the mirror I barely recognized myself, I looked different , My makeup was heavier than I'd ever worn it. I looked older. More sophisticated.
I looked like someone else.
"Now for the dress," Monica said all excited.
She pulled it out and I couldn't get my eyes off it Emerald green. Long and flowy. The kind of dress I'd only ever seen in magazines very beautiful dress
"Mr. Sterling selected this himself," she said. "He has excellent taste." Dressing up took forever. Monica had to help with the zipper. The fabric felt expensive. Silky and heavy at the same time. She handed me these silver hills they were so high wasn't sure I could walk with them
I stared at myself in the full-length mirror.
"You look beautiful," Monica said.
It felt like I was wearing a custom this is so not me, I've never worn anything this expensive.
After Monica left I just stood there trying to breathe normally. The dress felt tight around my ribs. Or maybe that was just me panicking.
My phone buzzed.
The car leaves in 10 minutes. Foyer. - James
I grabbed the tiny silver clutch and made my way downstairs. I held the railing as I walked down stairs cause I couldn't afford to trip the, hills were so high and I've never walked on something like this before.
Adrian was waiting.
And wow.
Full tuxedo. Hair perfect. He looked like he'd just stepped out of a magazine cover. He looked up when he heard the sound of my heels something changed in his expression but it disappeared before I could figure it out .
"You look appropriate," he said.
Not pretty. Not nice. Appropriate.what was I expecting
"Thanks."
He frowned slightly. "We need to work on your speech tonight. Say thank you instead of thanks. Try to sound more polished."
My face got hot. "Okay."
We got in the car. The ride was silent Adrain staring at his phone, me staring out the window .The silence was killing me, heavy and uncomfortable Few minutes later I couldn't take it anymore " um.. so what exactly I'm I supposed to do tonight ?I asked he didn't look up immediately.When he finally did his eyes met mine cold ."you stay close to me, put on a smile when people talk to you "Be pleasant. Don't share too much personal information."
"What if someone asks how we met?"
"Hospital charity work. I was touring the new cancer wing. You were visiting your mother. We spoke. I asked you to dinner. We connected." He said it like he'd practiced it all night . "Keep it simple and romantic."
"Okay."
"You'll meet board members tonight and their wives. Be polite. Try to remember names if you can. Compliment the woman but keep it generic. Nice dress. Beautiful jewelry. Nothing too specific."
This felt insane. Like he was training me for some undercover mission.
"What if I mess something up?"
"Try not to." His gray eyes met mine. Cold. Serious. "This gala is important. There will be photographers. Society pages. We need to look completely in love."
My stomach tumbled . "Got it."
We pulled up to this massive hotel. The really expensive kind with doormen in fancy uniforms. There was an actual red carpet. Photographers with huge cameras everywhere.
Oh god.
"Smile," Adrian said quietly. Then he opened his door.
He walked around and opened mine. Held out his hand. I took it because I had to and also because getting out of a car in this dress without help seemed impossible.
The second I stood up cameras started flashing everywhere.
"Mr. Sterling! Over here!"
"Who's your date?"
"Mr. Sterling can we get a photo?"
Adrian's arm went around my waist immediately. Pulled me in close against his side. I could feel how tense he was even though his face looked totally normal
"Smile," he whispered under his breath. "Like you're having the best night ever."
I smiled. Probably looked terrified but whatever.
We posed for a few photos. His hand stayed on my waist the whole time. Possessive. It probably looked romantic to everyone watching.
To me, it felt like he was making sure I didn't mess up or run away.
"Thank you," Adrian said to the photographers. Then he guided me inside.
The lobby was even fancier than his mansion. Everything was gold and crystal and marble. Women in gowns that probably cost more than my entire life. Men in expensive tuxedos standing around with drinks.
Everyone looked comfortable. Like they were born for this world. The way they talk, laugh eat they looked so comfortable.
I felt like an alien who crash landed on the wrong planet, even with this fancy dress I felt different
"Adrian!"
Some blonde woman in a red dress came walking over fast. She was maybe mid thirties. Gorgeous. Model pretty.
"Catherine," Adrian said. His voice warmed up just a tiny bit. "Good to see you."
"And who is this?" Her eyes landed on me. Scanned me up and down. I could literally see her judging everything about me.
"This is Alina. My wife." He said it so casually. "Alina, this is Catherine Westbrook. She's on Sterling Global's board."
"It's nice to meet you," I said nervously. Tried to sound put together.
"Wife?!" Catherine's eyes went huge. "Adrian I had no idea you were even seeing anyone! When did this happen?"
"Recently. We prefer to keep our private life private."
"Clearly!" She laughed but it didn't sound friendly. "Well this is quite the surprise. Where are you from Alina?"
"I grew up in the city. East side."
"Oh." Her smile got tighter. Faker. "How interesting. And what do you do?"
"I'm currently between positions."
"I see." She turned back to Adrian like I wasn't even worth looking at anymore. "We should have you both for dinner soon. I'm absolutely dying to hear the full story of how this happened."
"That sounds wonderful," Adrian said. His fingers squeezed my waist slightly. A warning.
"Gorgeous dress by the way," Catherine said to me. But the way she said it made it sound like an insult. "Very bold. Green can be such a tricky color to pull off."
"Thank you," I said .
She walked away and I let out a deep breath I didn't know I was holding.
"See? That wasn't so bad," Adrian said.That was bad to me
"She hated me."
"She's suspicious. That's different." He steered me toward the ballroom. "Come on. There are more people you need to meet."
The next hour was actual torture.
Adrian dragged me from person to person. Business associates. Board members. Their wives who all looked at me like I was dirt on their expensive shoes. Everyone smiling like they were forced and asking questions that felt like tests.
Where did you go to school? What does your family do? What are your interests?
I stuck to the vague answers James told me to use. Kept smiling. Kept pretending.
But every conversation made me feel smaller. Faker. More out of place.
Finally we sat down for dinner.
God I'm screwed
The table was set with like a thousands of forks and knives and spoons. All different sizes. Laid out in this specific pattern that probably meant something to everyone here.
Everyone else just picked up their silverware like it was obvious. Like they'd been doing this their entire lives. Well they have
I stared at all the forks. My brain completely blanked. The PDF had explained it but sitting here looking at them I couldn't remember anything. I was nervous .
Okay. Just watch what other people do. That's what Adrian said.
I waited until the woman across from me picked up a fork. Then I grabbed what I thought was the same one.
Started eating the salad they'd put in front of me.
Adrian's hand touched my wrist.
Firm. Cold.
I looked at him. His face was calm but his eyes were sharp. Angry. Did I make a mistake ?
He didn't say anything. Just moved my hand to a different fork. The correct one apparently.
My face got hot it felt like it was on fire. I wanted to disappear. Wanted the floor to swallow me .
The woman sitting next to me leaned over slightly. She was older, maybe fifties, wearing diamonds everywhere.
"First formal dinner dear?" she asked. Her voice was sweet but her eyes weren't.
"Um. Yeah. Kind of."
She smiled. "How refreshing. Adrian's always had such unique taste."
I didn't know what that meant or what to say so I just kept eating. Used the right fork this time. But my hands were shaking and I was pretty sure everyone at the table had seen what happened.
The rest of the dinner felt like torture. I second guessed every single movement. Was this the right glass? The right spoon? Everyone else made it look so easy and natural and I felt like a little kid who snuck into the adults table.
When dinner finally ended people started getting up. Moving around. Talking in groups.
Adrian got pulled into some conversation with important looking men in tuxedos. Business stuff probably. I just stood next to him acting like I belonged there.
"I need to use the bathroom," I said quietly after a few minutes of discussions.
He barely looked at me. "Fine. Don't take too long."
I found the ladies room down a hallway. It was super fancy. All marble and gold fixtures. Fresh flowers everywhere. It had a sitting area with couch
I went inside one of the rooms and just stood there . Trying to breathe. Trying not to cry. Trying to pull myself together.
You can do this. Just a couple more hours. Then you can go home and never come out of your room again.
I came out to wash my hands and two ladies were standing at the mirrors. Touching up their makeup. Talking.
They didn't notice me at first.
"I still cannot believe Adrian brought her here," one of them said. The older one.thirties maybe. Covered in diamonds and wearing an expensive looking dress .
I froze. My hands under the running water.
"I know," the other lady said. Younger. Blonde. Pretty in that sharp way. "She's so completely out of place."
Don't cry. Don't cry. Just wash your hands and leave.
"Did you see her with the silverware?" The older lady laughed. Not a nice laugh. "The poor thing has absolutely no idea what she's doing."
"Where did he even find her? Some charity case he felt sorry for probably."
My throat felt tight. I turned off the water slowly. Reached for a paper towel.
"Oh she's definitely a gold digger. Did you see that dress? Valentino. I'd bet anything he paid for it."
"Of course he did. Girls like that don't have money for designer gowns."
Girls like that. Girls like me.
"I give it six months before he realizes what a terrible mistake this was."
"If that long. She'll probably try to get pregnant first. Trap him with a baby."
"God can you even imagine? Adrian Sterling stuck with someone like her forever?"
They both laughed again.
I grabbed the towel. Dried my hands even though they were shaking. They still hadn't looked over. Hadn't noticed me standing right there.
"Honestly I don't know what he was thinking."
"He wasn't thinking. That's the problem. Men never think with the right head do they?"
More laughter.
I threw the paper towel in the trash. My legs felt weird. Shaky.scared
I walked toward the door. Had to pass right by them.
They finally saw me.
Both of their faces went pale. Eyes wide.
"Oh," the older lady said. Her voice changed completely. Got all fake sweet. "Hello dear. We were just… lovely dress."
The blonde one smiled. Also fake. "Yes. Very pretty."
I didn't say a thing . Couldn't say anything. Just walked past them and out the door.
My vision was blurry. The hallway felt like it was tilting.
I found a corner. Pressed my back against the wall. Tried to breathe.
Gold digger.
Charity case.
Out of place.
Mistake.
Girls like that.
The words kept playing in my head.
They thought I trapped him. They thought I was using him for money. They thought I didn't belong.
And they were right.
Not about trapping him. But about everything else.
I don't belong here . Not even a little bit. I didn't know which fork to use when we ate . I didn't know how to talk to these rich people. I didn't know anything about this world,about going to galas .
I'm just a poor girl in a fancy dress pretending to be a billionaire's wife
And everyone could see it.
"There you are."
I jumped. Adrian was standing there looking at me.
"You've been gone for too long . Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Fine. Just needed a minute."
The He studied my face. His gaze thightened. "You look upset."
"I'm not. Just really tired."
"Okay " he said
"We'll leave soon." He placed his hand on my lower back and Started walking me back toward the ballroom. "Just need to say goodbye to a few people."
The rest of the night dragged on . More fake conversations. More fake smiles. Adrian's hand on my waist reminding everyone I was his.
Finally everything's over
we got in the car to go home.
I kept staring outside the window. Watching the city lights blur past. I Didn't say a single word.
"You did well tonight," Adrian said. "Better than I expected actually."
I ignored
"Alina?"
"I'm worn out ."
"We have another event next Friday. A smaller one. Less formal."
Great. Another chance to embarrass him. Another night of people gossiping about me
we arrived at the mansion I went straight to my room. Didn't even say goodnight.
I closed the door and leaned against it. Finally I'm alone.
The dress suddenly felt too tight. Too heavy. Like it was suffocating me.
I quickly unzipped it and let it fall to the floor. Washed all my makeup off . Let my hair down. Put on my old pajamas. The ones from my real life.
Then i climbed on the bed
My phone was on the side table . I grabbed it and pulled up the photos app. Scrolled back to pictures from before. Before Mom got sick. Before everything fell apart.
There was one from my high school graduation. Me and Mom both smiling. She looked so healthy. So proud. We were standing in front of our small apartment building. It looked poor
But it was home.
I looked around my current room. Massive bed. Expensive furniture. Everything perfect and beautiful and cold.
This wasn't home.
This was a prison with nice bedding.
I thought about those ladies in the bathroom. Their voices. Their laughter.
Girls like that.
Gold digger.
Mistake.
They were right. I didn't belong in Adrian's world. I never would.
But I was stuck here. For a whole year. Three hundred and sixty something more days of this. Of fancy parties where I didn't know which fork to use. Of people whispering about me in bathrooms. Of Adrian correcting me like I was a child who couldn't learn.
Three hundred and sixty something more days of being nobody.
The tears came before I could stop them. Quiet at first. Then started crying hard . Until I was crying into my pillow trying not to make any noise.
I cried for my old life. For my tiny apartment that was mine. For my two jobs where at least I knew what I was doing. For my mom who I couldn't even tell the truth to about any of this. I miss her so much
I cried because I'd sold myself to save her and I didn't regret it but god it hurt so much more than I thought it would.
I cried because those women were right.
I'm a gold digger. Maybe not in the way they thought but I'd still married Adrian for money. That's exactly what I am
And I'm gonna spend the next year being reminded of it every single day.
Thinking about it I'm not sure I can do this anymore
What if I just return his money ?