Page 127 of Ruthless Prince
Oh, yeah. Father of the year,I thought, gritting myteeth.
“Next to him, we have Jared Rhoades, everyone’s favorite first son.” Jules cut in with another blinding smile as she looked at my brother. “It’s common knowledge that you’re the cutest man in the White House right now, Jared. I bet that makes you very popular with the girls atschool.”
We all laughed at the stupid joke, and Jared flushed in the most adorableway.
“Last but certainly not least, we have Willow,” Jules said, turning her attention to me. She winked dramatically. “Your mom might be the president, but I bet a lot of our viewers are watching our show today just for you. You’re the most popular young woman in the whole world rightnow.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that, Jules,” I replied, cheeks turningwarm.
She waved a hand. “No need to be modest, Willow. Your name is on everyone’slips.”
I wasn’t being modest. I knew the public eye was always on me, but I had no idea that I was currently the most popular girl in the world. It was hard to keep up to date on trends when I didn’t have a computer with an internet connection in myroom.
Jules snapped her fingers, and a graph appeared on a huge screen behind us. “This is last month’s most popular Google searches,” she said, pointing to one side. “Andthisis the currentmonth.”
My eyes widened. The most popular search terms right now were ‘Willow Rhoades’, ‘Willow Rhoades engagement’, ‘Willow Rhoades necklace’ and ‘Willow Rhoadesfashion’.
“Wow, I had no idea,” I said, turning back to thehosts.
“Well, now you do,” Jules said. I could tell she didn’t believe me, and she still thought I was putting on a show of false modesty. “That gorgeous necklace of yours has even sparked a trend. Look atthis!”
She clicked her fingers again, and another series of images appeared on the screen. The audience immediately oohed and aahed, and I looked up to see a number of knock-off sites advertising the ‘Willow’, a cheap version of my engagementnecklace.
“That’s incredible. They look so real,” Mom said with a wide smile. I could tell by the cold expression in her eyes that she was pissed as hell about me getting more attention than her. “You know, I have to say, I’m very proud of my daughter for staying so grounded throughout this recent media obsession with her. She hasn’t let it go to her head at all. She’s always been the same sweet, shyWillow.”
The audience let out a collective ‘aww’ atthat.
The hosts turned their attention back to my parents. They spent the next five minutes or so asking generic questions about the White House and how they managed to maintain a decent work-lifebalance.
I stared into space, trying to tune it all out, and then I caught Logan’s eye. He was standing on the edge of the set. When he saw me looking, he gave me a thumbs-up and mouthed the words ‘keepsmiling’.
Jules finally turned her gaze back to me. “I have a question for you now,Willow.”
I leaned forward. “Askaway.”
“Like I said before, you’re currently the world’s most talked about girl. That’s not always a good thing, isit?”
“I guess not,” I said. “But I can’t complain. There’s a downside to everything,right?”
It was the most vague, generic answer I could possibly give, and my mom shot me a proud look. She’d coached us to give responses exactly likethat.
“On that note, I want to talk about the members of the public who aren’t pleased about your engagement to Logan Thorne,” Jules went on. “While a lot of people think you’re the cutest couple they’ve ever seen, a lot of others think it represents a hugebetrayal.”
“Betrayal?”
She nodded, keeping that wide, shark-like smile pasted on her overly made-up face. “Yes. Now that you’ve moved in with the Thornes, who are famously aligned with the Democrats, people are wondering if you’re trying to disassociate yourself from your mother’s platform.” She clicked her fingers again, and another graph appeared on the screen behind us. “Presidential approval ratings used to be very high, but ever since you and Logan announced your engagement and moved in together, they’ve dropped in quite a spectacular manner. Many political pundits are naming you as the leading cause of this sudden decline in your mother’spopularity.”
“I see.” I gritted my teeth. This was supposed to be a casual family profile, but the hosts were going for the jugular. Even my mom’s practiced smile was waveringnow.
“How do you feel about that, Willow?” Dan asked, cocking his head to oneside.
“I think it’s sad that my private life would affect people’s political opinions at all,” Isaid.
He smiled. “I agree. Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that quite a lot of young people look up to you and base their opinions on every move youmake.”
Jeez, they really didn’t want to drop thissubject.
“It shouldn’t matter who I choose to be with or whether people approve or not,” I said. “Everyone should be able to keep that separated from the way they view my mother and her amazing work as ourpresident.”
