Page 27 of The Princess and the Fraud

It made perfect sense for her to ask. It’d been six months since I’d broken up with Grant. Plenty of time to rebound, and even rebound from that rebound.

“She doesn’t have time to date,” Caroline answered for me. “She’s working a lot.”

“You have a life outside of this job.” Annalise gave me an expectant look. “You should, anyway.”

“I do,” I insisted. “I’m just not dating. Not… yet.”

At my side, Caroline shook her head. “Same.”

“What happened to Derek?” Annalise asked.

Caroline gave a dramatic sigh. “We broke up a few weeks ago. The dating pool around here is abysmal, too. You’re smart for looking elsewhere for love, Anna.” She sipped at her mimosa again, nearly draining it. “You know, that makes sense, then.”

“What does?”

“Why you set Aaron up with Fiona instead of me, if you didn’t know I was single again.” Caroline raised her eyebrows. “But you haven’t been looking at my Instagram?”

Annalise’s cheeks flushed. “Well, I’ve been so busy?—”

“Did you ever talk to Margot?” I asked, slicing through the conversation that was going nowhere good. “About what happened at your wedding?”

Caroline smirked. “You mean Margot flipping the dessert table?”

After the meals had been served at Annalise’s wedding, and after she and Michael had their first dance, Margot had walked up to the dessert table, seemingly admiring the vast array of cupcakes and cake pops. And then, without a word, put her hands underneath it and flipped the table over.

Chaos had promptly ensued.

“Did she say why she did it? Was it because…” I hesitated, lowering my voice to a gossiping whisper. “Aaron?”

“Oh, not at all! She was upset about Nancy Du Ponte. She was upset that no one went to the funeral.”

“Itwasyour wedding day, after all,” Caroline said. “Margot should’ve understood that.”

Annalise shook her head. “I would’ve gone if I hadn’t had a camera crew on me. That docuseries company were the true Bridezillas, I swear. I couldn’t even pee if it wasn’t in line with their schedule.”

Caroline snorted. “Itdidmake for good entertainment, though.”

“And Margot called to apologize after it happened. Did I tell you that? Said she felt bad about it—imagine how shocked I was!Margotfelt bad?” Her expression was astonished. “But my whole wedding docuseries onBridal Monthlywent viral because of it, so I told her we were even.”

“Whatever happened between her and Aaron?” I picked up a piece of bread, reaching for the butter, trying to be nonchalant as possible. “Weren’t they supposed to get married?”

Annalise hesitated. “Incompatible, I guess.”

“You didn’t talk about it? With Aaron, I mean?”

“What’s with the grilling?” Caroline raised an eyebrow. “As if we care that much about his love life.”

“Be nice about him,” Annalise murmured back to her. “He’s had a rough go of things. And besides, Aaron’s one of us.”

The words, as inclusive as she’d intended for them to be, caused a sliver of unease to slide along my skin.One of us, she’d said, but in my mind, it really translated toOne of them.

“It fell through because Margot wanted to be with someone else,” Annalise told me. “There was so much miscommunication that happened. He didn’t realize it was her parents forcing her into it all. He wouldn’t have pursued her if he knew. But Fiona… it’s clear she’s crazy about him.”

“She’s crazy about him because her parents are getting ready to kick her out,” Caroline told Annalise. “She thinks she can marry Aaron, let him take the role in helping her father manage the business, and she can keep shopping to her heart’s content.”

“I doubt Aaron would mind much about that.”

I watched Annalise closely. Annalise moved to California two years ago, and in those two years, reading her had become harder. I didn’t know if she had a great poker face or if she actually had no clue Aaron wanted to marry Fiona for money.

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