Page 44 of The Princess and the Fraud

“Yousaidthat to her? Sheesh, no wonder she got upset.” If anyone had ever said that to me… “Wait, you don’t think you’re made for love?”

“I didn’t mean it as an insult. I was trying to be comforting. I just… I thought she was like me, but she wasn’t.”

I frowned. “Like you?”

Aaron looked away. “Like me.”

He didn’t elaborate. Silence stretched between us, but after a moment, I realized it was only me who thought it was awkward—Aaron seemed quite comfortable tracing the outline of the keys. “Would you have married Margot if she hadn’t fallen in love with someone else?”

“Yes.”

“Even though she didn’t want to marry you?”

Aaron didn’t hesitate. “I still would’ve.”

I turned back to the keys, pressing my lips together. I didn’t really know what I’d been expecting—a glimmer of remorse? But it proved what Annalise had said earlier wrong. He’d known Margot didn’t want to marry him, and yet he hadn’t cared.

“How much did you hear?” he asked after a beat, awkwardness filling his tone. “The night of… Annalise’s wedding?”

It took a second for his meaning to click. He meant that night with his parents outside, hidden in between the rosebushes. I’d gone outside to find the Masseys, to tell them what Margot had done, but accidentally stumbled upon Aaron with his parents instead. Aaronkneelingin front of his parents. Begging them.

Please. I’ll do better. I promise.

You’ve done this to yourself.

The echo of Aaron’s desperation in my ear, paired with the uncomfortable tone he had on now, was a weird juxtaposition. “Not a lot,” I said. “I didn’t stay long.”

Aaron nodded slowly, absorbing my words. “I disappointed them. I won’t do it again.”

“Aren’t you doingexactlywhat upset them last time?”

He shook his head. “I know how to do it right this time. I’ll genuinely win Fiona over. I’ll make it real.”

“You mean fake it better?”

“No,” he said, sharper now. “That was my problem last time—I was trying to take the easy way out. And involving my parents, trying to build a partnership within the businesses… I let them get too close to my plan. This time is different. I’ll win Fiona over. For real. I’ll impress her parents. My parents will see that I’m not some reckless screwup—they’ll see Ibelongagain.”

The fervor to his voice had me hesitating, the intensity coming all of a sudden. “But you’ll still be lying.”

He looked away. “I’ll dedicate my life to her. I won’t let it be a lie.”

“You have three weeks left until your birthday to propose to her,” I reminded him, brow furrowing. Did he not feel the pressure? “Until… the house’s auction.”

Aaron paused, glancing over. “Are you worried someone will buy the house before then?”

“No.” And that was honest enough. It’d been on the market for over a decade—if it hadn’t sold at that price, no one would be crazy enough to buy it in full before it would go to auction. In fact, the idea that I was still a few weeks out from owning it was oddly comforting. “It’s just not a lot of time to propose to someoneandget married. Fiona doesn’t seem like the type who’d want to elope.”

“People will do a lot of things if the right someone asks.”

The idea made me squirm on the bench seat. “So, you’re waiting until she’s softened enough to say yes to anything?”

“Lovisa—”

“You’re trying to win her over enough that she’ll blindly go along with anything you ask for? Right?”

“I’m doing what I have to do.” Aaron spoke in a flat voice. “Besides, she’s equally as eager to get married. Her parents gave her their own ultimatum, if you didn’t know. Either to marry or be kicked out. So if this works, everyone gets what they want—including you. Before you judge me for it, remember that you’re benefitting from this arrangement as well.”

I turned back to the piano, fingers curling into fists in my lap.Likeable and unlikeable.Like going from a major to a minor key—jarring. He bounced too frequently in between. He wasn’t wrong, though. And that irked me even more.

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