Even if Adrianna somehow found out or will soon, I sort of don’t care. While I want to protect the last things I have of my parents, they are just things. Trinkets. Art. Photos.
What really matters is my memory of them, of the stories I used to replay over and over at night to cope with Adrianna’s reign.
The realization strikes me. I finally accept that belittling myself down to ash, burning myself to the core, is not worth it to cling to possessions that my parents would have destroyed for the sake of my happiness.
If at the end of the night, at the end of this whole debacle, I still lose the house, I’ll be okay.
I didn’t know that until now, not completely. But I’ll survive, just like I always have. But I’m not alone anymore. I have my guys, my best friend, and Myra, who has protected me like one of her own.
Who really needs a fairy godmother anyway? They’d have nothing on my newfound family.
Dean secures the clasp around my neck, and I take a moment to step into the glass slippers, which are a flawless, perfect fit.
I drop my hair and turn to face them. “Thank you, guys.” My gaze drifts to Jules and Myra, who must’ve slipped in a moment ago. “Thank you all.”
Asher stretches his hand out, spinning me into him as soon as I take it, my gown swirling around. “Always, Princess.”
Dean smirks, his eyes darkening with revenge. “What do you say? Shall we crash a party?”
I nod, confident and proud. “I was born for this.”
“Damn straight, Ms. Chamberlain.” Asher snaps his fingers before leading us to the door, his hand interlacing with mine.
My throat begins to feel tight as we leave the suite and step into the hallway to head upstairs, Jules and Myra in tow. But I take a deep breath and try to reset.
While I am ready and excited to do this, I’m equally terrified because there’s no going back afterward. I’m about to step into the spotlight, the same one my dad spent years keeping me shielded from and the same one Adrianna made me fear for years.
Dean and Asher lead us through the staff wing toward the main house, carefully bringing us around the event so we can sneak up to the top of the grand staircase without detection.
They take us up a back staircase, and we make our way through the house until the next turn will be the last.
The noise grows louder as we near the edge of the wall, the last separation between me and the inevitable future.
“Ready?” Dean asks me quietly.
“I’m ninety-nine percent sure that my anxiety is going to kill me.” My breathing is quick and laborious. “But I need to do this. For all of us.”
“I’m proud of you, baby. You got this. And we’ll be right here the entire time.” Asher plants a sweet kiss on my forehead before he pokes his head around the corner and waves someone over.
A man dressed in a suit and dripping with importance strolls around the corner, a small notepad and pen in hand. “Mr. Dean and Mr. Asher. Welcome. How would you like to be addressed?”
Dean answers for them both. “Dean and Asher Kensington, sons of Elizabeth and Everett Kensington.”
He jots down the notes before glancing up at me. “And for you, miss?”
Adrianna’s grandiosity is playing in our favor tonight, and that very greed is what I’m using against her to turn her world completely upside down and to right mine for the first time in a decade.
I tell him what I’d like him to say, and I don’t miss the slight shock that widens his eyes as he writes it down verbatim.
“All right. I’ve got it. I will wave you over, announce you, and then you’ll make your descent down the stairs. Have a good evening,” he instructs us, walking back over to his podium, placed behind the railing next to the staircase, overlooking the entire party.
My heart beats erratically in my chest, sound fading in my ears as I try to gather myself. After a few deep breaths, along with one of my guys gently rubbing my back, I’m feeling much better.
Dean and Asher face forward, each offering me their arm. I loop mine in theirs as Jules pulls my hair behind my shoulders.
She leans forward, squeezing my shoulders, and whispers in my ear, “I’m so proud of you, Ciri. Gus, my mom, and I will be cheering you on. You’vegot this.”
Glancing behind me, I smile, a feeling of invincibility shifting over my shoulders like armor. “I love you.”
