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Air e

I had finished moving my things from my apartment to Nolan's townhouse when I saw the image. I was tired and doom scrolling when I saw my face staring back at me. I was walking down the courthouse steps in my wedding gown, Nolan beside me, looking like he would rather be anywhere else. It was strange, being in this situation where people report about you, talk about you, as though they know you when they don't. The person I was imitating wasn't new to this, but I was. And people were harsh. The tea channels were reporting on this as though I had committed some sort of crime by simply marrying Nolan. People were praying for my downfall. Or rather, I should say, Aelin's downfall.

And speaking of which, where was she? Did she see this and laugh at what my grandfather put me through or did she truly had no idea? If I had to guess, she was on an island somewhere enjoying herself. Nolan hadn't called me yet, and I wondered if I should tell him the news had leaked. Judging by his look of revulsion when I jokingly said I called the paparazzi, he would probably think this was my doing.

I jumped when my phone rang. It wasn't Nolan. Worse, it was my grandfather.

"Where are you? Are you alone?" he asked in between bouts of coughs.

"Yes." How else was one supposed to reply to such odd questions? "The news of our marriage leaked." I added.

"It didn't leak. I called the press."

"Oh. Why?" It seemed like such an odd move, considering Aelin probably didn't know what was happening.

"My god, you're slow aren't you? I did it, so he's tied to you and won't go back on this deal."

Something told me Nolan would do whatever he wanted to, regardless of what anyone thought. He didn't strike me as a people pleaser.

"Wouldn't it make things difficult if-if my face is… People might realize I am not Aelin. "

"People are dumb. And besides, you two look alike, so there's no need to worry."

I wasn't sure we were that similar. But I remember summers at grandfather's mansion back when I was young, where Aelin and I would confuse the staff even though we were born from different mothers and were months apart in age. Father never liked me spending time there and as I got older, the less I saw Aelin. And the less I looked like Aelin. Even with the nose job, there were still some differences that I could see, and Aelin was one of the most photographed people in the world. All it would take was some obsessive, jobless person to work it out.

"What if Aelin comes back?" I said.

"There's no need to worry about her." He sounded much more reassuring than he's ever sounded. Like he wanted me to truly believe it.

"Where is she?"

Cough. "Does it matter?"

"Does she know? About me pretending to be her? Because if she doesn't know, then I don't think…"

Cough. Cough. "She knows."

She knew! Great! Except it only brought up more questions. Unfortunately, he hung up the phone before I could ask more. Why had he added that clause in the pre-nup and why was he so sure his plan was going to work? It's not as if I wanted to back off. I just wanted to be sure I understood what exactly was happening so I could play my role better, but grandfather, as always, liked to keep his cards close to his chest. This entire ordeal marked the first time Grandfather ever spoke to me extensively, and I found it oddly comforting to be finally included in family affairs. It was the first time I ever truly sensed what it meant to be a Burgess. Bizarre as it was.

I sent Nolan the image and told him I had nothing to do with it leaking to the press. He didn't respond. Wonder if he was still mad about the clause. It also made me want to look into that thing he had implied. The Christmas choir DUI.

I did a simple search. Aelin Burgess Christmas choir DUI. Nothing came up. A wash of relief came over me. But didn't he say it was buried? How does one search for buried information? That was the beginning of my afternoon's long quest to find out what exactly happened. I was about to give up when, seven pages deep into a google search, I found a forum of b-list New York celebrities. From what I could gather, it was a place where paparazzi, celebrity stalkers and straight up stalkers hung around to give each other celebrity whereabouts tips and simple gossip.

"Aelin Burgess' car ran into a bunch of children singing Christmas carols," the title of the thread said. The moderators had locked the thread and deleted a few posts.

[Deleted]: Took a few images of the entire thing.Called the cops soon after.Fuck these entitled celebrities, man.

The original poster wrote in the thread description.

I scrolled down to the images, fingers shaking. But when I tried to click on a blurry thumbnail, nothing happened. The images appeared to have been deleted.

Other forum commentators were asking the OP if the kids were okay. While others were relishing in another upcoming Aelin Burgess scandal.

PicGremlin: That skank has had it coming for a long time. She's gotten away with way too much.

CertifiedH8er: "Do you have more?"

Fairylover: "This is gruesome. How can you people request more photos of dead children?"

[Deleted]: Calm your tits Fairylover. The children are fine. One had a bruise, and the other was a little disoriented.

The rest of the thread devolved into arguments on the ethics of taking images of children. The account of the original poster appeared to be deleted, as well as some messages he sent. The thread concluded with users asking about the deleted photos and their location, ultimately prompting a moderator to lock the thread.

Whichever way you sliced it, this was horrible. No wonder Nolan had used this as a threat. And how was it not reported? My grandfather must have protected her and made sure this did not come out. He must have paid off the parents and whoever took pictures of this.

I felt sick to my stomach. This is the person I had to pretend to be. A woman who drove drunk and ran into a choir of children. I had done extensive research into Aelin’s life and I don’t know how I missed this. Her worst crime, I thought, was giving her recovering drug addict ex-boyfriend cocaine to where he overdosed and almost died. Not this.What else did I miss?

I had no time to digest this new information because I heard the door click open and footsteps shuffling towards me. I jerked my head from the phone. The living room was dark and the only light streaming in was from the setting sun, bathing the room with a low golden glow.

He appeared like an apparition, his shadow looming large as marched over to me, briefcase in hand. I jumped out of my seat, screaming. He flicked the light on, clicked another switch that closed the blinds and said, "It's only me." His voice was dry and, dare I say, tired.

"You know," I put on my best Aelin impression. "You could give a girl a warning instead of barging in unannounced."

"It's my home."

"A simple knock would have sufficed."

"I did. You ignored it."

I was so deeply engrossed in that awful forum that I forgot where I was. Now that I could see him clearly, Nolan did look drained. Because of work, or something else? There were bags under his eyes and a deflated look about him that made him look boyish. If I was a proper wife and this was a genuine relationship, I would have hugged him and asked about his day. But this was something else, so I stayed rooted and recalled his manhandling that led me to be here in the first place and not my home.

Nolan must have thought about the same thing as well, because he pointed to the bags in the living room and said, "What are those doing there?"

"I don't want to live here."

He sighed and pinched his eyes. "We've been through this before and I would rather not argue with you now."

"But I was never fine with it. You had your man haul my stuff here, and it was frankly humiliating. I know you think I will try something wild, but I promise you I won't. You don't have to stand my presence and don't have to stand yours. Wouldn't you want that?"

"I would, but you and your grandfather have proven to not be trustworthy."

"Oh, come on!"

"You publicized our marriage without my knowledge."

"I didn't!"

He stood arms akimbo, looking incredulous. "Really?" He fished out his phone from his pocket, tapped furiously through it and then said, "And who gave the papers quotes such as," He read from his phone, "Nolan and I have been secretly dating for months. I love him and I am the happiest bride in the world."

Why did my grandfather have to go that far? I should have read the articles so I would have at least a defense. In fact, he should have warned me before sending a fake quote to the press, but when has he ever sought my advice?

"There's no way I am leaving you to stay on your own."

"Don't talk to me like I am a child."

He leaned forward. His face was so close. His gaze fell on my lips. An odd thought flashed through my mind. What would his lips taste like? My gaze landed on his gray eyes. Did he want to kiss me? As soon as I thought that, he pulled back. "Then don't act like one."