You Want Me to Marry the Coast's Most Controlling Heir? Perfect. I'm an Introvert
READING AGE 12+
At twenty-six, I had spent a year pretending to be the kind of daughter the Ashfords could display at a fundraiser: easy with strangers, quick with a toast, and perfectly comfortable beneath a hundred curious eyes. My biological parents had found me after a lifetime apart, and I'd been afraid that saying no to their world would mean losing them all over again. Then they proposed a marriage to Julian Vale, an heir with a reputation for controlling every detail in his orbit. They called it a brilliant match. I called it a chance to stop improvising my way through rooms full of people. But when Julian began setting rules for the life we were supposed to share, I had to decide whether his control offered me shelter—or whether I was about to disappear inside another performance. If I finally told the truth about who I was, would either family still want me?
Unfold
I did not answer Julian's message for two days.
On the third, I called him and asked him to meet me at the small restaurant where we had first spoken.
He arrived at seven, ordered water, and waited for me to begin.
"I'm not ready to get married," I said.
"All right."
"I don't mean I'm not ready for a wedding date……
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