“So, you did manage to procure a Neisha Winters speech!” she trilled as if she’d been in on his plan from the start. “How exciting!”

I guess she suddenly knew exactly who I was now.

Josh simply took the brown envelope from me and said, “Thank you,” with a noble nod of his head.

I swallowed and rushed on before I could lose my nerve.

“The other speech is in there too,” I told Josh. “The one I dream wrote for you. The one that will set you free to live your own life. And there are two things you need to know before you make your decision.”

I held up a finger. “One. You’re free. You think you have to be a good soldier. I don’t know the full reason why, but it guides everything you do. But it’s time to take off your invisible uniform and put down all your heavy gear. You’re free, and you can do what you want.”

Josh’s gaze shuttered, and he said, “Tell me the second thing, and then it’s time for you to go.”

The urge to run and hide in the shadows like I always did racked my body, stronger than ever before.

I was a speck in this universe. I didn’t matter beyond my ability to write speeches that won elections. Not to my parents. Not to my caretakers.

Speaking up was for other people. Talented people like my clients. Not me. And Shelby was so pretty. Pretty as the sun.

Fear clogged my throat. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t….

But then Josh flicked his eyes to the guard, and I knew what would come next. Josh might not be a billionaire, but he exuded command.

He was powerful enough to stop those guards from rushing me, and he was powerful enough to have them take me away.

This was my one chance—my only chance. I had to speak. I had to tell him….

“It was me! I’m your secret admirer, not Shelby. I’ve been in love with you ever since we met,” I admitted.

Then I stepped closer to tell him, “I’ve tried to stop, but I’ll probably stay in love with you for the rest of my life. You’re a wonderful man, Josh. Everything I’ve hoped for and dreamed of in a life mate. And I’m so scared you could never feel the same way about me. But I can’t let another Christmas go by without telling you that I, Taneisha Winters, love you. So much. And it was me who wrote those cards.”

Josh squinted at me, his expression as cold as his nickname.

And Shelby said, “Oh my goodness, I’d heard your real mother was mentally ill. And unfortunately, it must have passed down through the family. I’m so sorry, but you need help.”