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Back Stolen Soulmate Save as PDF
Chapters (66)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Keep Reading
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-One
  25. Twenty-Two
  26. Twenty-Three
  27. Twenty-Four
  28. Twenty-Five
  29. Twenty-Six
  30. Twenty-Seven
  31. Twenty-Eight
  32. Twenty-Nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty-One
  35. Thirty-Two
  36. Thirty-Three
  37. Thirty-Four
  38. Thirty-Five
  39. Thirty-Six
  40. Thirty-Seven
  41. Thirty-Eight
  42. Thirty-Nine
  43. Forty
  44. Forty-One
  45. Forty-Two
  46. Forty-Three
  47. Forty-Four
  48. Forty-Five
  49. Forty-Six
  50. Forty-Seven
  51. Forty-Eight
  52. Forty-Nine
  53. Fifty
  54. Fifty-One
  55. Fifty-Two
  56. Fifty-Three
  57. Fifty-Four
  58. Fifty-Five
  59. Fifty-Six
  60. Fifty-Seven
  61. Fifty-Eight
  62. Fifty-Nine
  63. Sneak Peek
  64. Find Me
  65. Books by Mary Catherine Gebhard
  66. Acknowledgments

Back to his wedding.

Back to a fiancée and world where I would never belong. Because this is what happens in the real Cinderella story. The prince has to marry a princess, and people like us? We have to find peace in the ashes.

Fifty-Eight

STORY

I folded and refolded the square Grayson had given me, stuck sitting behind the flowery partition as they said their vows. I was the girl behind the girl, literally.

“Do you, Charlotte du Lac, take Grayson Crowne to be your husband?” the minister asked.

I lifted my head, staring at the flowers that separated us, imagining her staring up at him from beneath her pretty veil, her even prettier dress.

“I do.” Her soft, even voice drifted through.

“And do you, Grayson Crowne, take Charlotte du Lac to be your wife?”

A moment passed like a year as I waited for Grayson to answer.

“I do,” he said.

“Ow,” I gasped, all the breath leaving me like the time I’d had the wind knocked out of me.

I fell against the wall. I knew it was coming, so I didn’t think it would hurt as much, but it still felt like I’d been shot in the chest.

I gripped the square harder.

This was the only ending.

I knew when they kissed by the cheers.

When the music started up, I could imagine when they walked down the aisle, out the door, and presumably into a new life.

I sat in the dark for a while, thumbing the locket. I trailed the clasp with my thumb, sticking my nail into the groove. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what was inside Grayson Crowne’s heart. I was afraid if I did, I couldn’t hate him.

And I needed to hate him.

I waited until I was certain there was no one in the room to walk out from behind the partition. Walked in a daze through the halls, until the snap of fingers stopped me. I blinked and looked into the eyes of Ms. Barn.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Where the hell have you been?”

“Around…”

Ms. Barn glared. “Mrs. Grayson Crowne will need her second, third, and fourth dress. You’ll have to prepare her for the reception. Mrs. Tansy was not pleased with the size of the ceremony, so the reception is going to more than make up for it…”

Mrs. Grayson Crowne.

I blinked, stunned. I felt like I’d been shocked. Mrs. Grayson Crowne. The name thumped against my heart like someone stepping on a bruise.

“Story?” She peered at me.

“Right,” I barely got out. “Of course. Wait, you’re calling me Story again.”

“You’re no longer a part of the du Lac household. Welcome home.” Ms. Barn smiled at me, but her expression carried something else.

Something darker.