Caught up in the sins and glamour of high society life, Astoria became the girl no one could trust.
In order to return to grace, she must do the unthinkable: find a husband before the end of the year... before her mother chooses for her. With only...
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"Rise and shine!" Margaret called, opening all of the curtains, making me whine in protest. "Darling, it is six a.m., we have a wedding to prepare for!" She chirped, pulling the covers from my body. I sat up, glaring at the wall across from me.
I heard a gasp on the other side of the room as Daphne looked at me. "Did you get any sleep last night?" She asked, shrinking beneath her mother's reproving stare.
"Up," Margaret insisted, turning the shower on. "It is just the nerves," she insisted, shoving me into the shower where I welcomed the scalding hot water. I washed my hair and my body, resting against the cool granite wall in the bathroom. "Are you done in there?" Margaret called.
I frowned, wrapping myself in a fluffy white towel, emerging, finding my room flooded with bridesmaids and family. My mother was the first to appear at my side. "I will help her!" She said cheerily, pushing me back into the bathroom, making me sit on the ottoman. She rubbed product through her fingers, spreading it in my hair as I shrugged off my towel for my silk robe.
"I saw them," I whispered, breaking the silence. My mother sighed.
"I saw too," she whispered.
"Am I doing the right thing?" I asked as she ran a comb through my hair. She sent me a soft smile.
"You're having pre-wedding jitters, it happens to everyone," my mother said simply, but I could hear the waver in her voice.
"Mom," I whispered, watching her in the mirror as she focused on my tangled hair. "Was this how you felt with dad?" I asked after a moment.
Her eyes softened as she regarded me in the mirror. "Do you love him?" She asked.
"I think so," was all I said as she wrapped my hair in a towel, handing me a makeup wipe.
"Then don't let her get in the way. I've seen the way he looks at you, he cares about you. Don't let him have time to even think about her on this honeymoon," my mother said, wagging her eyebrows suggestively, earning a halfhearted grin from me. "Seduce him tonight, and he'll be yours forever," she said with a predatory grin, one I knew too well. I was my mother's daughter. "Do what you have to do to secure your position." I nodded my head, gulping.
"Astoria, the hair dresser is here honey, can I let her in?" Margaret called from outside the door. I nodded and my mother opened the door as a flood of girls came in. Daphne bellied up to the counter, sitting on the granite, busying herself with her makeup. She was freshly showered, her hair still up in a towel.
The hairdresser got to work drying my hair, complimenting me every so often, gushing about the wedding, but I ignored her, focused on what my mother said. I never intended to love Nathaniel, but I do, and I'm not going to let Portia stop me.
After my hair was dry the stylist got busy with the brides maids, pulling their hair back into soft buns on the base of their necks, leaving out a few wispy pieces to frame their faces. I left the bathroom, stepping onto the balcony, welcoming the cold air as it nipped my skin. A soft snowfall was beginning to sprinkle down on the streets. The city was magic in the winter.
