Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 24436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
She had already decided that tonight was the last event she would attend as his wife.
And after that...
"I don't mind waiting if there's something else you need to do."
Summerine shook her head, and his gaze turned thoughtful.
He continued to study her in silence, and Summerine fought against the urge to squirm and turn red under his scrutiny.
You have no reason to feel guilty, she chided herself.
Ryu was a good man.
He was, in fact, the nicest billionaire she had ever met.
Or the nicest criminal.
But even so.
She still wanted out of this marriage.
Because finding out that he had another woman...was how she had also realized she had already fallen in love with him.
"GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE!"
Summerine clapped alongside all the other guests as the stage curtains parted to reveal a curvaceous blonde dressed in a little black dress and stilettos.
Since the woman was also very much pregnant, the outfit should have been a horrible choice. But Charlee-Mae being Charlee-Mae, she easily made it work and emerged instead as a picture of grace, sass, and motherhood at its lushest.
"How y'all doing?"
This, too, was classic Charlee-Mae, and the casual greeting had everyone laughing.
If only I had a fraction of her confidence, Summerine thought wistfully. Then maybe...she would have the courage to stay in her marriage and fight for her husband's love.
"I'm so tempted right now to speak in French, you guys."
Summerine bit back a smile as Charlee-Mae's announcement had most guests groaning...and then groaning anew when the audience cam zoomed in on Philippe de Rose's handsome face, whose expression was that of a man falling in love anew with his wife.
San Antonio's beloved heiress-turned-vlogger blew a kiss upon seeing the look on her husband's oh-so-gorgeous face. "Je t'aime, mon coeur!"
Everyone understood what Charlee-Mae had said, but the way she had pronounced each word, well...
Charity balls were a dime a dozen these days, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that having Charlee-Mae as host was one of the major reasons why guests were willing to pay $10,000 each for a dinner seat.
That being said...there was absolutely no denying Charlee-Mae's unique ability to destroy other people's eardrums with her husband's native language. It was, in a word, atrocious...or at least it did so to everyone's ears save for the French wine-making tycoon himself, whose gorgeous features were now stained by a light flush.
The more terrible his wife's accent, the more attracted the French billionaire was, apparently, and wasn't it the sweetest and oddest proof of true love?
Charlee-Mae turned to her audience with the widest of smiles. "I don't care what you all think. My husband loves my French, and so that makes it official. My French is the best, period. And speaking of best..."
A stage assistant handed her a velvet envelope.
"The votes are in, and without further ado...this year's Most Romantic Couple of San Antonio is none other than—-"
Charlee-Mae opened the envelope with a flourish.
"Mr. and Mrs. Ryu Harcourt."
Most Romantic Couple
THE LIVE CAM IMMEDIATELY panned to the recipients of the award, and Charlee-Mae felt like aww-ing with the rest of the audience.
It was only two years ago that Ryu Harcourt had bought a ranch in Evergreen, Texas, and the mystery surrounding his past had only whetted the appetite of every single lady in San Antonio.
Charlee-Mae could still remember how all the women had vied for his attention like crazy. But it was all for naught, with the billionaire taking the city by surprise when he made the incredibly ladylike Summerine his bride.
And if rumors were to be believed, theirs was also a whirlwind romance much like Charlee-Mae and Philippe's, with Ryu supposedly taking one look at the girl and falling head over heels.
How romantique!
Charlee-Mae was not the only one smitten with the young couple. All the other guests looked ready to swoon as they watched Ryu offer his arm to his young wife. Watching the couple smile so gently at each other was reminiscent of a knight and his dainty and delicate princess, with Ryu looking his usual tall, dark, and dashing self, and his twenty-year-old wife just so wonderfully demure...that no one would guess how Summerine was internally struggling with the worst case of impostor's syndrome.
How could she and Ryu win this year's Most Romantic Couple when they were on the brink of divorce?
It was a rather long walk to the stage, made worse by Inner Troll doing what it did best—-
(Are you sure about divorcing him?)
And that was to either taunt or confuse her, whichever was likely to make her feel worse.
(What will you do if he does let you go?)
(Do you even know how to earn a living?)
(Why don't you just pretend you don't know anything?)
Summerine was relieved when they finally made it on stage, and she had a valid reason to shove Inner Troll back into the closet.
"Congratulations, you two!"
Charlee-Mae welcomed each of them with a warm hug, and Summerine privately bemoaned having to meet the other woman under such awful circumstances.