Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
There was always the option of using my beauty while I still had it to my advantage, but if that was what I was going to do, why not just stay with Lucian?
At least he was good in bed and knew how to make me come.
Emma looked like she was barely holding it together, and if she couldn’t, what made me think I could?
“Have you gotten any interviews?” I asked, hopeful that Emma could shed some glimmer of hope on this dire situation.
“I’ve had a few interviews.” She nodded. “But none that were acceptable.”
“What do you mean acceptable? Like they didn’t pay enough?”
Emma tipped back her head and laughed, a light musical laugh that I was sure was taught to her in the finest boarding schools in Europe—probably a finishing school that taught her how to laugh, when to laugh, and when to reach out and sympathetically touch someone’s hand. My thoughts were racing, and I could feel my breath speeding up. The last thing I wanted to do was have a panic attack in the middle of this cafe.
“Unfortunately, dear, nothing pays enough. I don’t even know what is enough anymore. I don’t think I ever did. My childhood did not prepare me for the realities of life. I was brought up never to look at a price tag. I never thought about money. I don’t even really understand how it works. All I know is that so far nothing has paid enough to cover basic living expenses for two people. I’m going to have to try to find three or four jobs but right now, I can’t even find one that doesn’t include some shady backroom deal with a manager who wants to grope me. God forbid Mother or I get sick. The health care here may be state of the art, but I don’t know how normal people afford it.”
“That sounds awful.” I wished I could help her. “Are you just looking at waitressing jobs?”
“No, I’ve been looking for anything I can find, but I have no skills or training. I can have delightful conversations, but I never even learned how to type.”
“Because it ruins your nails.” I nodded.
In certain circles, that made complete sense, though now, looking at my life through a different lens, it felt ridiculous.
“Because it would ruin my nails.” She nodded as if she felt as jilted by our class’s restraints as I did.
“So if you’re looking for work, I take it that your parents left you in the same type of situation that my brother left me in.”
How did I tell this woman that no, my father had not left me destitute, but every penny I had or that he had was stolen by a man who wanted to keep me as a trophy wife?
That I had the option to live my life in the same level of opulence that was taken from her.
She and I were both raised to be wives of billionaires.
That opportunity was taken away from her, and I was fighting it just because I didn’t choose the billionaire.
That made me feel so ungrateful and spoiled.
I didn’t have to do this. I didn’t have to look for a job. I could just stay at home and be a good girl to a man who I knew would never love me. But I could grow to love.
And he may not be falling over his feet to woo me, but I didn’t think I’d respect him if he did. Why was I so unhappy? Was it because he made me come too hard?
The life that was being forced upon me was the one that she had expected to live, and here I was, fighting to what? Romanticize poverty?
I might have been naive to how the world worked, but even I knew there was a difference between feeling hungry because I was on a new fad diet, and feeling hungry because I couldn’t afford food.
“Something like that.” I smiled sadly, not wanting her to pry.
“Well, there is something to be said for our new situations.”
“Oh?”
“I mean, at least our future is in our own hands now. Yes, it is going to be much harder. And we may not get the same material objects that brought us joy before. But there is something to be said about having parts of your life in your own hands. My brother no longer dictates who I see. He does not get to choose my friends, my acquaintances, or who I allow to court me. He has no say. If I decide that I want to get married, my brother will not be striking a deal to make it happen. I will never have to wonder if my husband adores me or my money. Because I don’t have any,” she laughed.
“How much of that do you really mean?”