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Eoddamned liar He was just like the rest of them He didn’t think I was perfect just as I was Because I wasn’t God, wasn’t that the whole point of hih as I was

I’d been deluding ht I was beautiful And God, I’d been waltzing around the roouess that showed hi Co me from behind a lot Could he not even stand to look at ot off?

I yanked open the draith all lared down at all the tools I’d used my entire life to paint myself into the perfect ideal of fe the line outside

When I finally eed, fully made up, buffed, and polished half an hour later, E anxious

“Cutting it close, don’t you think?” he barked “We’re almost late What kind of impression do you think that would make on the Elders?”

I wanted to bare ive a shit what a bunch of stupid, flabby old ht

Instead, I did what I’d done irl I sed it all doent and put on so sparkly heels, and took his ar us frole-minded, after all I was just arm candy Meant to look beautiful and be a hot hole to fuck

So glad he remindedthis was so that it wasn’t

Usually, I felt a fizzle of excite a Trial Usually, I was excited to put on a show in front of the Elders, to enjoy that special connection between Emmett and me while we performed whatever perverted acrobatics they prepared for the evening

But all I wanted to do right then was turn around, run back up the stairs, and scrub what felt like a pound of makeup off rand staircase and followed Emmett into the white ballroom—except unlike usual, there wasn’tthemselves over the silver-robed members