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Seeing him shouldn’t heal me when he’s the one that keeps hurting me. What is wrong with me?
You’re hopelessly in love. That’s what’s wrong with you.
“Can I ask you a question?”
Addison glances back over at me as she folds the laundry she left on her bed earlier, saying it was Bedtime Addison’s problem. “Sure.”
“It’s about Sloane.”
“Okay.”
“Do you know anything about her dad?”
She sort of chuckles funnily, then she says, “Yeah. I mean, who doesn’t know at least something about Roger Whitley? His politics are trash and he’s a huge sexist. Definitely wouldn’t marry the guy, but he’s about to embark on his fourth wife, some Italian model. Catalina something? So I guess some women feel differently.”
I push myself up and stare at Addison, my heart in my stomach. “Roger Whitley? Sloane’s father is Roger Whitley?”
“Yes.”
“The billionaire Roger Whitley?”
She nods more apologetically this time.
What?
There’s a whole fucking show about that man’s family. Fictionalized, of course, but…
“Oh my god.”
“Sorry, I thought you knew that.”
I knew they had the same last name, but somehow it never even occurred to me to connect the dots. Because it’s crazy. Roger Whitley is a celebrity, and you don’t imagine people you know being related to famous people.
I also feel weird about the fact that I watched the show, and previously loved it, although it is sinking quickly now that I know…
Well, his daughter is about to marry the love of my life.
I feel bad remembering a season of a show to recall the details of an actual person’s life, but I’m remembering the season four finale—really grossly titled Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow—in which Roger’s only son died at twenty-two, leaving Sloane the sole heir to the Whitley estate when she was a senior in high school.
And then I remember Killian telling me about Blue Blood marriages, using the example that sometimes a really traditional Blue Blood might only have daughters, or he might have a son who dies. In that case, the older Blue Blood may be interested in marrying his daughter off to a younger Blue Blood to ensure his legacy, and… it’s like inheriting a kingdom.
And just like that, reality dashes my hopes again.
Because I may not know all the details, but I can piece together enough to realize…
Sloane’s dad is a Blue Blood, and he’s picked Killian to inherit his throne.
___
There isn’t a lot left to reconcile when you realize your almost-boyfriend’s choices are between you, a penniless nobody, and essentially an American princess.
Inheriting the wealth alone of a man like Roger Whitley is an opportunity no one would ever pass up, no matter what they have to do to get it, but add in the fact that said almost-boyfriend is also a self-professed opportunist…
I stand no chance.
None.
And that is depressing as hell, but it is also confirmed when, despite telling me how much he only wants me and that he loves me, I find pictures of him and Sloane at a fucking wedding cake tasting when I’m stalking her social media over the weekend.
