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“Hey!”
Another second, and another set of credits started.
When she realized what show she was about to watch, Mary grabbed the remote control, her finger trembling above theStopbutton.
Oh, Saffi, why would you want me to see this?
It was a reality show that starred the Duke of Flanders.
The fact that he even knew what a reality show stumped her. The one time she had mentioned the Kardashians to her,hehad genuinely assumed she was talking about a type of jacket.
And now he was starring in one?
What did he plan to do, stare stoically at the screen for thirty minutes every week? She couldn’t picture himself doing anything similar to what most reality TV stars did.
The first episode started to play, and Mary was still torn between watching and shutting the TV closed and forgetting she even knew such a show existed.
Her breath caught as the entire fifty-five-inch screen was filled with a close-up shot of the duke’s face.
She hitPause.
She couldn’t help it.
Rathe.
It was the first time she had allowed herself to even think of his name.
Oh God, no—-
Mary quickly looked up.Don’t fall. Don’t fall.
But still, the tears threatened.
She shook her head wildly, hoping she could create a tiny gust of air to blow her tears dry.
But still, she felt them clinging to her eyes, wanting to spill down the way they were meant to.
Her desperate gaze moved to where her piranha swam lazily in its tank. “Do you think if I let you lick my tears away, you won’t end up gouging them out?”
The piranha chomped its jaws at her.
“Riiight.”
Slowly, she glanced back at Rathe.
Was it her imagination or did he seem so much thinner? Paler, too. He had always been fair, but now he could easily pass as a vampire, just without the sparkles. And those shadows under his eyes – had they always been there? And his lips – had they been that thin, too?
But even noticing all that, she also couldn’t help think that the Duke of Flanders remained the most beautiful man she had ever seen in his life, the one man who deserved to be England’s #1 Heartthrob.
Rathe.
And just like that, the tears finally fell.
Mary pressed one shaky finger on the remote button, and the file resumed playing.
“Hi.”
She cried a little harder.
