Chapter 1: Hidden in Plain Sight

I’m the girl everyone forgets about—the governor’s side piece, hidden in plain sight.

Yet inside the big old Southern governor’s estate, where the slow whir of ceiling fans and the distant sound of cicadas outside filled the sticky summer air, I kept a handsome young assistant by my side.

The hum of the ancient central air barely broke the silence as I sprawled across the velvet settee. Will Carter moved through the room like he owned it—sharp jaw, easy swagger, the kind of cool that made you want to look twice. I’d always pegged Will as all business, like those guys in political thrillers: locked down, untouchable, just out of reach. Then my phone buzzed—notifications stacking up like chips in a casino, lighting up my screen:

[@GossipQueen_93: The "side chick" is pretty but so dense 😂. Girl, he’s been playing you for a year!]

[u/TeaSpillQueen]: Omg, she really thinks she’s the main character 😂 #delusional.

[@DramaLlama]: Don’t buy that “platonic” act. Wait till he meets the real heroine, then watch him flip the script.

[@SpoilerFiend]: Y’all hear he’s hiding a box of the main chick’s pics under her bed? #messy

[Now that’s a life.]

Half of me thought it was all ridiculous, but half of me believed every word. Still, I opened Will Carter’s secret box. My fingers hovered over the gold handcuffs, cold and heavy, the metal biting into my palm. Inside, tucked next to them, was a notebook printed with the governor’s wife’s portrait…

My hands trembled, the air thick with the faint scent of his cologne and that old-paper mustiness as I flipped through the pages. My heartbeat thundered in my ears, echoing against the room’s quiet grandeur. Even the ticking of the antique mantel clock sounded like an accusation that night.

That night, I pushed away the man with a face as flawless as a marble statue. “Compared to a real man, a eunuch is still lacking. You don’t need to come around anymore.”