JOAN’S POV
The day went by fast. It was filled with wedding preparations. If I saw one more wedding brochure, I just might scream. I barely had time to breathe these days, let alone think. I wasn’t used to this kind of life-always in the spotlight, constantly scrutinized. The wedding, though just a contract on paper, felt too real sometimes. It wasn’t love that brought Derrick and me together, but necessity. And yet, here I was, preparing for a wedding that felt more like a spectacle than anything else.
By the afternoon, I decided I needed a break. I hadn’t seen Miss Sullivan, Emily, or Sarah in a while. I missed them. They were the people I bonded with when I started working here as a maid, and in many ways, they still felt like my family.
I headed down to the kitchen, hoping to find a bit of peace away from the madness. The second I walked in, the smell of baked bread and herbs hit me. Ms Sullivan looked up from kneading dough. Her face lit up when she saw me.
“Joan, there you are! We were wondering when you’d stop by.” she said cheerfully.
Emily grinned as she wiped her hands on her apron. “Yeah, we’ve missed you. Look at you now, all fancy and engaged to the boss!”
I blushed, rolling my eyes playfully
“It’s still me,” I said, trying to deflect the attention. “Nothing’s changed.”
Miss Sullivan smiled. “Oh, things have changed, Joan. You might still feel like the same girl, but your life has shifted. And for the better, I hope.”
I forced a smile, but the truth was, I wasn’t sure if this change was for the better. This marriage, this whole thing with Derrick, it was all a facade. It wasn’t real, no matter how much it looked that way to the outside world. But even so, I couldn’t help feeling the pressure of it all. The weight of what I had agreed to.
Emily nudged me playfully, breaking me out of my thoughts. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, Joan! Engaged to the Derrick Stonewood?”
Before I could respond, a bitter laugh filled the air. It was from Sarah.
“Must be nice,” Sarah muttered under her breath as she sliced tomatoes at the counter. She didn’t even look up, but the bitterness in her tone was obvious . “Some of us still have to work while others get a free pass.”
Her words stung, cutting deeper than I expected. I had no idea why Sarah always resented me.
“Sarah, that’s enough,” Miss Sullivan scolded “We’re happy for Joan. There’s no need for that attitude.”
Sarah huffed, rolling her eyes as she wiped her hands on a rag. “Whatever,” she muttered, storming out of the kitchen without another word.
The silence that followed was heavy, awkward. Emily looked at me apologetically. “I’m sorry about her. She’s been… off lately. I think she’s just feeling left behind.”
“I understand,” I said softly, though my chest still ached from Sarah’s words. “I never wanted to make anyone feel that way. It just happened.”
Miss Sullivan rested a comforting hand on my arm. “You don’t need to explain yourself to anyone, Joan. We all know you didn’t ask for this. You’re doing your best, and that’s all that matters.”
I nodded, appreciating her words more than she probably knew. But even with their support, it still felt strange. I had come to this mansion to work as a maid, and now I was preparing to marry Derrick Stonewood. A man who, just months ago, was a complete stranger to me. He was my boss. It was hard to wrap my mind around how drastically my life had changed in such a short amount of time.
As I helped Emily and Miss Sullivan with the rest of the meal preparations, the tension from earlier began to fade. The rhythm of the kitchen-the chopping, stirring, and laughter-was calming. It reminded me of simpler times, before the engagement, before the headlines, before everything had become so complicated.
—
Later that evening, after another round of public appearances with Derrick, I finally had a moment to myself. I sat on the edge of my bed, scrolling through Instagram. My feed was filled with countless articles and pictures of me and Derrick. Everywhere we went, cameras followed, documenting every smile, every glance, every touch.
The headlines were crazy – “Mystery girl spotted with Stonewood heir. Who is she?”
“Gold digging cause or true love?”
“Where did this girl come from? And is she with Derrick for the right reasons?”
Those were just a few. The rest titles were outrageous. I clicked on one of the posts, reading the comments beneath the picture of Derrick and me at some charity event the night before.
“Who is she? She’s so plain. He could do so much better.”
“She looks like she doesn’t even belong next to him.”
“Another gold digger, probably.”
I felt my chest tighten as I read more of the hate. The messages were relentless, picking apart everything about me-from my looks to my worthiness of being with someone like Derrick.
The comments didn’t stop there. My Instagram account had moved from a 800 followers to over fifty thousand in a week. There were all sorts of hate comments on my posts and I received a lot of threatening messages from Derrick’s admirers.
With shaky hands, I quickly set my account to private. I couldn’t deal with this. Not right now.
How had I gone from a life of simplicity to being the center of attention for so many people? And not in a good way.
Irene had prepared me for this.
“You’ll need a thick skin, Joan,” she had told me over a cup of Earl Grey. “People will say all sorts of things, but you must learn to let it roll off your back. People will talk. You just have to deal with it”
I had nodded along, but now, sitting here alone with the pressure of the world pressing down on me, I wasn’t sure if I could handle it.
Could I really do this? Could I live in this world of constant judgment and attention?
I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep up this charade. This wasn’t what I signed up for. And yet, I had to remind myself-this was temporary. Just a contract. A means to an end.
But as I laid back on my bed, staring at the ceiling, I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that this arrangement was starting to feel more real than I wanted it to.
And that terrified me.