The Man She Had To Hide

y I was supposed to become a man in the

ome a woman in the eyes of

rror. The person looking back was Alex Miller, heir to the Miller fortune, a young m

ache that had been my companion for as long as I could remember. My real name isn

ed to change. Tonight, I

The only person who saw past the Miller name and

sor, I would pull Chris aside and tell him everything. I had a simple dress, the first one I' d ever b

gainst my ribs just

k on my door

ady? Grandpa is g

s strained, just like it alway

alled out, my voice

r in the mirror and forced a confid

ness partners, distant relatives, and the city' s elite, all here to witness the tra

e only searchin

case, trapped in a conversation

ment was an arrangement, a business merger disguised as a love story. I hated her. Not just becau

I could hear th

, Chris," Lisa said, her voice a sharp whisper. "

hris shot back, his jaw tight. "I wa

enom. "What is it with you and him? It' s not normal, the way you

. Right here, in the middle of my

face a mask of disgust. "I d

should! This engagement i

y, another voice echoed in my head. It wasn't mine. It was cle

d her. All I want is to be with Alex. Why can' t

my head. The voice was Chris' s. It was

. I must be losing my mind, the stre

in, as clear as if h

re that he's a guy. I love him more

sound in the crowded room faded into

oves

he boy I have been secretly in lo

He thinks he' s i

ensely overwhelming it almost brought me to my knees. It was joy, pur

could I tell him the truth? He had just accepted this impossible, socially forbidden love for his male best fr

cted plan shattered

past Lisa, his face a portrait of misery. And I kn

ust about me and my freed