Nobody asked him to step in. I had everything under control, but by the time I shuffled onstage, there was no chance to stop him. Men ogled and touched as I offered my body and soul to the highest bidder, and I could tell my stranger didn’t like what he saw. Or maybe he did. Maybe he liked it too much, and that was why his number shot up. A quarter billion dollars and one existential crisis later, Cash Primrose was dragging me down the aisle in the name of convenience. I suppose it could be worse. My new husband treats me as an equal, which is more than most women in my world get. Still, I find myself constantly expecting the other shoe to drop. For the beast who hides himself away, except in the dead of night, to show his true colors. I’m waiting for the monster my mother always promised would come. But maybe that monster is me.