Shining Star by Arianne Richmonde

Author:Arianne Richmonde [Richmonde, Arianne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Erotica, Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Suspense, Thriller
ISBN: 9781502228291
Publisher: Mighty Publications
Published: 2014-08-24T16:00:00+00:00

I SPENT A WEEK at the Chevalier’s thousand-acre ranch in New Mexico, recuperating from life in general. It was set at the foot of a stunning mountain range; a secluded, secret place where they kept horses, went hiking and kayaking—a place, Alexandre told me—to escape the pressures of everyday life.

It was just what I needed. To get away from Hollywood and feel protected with my new adoptive family. It was warming to spend time with them—it warmed my soul. Alexandre couldn’t take his eyes off Pearl; he laughed at things she said, and spending time with this couple and their three adorable children, gave me hope. One day. Maybe. If I could just shake the demons—both physical and metaphysical—out of my system.

One morning, Pearl and I were hanging out together by the indoor pool, just us. She’d been doing vigorous lengths, and I understood how she maintained her incredible figure. The kids, Louis, Madeleine, and little Lily, were with their dad out on a hike. He was an incredible father, often joking that he was a “househusband” and a “kept man” and that Pearl was the breadwinner. But his immense wealth—their wealth—was never ostentatious, and work didn’t seem to take a priority in their marriage. In fact, their life was such a sickening fairy tale that at times it made me want to check myself into rehab, flush the shit out of my system and be perfect like her, so that I could meet a normal man like Alexandre Chevalier.

“I wish I could find happiness the way you have,” I moaned, flicking listlessly through Vogue. I hadn’t been swimming—didn’t have the energy, and I could have drowned with all my nice prescription drugs flowing through my veins. I didn’t have the motor skills to even do breaststroke. All I’d been doing was sleeping, because it was the only way I could hang out with Leo—in my dreams.

“Star, I’m old enough to be your mom.”

“So?”

“So, you think my life was all sorted out at—how old are you now?”

“Twenty.”

“Exactly! You’re a baby, honey. I mean, you’re not a baby, . . . you’ve seen and done more than most people have in a lifetime, and you’re sophisticated, but in terms of the sheer number of years you’ve been breathing, you’re only just starting out.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “My life has been pretty fucked up. You’re so together.”

She laughed. “If you could have heard my internal monologues when I was in my twenties and thirties, and even at the time I met Alexandre, when I had just turned forty, you would have committed me to an asylum.”

My mouth fell open. Perfect Pearl Chevalier? “You? Seriously? But you’re a producer, a mom, a wife . . . so beautiful—”

“I was an insecure basket-case, Star. I won’t go into detail now, but I had a few things happen in my past that knocked my confidence sideways.”

I shook my head. “Well, I can’t believe that you were ever unstable.”

“Well, that’s adorable of you, but my

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