Free When Fangirls Cry by Marian Tee

really going to do something this low---”
                Saffi shook her head. “It’s not low, Staffan. It’s called fighting for the man I love.” She raised a brow. “So again---”
                He asked tersely, “What the fuck do you want then?”
                “You. In my bed, every night.”
     
    ****
     
                “She is such a sweet little thing, Staffan,” his mother Elvira gushed an hour after meeting Saffi. “Those tabloids are horrible! I’ve done my research too, you know.” She sniffed in disdain as she handed him the platter of roasted turkey. “She and the prince have been friends since childhood. He’s the best friend of her oldest brother – it completely makes sense that she would turn to him for help when you two had an altercation.”
                Staffan could only nod dutifully even as he did his best not to let his cynicism show. He knew the same things Elvira did. The only difference was how they perceived the facts. His mother - a beautiful petite woman whose curves were still eye-catching even in her advanced age - was the perennial optimist. None of their earlier hardships had jaded Elvira, but those years had shaped Staffan. It had toughened him up, made him a realist – but he was beginning to realize that he still had his weaknesses.
                Women always succeeded in making a fool out of him, and Sapphire March was the greatest deceiver of them all.
                When Staffan followed Elvira into the dining room, he saw in disgust that Saffi had already done a job on his family, weaving her web of deceit easily with her playful smiles and cheerful banter. As he placed the platter on the center of the table, Staffan couldn’t help but overhear what she was sharing with her rapt audience.
                “ Boom, boom, boom…” Saffi was doing her best to imitate the sound of explosions.
                “Ooooooh,” his younger sister Edana exclaimed. She was a miniature replica of Elvira, hair in braids, with hazel eyes exactly like Staffan’s. She looked so much like a doll in her ruffled dress that the first Saffi time had seen her, she wanted to hug the little girl to death.
                Clearing her throat, Saffi said in a loud confidential whisper, “It was so dark but we just knew something was going to happen! Someone really special was going to perform so we were bouncing and bouncing in excitement!” Saffi was bouncing on her feet as she spoke.
                “And then when the lights came back, OH MY GOD!”
                Her audience jerked, including Conrad Aehrenthal, who had a similarly entranced expression on his face. He was tall and, like his wife, extremely good looking for someone in his advanced years. He was supposed to be a billionaire who ruled his resort empire with an iron fist, but at the moment he seemed like a sweet cuddly man who wanted nothing more than to hear stories about his oldest child.
                “Oh my God,” Elvira was stunned into repeating the same words, shocked by her new daughter-in-law’s sudden exclamation. Even Staffan had been taken by surprise, the cutlery he was holding crashing to the floor.
                Saffi didn’t appear to notice any of these though. A dreamy expression on her face, she said softly, “Staffan was at the center of the stage and he was wearing the most beautiful clothes, you know – the kind that really sparkled in a super manly way? He looked like a god .”
                “A god ,” his younger brother Cairo repeated in awe. He had chubby cheeks and the most amazing dimples. He also idolized his older brother and was determined to follow in Staffan’s footsteps as a rock star.
                “Yes! A god!” Saffi jumped to her feet. “And then he was singing and dancing and then suddenly he saw me and he called me