A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust by Sally Garcia

Ulysses squeezed his way through the crowd, keeping his mask on so no one would recognize him. He leaned over to the guy next to him and asked, "Hey man, what's going on over here? Is there some celebrity in town or something?"

He couldn't help but wonder it was Christmas, and this sleepy little town wasn't exactly known for attracting celebrities. Who'd bother to show up at the local supermarket around now?

Ulysses even had a fleeting, half-joking thought: maybe word got out that he was coming to the store today. Maybe all these people were his fans, here to catch a glimpse of him. He felt a tiny thrill of anticipation.

But the guy just glanced back at him and grinned. "Well, I wouldn't say a movie star, but it's close enough. You know the richest guy in Capitalton? Silas, the guy who owns The Baker Group?"

"Yeah, well, he just came in here with his wife and her brothers, too!"

"His wife? You mean Calliope, right?" Ulysses asked, eyes widening.

"Yeah, that's her! She's gorgeous, like something out of a fairy tale. And those brothers of hers? Man, each one's more handsome than the next."

Ulysses stared in disbelief. Silas? Calliope? And her brothers? That couldn't be right. They'd just come here, and those couldn't be the brothers he was thinking of. Was Calliope really out shopping with them instead of coming home for the holidays?

a

'real' brothers. She doesn't even acknowledge the other ones from her family back home. I get it, though, the Jewell brothers never treated her right.

a company, and I hear one of them tried to be a celebrity or something, but he's

felt his face flush with anger. "Hey, you're talking nonsense! The Jewell

down,

you, just those three Jewell brothers. They're useless, and not much to look at, either. One's even trying to be a TV star or

to bite

few minutes later, Horatio

her eyes bright with curiosity. "Ulysses, did you find

the fuss

shook his head,

by the

want to

with them. Instead, she was off with these so-called brothers, acting like they were her real