CHAPTER TWENTY – HATTIE #2
“Mm.” She squeezes my hand tightly. “I’m so sorry, Hattie.
I tried to tell them I wasn’t the only one, but nobody listened.
I told my father you were there, but he said I was wrong because you were already buried.
Nobody would believe a traumatised twelve-year-old girl.
I even tried looking for you when I turned eighteen and had my own money, but I couldn’t find you. ”
“It’s not your fault. By that point, we were already gone.
” I turn to her, resting my other hand on top of hers.
“You were a child, Titi. We both were. If everyone thought I was dead, it’s not surprising they didn’t believe you.
Knowing what I do now…” I shake my head.
“It’s a whole can of worms nobody wants to open. ”
“Does that mean you are going to?”
“I’m going to blow the lid off it,” I say firmly. “Ryan has been looking into it, and we think we have a lead. I have… someone… willing to help me here, too.”
“Count me in.” Her blue eyes blaze, even in the low light. “Whatever you need. I can’t offer much other than money, but it’s yours. Especially if you can implicate my father’s wife in it.”
I still.
“She was involved. I know it.” She presses her lips together, then releases my hand and pulls up her dress, revealing a gnarly scar down her calf.
“This is from a horse-riding ‘incident’ when I was fifteen. My soft, sweet mare suddenly flipped, throwing me off and trampling me. I had a bleed on my brain, broke three ribs, my collarbone, and my knee, and I had to have my muscle reattached on my lower leg.”
Nausea swirls in my stomach. “What?”
“She was put down citing ‘danger’ to riders. I found out later that she’d been tampered with—the people I entrusted her care to swapped her feed out for low-quality stuff, kept her confined when I wasn’t around, and used violent training methods.
Her anxiety became too much, and she snapped.
” Sadness curls around her, and she looks down.
“I was pressured into top marks in my exams, so I admit I was more neglectful than I should have been. By the time I realised something was wrong, it was too late, and she was all but trying to kill me. I found out later than Vivienne—my father’s wife—was behind hiring those particular workers. ”
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper. “That’s horrible. How could they do that to an innocent animal?”
“I don’t know.” She smiles sadly at me. “But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. So, please, Hattie. Let me in on this investigation. What I went through out there wasn’t nearly as bad as it was for you, but…”
I nod. “Of course. And, selfishly, I could use a friend.”
“Excellent. I can tell my father that it’s ‘mission accomplished,’ then.” Her smile turns cold. “Nothing like cosying up to royalty to satisfy someone else’s greedy ambitions, eh?”
“Tell me about it.” I sigh, then freeze at the sound of footsteps. “Is that Finn?”
The doors open again, and my heart sinks when I see it’s my father instead of him.
Great.
Valentina looks over at him. “Hello, Mr Sinclair,” she says softly.
“Valentina Devereaux,” my father replies, a hint of surprise brightening his tone. “What are you doing out here with my daughter?”
“Oh, we’re old friends. Just catching up.” She squeezes my hand one last time and stands up with a warm curve of her lips. “I’m assuming His Royal Highness hasn’t managed to extract himself from the French Ambassador yet. I’ll go and see if I can negotiate his freedom.”
“Ah, yes. I did see them engaged in quite the animated conversation,” Dad says, eyeing us both before letting his gaze linger on me. “I was looking for you. To see how you are.”
Bullshit.
You’ve been looking for me to come and ask me what the hell I’m playing at.
“Go on,” I say to Valentina as I stand up. “Let Finn know I’ll be back in in a moment, would you?”
Please tell him my father has cornered me and I need a rescue.
She holds my gaze for a second, then nods. “I will. Don’t stay out here too long. You’ll get cold.”
I’ll give you sixty seconds before I send him out.
With those as her final words, she gathers the hem of her dress away from her feet and re-enters the palace, leaving me alone outside with my father.
If there wasn’t a chill in the air before, there certainly is now.
He’s trying to hide his emotions, but his body is betraying him. Between his clenched fists and taut shoulders, it’s not hard to see that he’s not only a little bit angry—he’s practically steaming at the ears.
He can’t even look at me.
“It’s cold,” I say after a moment of uncomfortable silence. “We should step back inside.”
He grunts and holds the door open, motioning for me to go in before him.
“Thank you.” I pass through first, and the warmth inside the palace instantly calms my prickling skin. “You said you were looking for me?”
“Yes.” His jaw tightens, and he focuses his gaze on a spot somewhere over my right shoulder. “I was coming to inform you that I’ll be leaving now with Rosalyn and Jasmine.”
Of course you are.
“She is understandably extremely upset by tonight’s turn of events, and it would be unfair to her to subject her to this party any longer than I already have.”
“And you think it’s fair to leave me here? Alone?” I wrap my arms around my waist. “Can’t Rosalyn go with her?”
“Jesus, Harriet. Are you not remorseful for a second over what you’ve done here tonight? I have no idea how you managed to make this happen—how you even got in contact with the Royal Family, but it hardly matters right now. You’ve ruined your sister’s life.”
“Ruined her life? Over a mere marriage?” All the bitterness that’s been festering inside me tonight bubbles out of me in a cold laugh that makes him flinch.
“Well, then I do apologise for ruining her life. I can’t possibly imagine how traumatised she’ll be in twenty years’ time as she remembers how everyone coddled her and held her hand through this horrifically traumatic time.
Perhaps she’ll have panic attacks over the complete injustice of it all. ”
He finally looks at me, something wavering in his gaze, something that looks a little like guilt. “You shouldn’t have kept it a secret.”
“What, like you kept me secret?”
“That’s unfair.”
“It is. You’re right. It is unfair, isn’t it?
Because I’ve been back home for two years, and you’ve not even breathed my name outside of the house.
” My fingers curl into my palms. “All I ever wanted was to come home. It’s all I ever dreamt of.
When that miracle finally came, I found my mother dead, my father remarried, and me replaced. ”
“I didn’t replace you with Jasmine.” His eyebrow twitches. “She’s—Harriet, I thought you were dead.”
“Did you do a DNA test on that body? The one you claimed was mine as you buried it?”
He pales, saying nothing.
And it says everything.
“Exactly,” I say, my voice wavering. “Because you didn’t care. If I was declared dead, nobody would bat an eyelid over you eventually adopting—what was it you told people? Your cousin’s daughter?”
“Harriet…”
“I’m not sorry.” My palms sting as my nails bury themselves deep in my skin, surely forming those familiar bright red welts.
“I lost everything the day I was kidnapped. There was nothing left for me to reclaim as my own when I came home, not even my identity. This was the only thing left for me, and you’re the one responsible for that.
You took it all from me, not even leaving me space to use my own name.
So, I’m not sorry I did this. I’m not sorry I went behind your back.
I’m not sorry I ‘ruined’ Jasmine’s life.
I’m not sorry I embarrassed you in front of all those people tonight and forced you to acknowledge me as your daughter. Not even a little bit.”
“I have to go,” he says, taking a step back, even as guilt flickers across his aging features. “I have to see to Jasmine.”
“Yes, go. God forbid you let her deal with anything by herself. The poor thing is probably having a colossal breakdown right now courtesy of her mean and nasty big sister.”
“Show some humility, Harriet!” My father finally snaps, his cheeks flushing.
“You’ve snuck around for God only knows how long, actively planning to hurt your own sister.
I’m no fool—I know the two of you strongly dislike each other, and I can’t make you get along.
But your cruelty to her tonight is beyond anything I ever imagined you capable of.
Of course I’m going to go to her. She’s hurting, and she’s my daughter. ”
“So am I.”
He freezes.
“I’m also your daughter! Just because you replaced me with your bastard child by your mistress doesn’t erase my existence because it’s convenient for you.”
He takes a step towards me, a vein on his forehead popping as he raises his hand. “How dare—”
“I advise you not to take another step forwards, William.” Finn’s voice reverberates down the corridor, and before I’ve even fully registered it, he takes a step between me and my father.
He reaches behind for me, fully guarding me against the man before us.
“And think about what exactly it is that you’re doing before you make me do something you’ll regret. ”
“It’s fine.” I press my clenched fists into his back, turning my face to the side. “I was about to leave anyway. I—”
“Excellent decision,” Finn continues, ignoring me completely. “Do not think for a second that I’ll allow you to treat my fiancée with anything less than absolute respect. In fact, I demand it. You will respect her.”
My heart is racing.
Thumpthumpthumpthumpthump. Endless, rapid beats that hammer against my ribs, causing a pulse so strong it literally echoes in my ears.
“Your Royal Highness, this is a private conversation with my daughter,” my father says tightly.