CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE – HATTIE
“A statement from the future Crown Princess has been released by the Royal Palace this evening stating that any rumours regarding her parentage are ‘wholly unfounded’ and that she is the daughter of William and the late Francesca Sinclair,” the newsreader on the evening news says to the camera.
“The statement reads, ‘I was incredibly distressed to wake this morning to news of my parentage being disputed. These claims are wholly unfounded and defamatory. While I can understand that some may be suspicious given the circumstances, I underwent full paternity testing with my father, William Sinclair, on my return to St Peters a little over two years ago. The testing returned a ninety-nine-point-nine percent match in our DNA, confirming that he is my biological father.’” She shuffles papers on the desk.
“This is followed by a statement from the Royal Palace itself: ‘Her Majesty the Queen personally verified Harriet’s identity before granting permission for the engagement of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Miss Sinclair. The Royal Palace requests that any speculation regarding Harriet Sinclair’s parentage ceases immediately.
Anyone that continues spreading this false, defamatory narrative will be subject to legal action.
Media personnel wishing to request proof may contact the Palace in the usual manner.
’ As a result, the St Peters Herald has withdrawn its original articles and issued both personal and public apologies to Miss Sinclair and the Royal Palace. ”
I purse my lips.
“William Sinclair has also just released a statement via Sinclair Corp to follow up which reads, ‘It is extremely upsetting to hear of the discourse surrounding my eldest daughter’s paternity. Having undertaken a test with the most reputable hospital in Askurg upon her miraculous return to St Peters two years ago, I can confirm with one hundred percent confidence that Harriet is my biological daughter. Any further speculation will be swiftly met with legal action.’” The newsreader shuffles a few papers on the table in front of her.
“NBAC News has received a copy of the DNA testing, which you can see on screen now. We’ve also reached out to the doctor who signed off the report, and with permission, he has confirmed its validity.
This has been the hottest topic on the Internet all day, and… ”
Finn reaches for the remote control and turns it down, leaving the newsreaders’ lips moving but no sound coming from them. “I suppose he did as he was told.”
“Only once he realised that I had the actual results,” I point out. “And I threatened him.”
“He folded like a wet piece of paper at that,” Oscar agrees from the corner without looking up from his laptop.
“The tide is already turning. Those who were on the fence are now questioning why Rosalyn and Jasmine would be concerned about your parentage if you did a test two years ago. Some are asking if your father just never told them, but others are speculating one of them is behind the story.”
“Push it,” Finn says. “Push that narrative at the same time you deny it.”
“How on Earth is he supposed to do that?” I ask, frowning.
“With one of his twenty aliases.” He snorts. “You don’t think we leave it all to the publicity team, do you?”
“Some things you just have to do on your own,” Oscar agrees, bobbing his head as his fingers fly across the keyboard at breakneck speed.
Hang on.
I must see this.
I get up and walk over to the little sofa he’s sitting on and grip the back, peeking down over his shoulder. “How many windows and tabs do you have open?”
“At least twenty,” he says, his attention still fully focused on the screen.
“Pheobe-Jane-underscore-twenty-six,” I read. “She’s not a fan of Jasmine, is she?”
Finn snorts.
Oscar sighs, briefly pausing his typing. “Don’t get so excited. Sims-Girl-Twenty-Twenty-One loves her.”
“Ugh. Great taste in games, terrible taste in people.” I wave my hand through the air and drop back onto the sofa next to Finn, pressing myself against his side.
He wraps his arm around me and gently trails his fingertip along my upper arm. “We’ve got to keep it balanced. Sometimes he even argues with himself, and that’s quite amusing to watch.”
“Oh, oh, I want to see that!” I clap my hands together. “Looks like I need a burner account.”
Oscar sends me a withering look over the top of his laptop, still fucking typing.
The man is a machine.
“Sorry. I have to get my amusement somewhere, and your little social media riot over there sounds like a good place to start.” I shrug a shoulder so nonchalantly that even he cracks a smile. “What do we do now?”
Finn shifts, making me turn my head to face him.
“What?”
He raises an eyebrow, amusement glinting in his eyes. “Why are you the one asking that? We’re following your lead.”
“That seems like a very questionable idea.” I press my lips together. “I don’t know what to do now. I gave him twelve hours to get me all my inheritance, so I feel like I’m stuck until tomorrow morning.”
“Then we’ll wait,” he replies, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “In the meantime, Oscar will continue pushing the idea that Rosalyn and Jasmine are behind the rumour. It already has a life of its own, so it won’t be difficult.”
“They are pushing back,” Oscar replies somewhat morosely.
“A couple of accounts we know to be affiliated with Jasmine are already spinning that they have nothing to do with it despite the sources’ claims from this morning.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up utilising some bots because the tide is not turning in their favour. ”
“Good. There are already a lot of stories out there about Jasmine’s behaviour since the Lammens incident, so hopefully it’ll be harder than they think.” I glance down at my hands in my lap. “One thing is for sure. They weren’t expecting me to have the DNA results.”
“Or one of their major investors to be close to you,” Finn adds. “Granted, they still don’t know that Alec is ACN. None of us could have predicted that he’d pull out of the company.”
He makes a good point.
That’s an acceleration none of us saw coming.
“Then maybe we just wait for now?” I look at them both, although it’s still rather pointless trying to get the attention of Oscar.
I never imagined I’d have my own personal Internet troll.
“Let the story about my paternity die out tonight as its overtaken by who spread the rumours and see what my father does. I’m reluctant to do anything else until I have access to everything that belongs to me.
As of right now, he’s still in full control of my trust fund.
I don’t doubt that Rosalyn had her eye on it for Jasmine, and I don’t know what else is left that belongs to my mother.
Either way, I’m going to rain merry Hell on that household.
” I turn my attention to the television where the weather report is taking up the entirety of the screen.
“I was going to give them more time before I blew up their world, but Rosalyn was stupid enough to react to my threat.”
Finn peers at me out of the corner of his eye. “I know you have this planned, but are you really ready for this? Once you out your father’s true relationship with Rosalyn and Jasmine, there’s no coming back from it.”
“You’re not going to talk me out of it after all this, are you?”
“No! No. I know this has always been your ultimate goal, and you know I’ll do whatever it takes to help you, but it will be the thing that severs your ties with them. Even before you file the necessary legal documents to separate yourself from them.”
“I know. Thing is, I don’t think I’ll ever have the proof I need to tie Rosalyn to my kidnapping.
If even Alec is struggling to get information after I connected him with Ryan and Rafayel, I have to accept that it’s something I may never get justice for.
That doesn’t mean I can’t get it in my own way.
” I turn to him as he takes my hand. “Besides, it’s not as if there’s much of a relationship between me and my father anyway.
I’ve never once been his priority, so I refuse to make him mine. ”
Finn links his fingers through mine and rubs his thumb across the back of my hand. For a moment, the room is silent, absent even of the tapping of Oscar’s fingers against his keyboard.
After a moment, his typing resumes once again. Thank God for that—the silence was beginning to get awkward.
I understand why. Neither of them have any idea what it’s like to be an afterthought in your own family, so my feelings are completely foreign to them.
Which makes it all the stranger that they accept them without thought. Neither one of them have ever tried to talk me out of this or questioned my choices.
What a pair of weirdos.
“All right,” Oscar says, giving his laptop a good tap with his fingers. “My work here is done. The Internet sleuths are officially awake and asking all the right questions.”
“Really?”
He smiles as he looks over at me. “Yes. They’ve latched onto the fact you did your DNA test two years ago, yet Rosalyn and Jasmine allegedly suspected your parentage. They’re running with it.”
“Good. Let them.” I drag my gaze from him and back to the TV where the weather is now being rattled off. “With any luck, they’ll complete a marathon.”
***
“Well, it took him longer than twelve hours, but at least he did it.” Finn crosses his arms over his chest and leans against the side cabinet. “Is that really all your mum’s things?”
“I think so.” I run my gaze over the stack of boxes that have been brought up to our apartment. “Honestly, I’m amazed there’s this much. I thought he might have gotten rid of every last thing.”
“I don’t know. I’m hardly your father’s biggest fan, but he did love your mother once. He was devastated when she died, I remember that much.”
“Yeah, he loved her so much he had a whole second family with his mistress,” I reply bitterly. “And puts them above me at every given opportunity.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“I know. And I know you’re right. I do. I’m just bitter.” I smile weakly and walk away from the boxes. “I don’t think I’m ready to look in these just yet.”
Finn opens his arms, and I trudge across the room to him. I rest my body against his, and he wraps his arms around me, cradling the back of my head with his hand.
“That’s all right,” he says softly. “We can store them somewhere safe until you are. The main thing is that you have them now.”
I nod, briefly closing my eyes. He’s right. Everything that belonged to my mother is now mine. It’s safe. Nobody can touch it anymore. That’s all that matters. Even more than the trust fund. I’d hand over every penny in it if it meant keeping her possessions safe.
Even if Finn isn’t surprised that he kept anything that was hers, I am. I would have thought Rosalyn would have gone to town erasing every last bit of my mother, but I suppose my father was adamant about keeping her belongings.
I suppose I can respect him a little for that.
I take a deep breath and push away from Finn. “What now?”
“Your move, baby. We can let things continue as they are, or we can drop the bomb. Well, when we have it.”
“What proof do you even have?”
He clears his throat, rubbing his hand across his lips. “Are you going to be mad if I say I stole some of your hair?”
I don’t know what I was expecting him to say, but it wasn’t that.
“Uh, I’d say it depends why you stole it. Voodoo doll? Yeah, I’ll be pretty pissed. Help save mankind? Not so much.”
His lips tug to one side. “It occurred to Alec that there’s more than one way to prove Jasmine’s parentage, and one solution didn’t involve your father at all. We just need to prove that she’s related—”
“To me,” I finish, my body going still. “Our DNA will show a sibling match.”
“Exactly. A sibling match leaves three options: your parents had another child; your mother had an affair that Jasmine is the result of; or your father did.”
“Our ages are too close for it to be the first and Rosalyn would never let her daughter be linked to my mother that way,” I say softly. “Meaning it has to be my father.”
“And people will start digging. Oscar plans to gently sway them towards Rosalyn by pointing out the similarities in their appearance.”
“What about the DNA? How does that get released? What reason is there to test me and Jasmine?”
“That’s our current stumbling block,” he admits, tapping his toes against the floor.
“Although it turns out that Marina isn’t the only maid Alec has planted in that house, so we’re considering removing one of them.
Apparently, Rosalyn is planning to let some of the staff go, so we’re considering having one get fired and do it off-the-record. ”
“Won’t it hurt her?”
“No. Her identity will be kept secret, and she’ll merely be reassigned within Alec’s household. You don’t have to worry.”
I press my lips together. Easier said than done. “Are you sure? You were there when Marina said about the contracts they signed.”
“One hundred percent. Nothing will come back onto her, I promise.”
“But the con—”
“There’s yet to be a contract Alec hasn’t found a legal loophole in.” Finn pauses. “It’s mildly terrifying, actually.”
Anxiety curls in the pit of my stomach. I want nothing more than to expose my true familial relation to Jasmine, but not at the expense of someone else.
I know my father. I know how extensive his contracts are.
“Something will go wrong,” I say quietly. “Too much has gone my way. It was never supposed to be this easy. Ever since we met, everything I’ve planned has come to fruition with little resistance. I don’t trust this.”
“Have you considered this is the universe paying you back for all your hardships?”
“You need to spend less time on the internet,” I mutter.
Finn laughs, reaching for me. He captures my hand with his and gently winds his fingers through mine.
“You were taken from your family, Hattie. The life you were supposed to have was forcibly stolen from you, and now we know it was because of Rosalyn. Perhaps things are happening the way they are because everything is righting itself. The life you were meant to live is being given back to you, one thing at a time.”
“I just don’t like it.”
“We don’t have to do it. We don’t have to do anything. Not if you don’t want it.”
“I do, but not like this. I don’t want to put an innocent person in their way. Is there not a way to do this without that? Whoever she is, the poor girl will have already suffered enough having worked in that house.”
Understanding makes his eyes shine. “Yes, we’ll work something else out. There’s more than one way to start a rumour, and Oscar happens to be very good at it.”
“Are you sure?”
He nods. “Positive.”