Chapter 18 #2
“It would be unfortunate if the press were to find out we have a princess in our midst—one involved in a scandalous affair with her boss. Excelsior cannot afford to have its reputation tarnished. I’d have no choice but to fire you both.
And I’ll ensure Theodore is blacklisted from every major firm in this industry. ”
The blood drains from my face. “That’s private information. And an outright lie. You have no right—”
“I have every right to protect my company and its interests,” he snaps.
He tucks the folder away with a slow, deliberate click of his tongue. “All I’m asking for is for a phone call and a royal nudge to get Tanaka to the table. Think of it as an investment in Theodore’s future. Because if you fail me, neither of you has one. You have twenty-four hours to reconsider.”
He turns and walks away.
I melt against the wall, taking a few ragged breaths as the cold weight of his words settles in my gut.
My brain scrambles through a thousand possibilities, and none of them are good.
If he leaks my name, the life I’ve fought so hard to build—the job, the anonymity, the quiet moments with Theo—will vanish overnight.
I can already see the flashing lights outside my hotel.
The shouting in English and Japanese, the microphones thrust in my face, and the Imperial Household Agency swooping in under the guise of security concerns.
I see Theo trying to reach me as a security detail pulls me away.
And his father, watching from the shadows, satisfied that he’s won.
I close my eyes, but the images don’t stop. It’s not just about me. There’s Theo to consider too. If Mr. Harris follows through with his threats, he won’t just be firing his son—he’ll stripping him of his identity.
Engineering isn’t just a job for Theo—it’s his life.
I think of the way his face lit up when he solved the launch-buffer glitch, and the quiet, fierce promise he made to his grandmother to protect his grandfather’s legacy.
To be blacklisted would be a death sentence for his dreams. He’d be an exile in his own city, barred from the very world he’s sacrificed everything to build.
The cruelty of it makes my stomach turn.
His father is asking me to choose—save Theo’s career and protect my privacy by betraying my own principles, or watch our lives go up in flames.
I’m caught in a vice, and Mr. Harris is the one turning the handle, perfectly aware that he’s using my heart to break my will.
A cold shiver shoots up my spine. “What am I going to do?” I whisper.
“Kaori?” Theo’s voice cuts through my internal fog. “What did my father do? What did he say to you?”
I take a sharp breath and, like a seasoned kabuki actor, I slide my “princess” mask into place. “Nothing,” I lie, the word tasting like ash. “He was just checking in to see how I was settling in.”
Theo stops in front of me, his eyes narrowed. “I’m fluent in reading BS, Kaori,” he says, his voice low. Concern knots the lines around his eyes. “I know that man. That wasn’t a check-in.”
The truth is right there, resting on the tip of my tongue.
I could tell him everything—the folder, the blackmail, the threat to his career.
It would be so easy to let him share the weight that’s on my shoulders.
But the image of Theo confronting his father, and of the nuclear explosion that would follow, freezes me.
I need time to think. I need a strategy.
“Okay. You’re right. It wasn’t.”
“What did he want?” Theo repeats, his posture stiffening.
I scramble for a believable exit strategy. “He offered me a path to a permanent role in the London office,” I say. It’s a half truth that feels plausible enough to stick.
Theo’s expression tightens. “Are you considering it?”
“I . . . I don’t know.” The lie feels heavy.
“I’ve told you what it’s like here. It’s purgatory,” he says, placing his hands on my shoulders.
His touch is warm and completely at odds with the cold dread his father left behind.
“You’d be miserable, and I don’t want that for you.
I’m being selfish, Kaori, but I want you in Orlando. I want you where I am.”
Hearing him say it—that he wants me in his life, not just his office—sends my pulse into a dizzying spin. No matter what I have to do, one thing is clear. “I’ll always choose us,” I answer. “I just need time to figure out what that looks like.”
He studies me for a long moment, searching my face. “All right,” he says finally. “Just . . . promise me you won’t let him corner you into something you don’t want.”
“I promise,” I whisper.
I keep my head down the rest of the day, and thankfully, Theo’s father keeps his distance. Still, every time I catch sight of him across the conference room, I’m filled with another rush of anger and frustration.
When the clock finally strikes six, I’m released from Excelsior’s orbit and quickly make my way down to the lobby.
“Kaori, wait for me,” Theo says, striding across the lobby.
“You’re off on time tonight?”
“Surprise,” he says softly. He reaches for my hand, but stops himself just short, suddenly remembering where we are. He clears his throat. “I hope you’re hungry tonight. I was thinking we could get dinner in SoHo.”
My stomach drops. The universe is at it again. “Theo, I’m so sorry, but tonight’s the one night I can’t go out with you. I’m meeting my friend Alice and her parents for dinner,” I explain.
“Oh.” He rubs the back of his neck. “Right. Of course.”
We stand there awkwardly for a beat. There’s only one solution I can see here. And it’s gonna be a heck of a way for him to find out. Surprise. I’m having dinner with the royal family. Well, let’s get this over with. “I just need to call them and let them know I’ll be bringing a guest with me—”
“No, no,” he says, cutting me off with a small shake of his head. “I wouldn’t want to crash your evening. It’s fine, really. Don’t worry about it.”
Does he actually mean that? Or should I insist?
“I’m free,” Leon announces, materializing beside us.
Theo blinks slowly, his face going completely deadpan. “Brilliant.”
Leon narrows his eyes, scanning Theo’s expression for a beat. “Was that sarcasm?”
“Yes,” he says flatly, not making the slightest effort to dress it up.
“All right. Just checking. Because if you don’t want me for dinner, I can go find a lonely kebab place somewhere and—
“No, I don’t mind the company.” Theo sighs, looking like he’s already preparing for the mental tax of a night with Leon. “I’d just . . .”
“Hoped Kaori would be there instead of me?” Leon grins, clapping him on the shoulder with enough force to make Theo stumble. “Look, I don’t take it personally, kiddo. I’d want Kaori over me too. But I promise I’m the best replacement you’re going to find on short notice.”
Theo exhales through his nose. “Joy.”
I murmur another apology and hurry toward the exit, where a black sedan is idling at the curb.
As I slide into the back seat, Yamada-san takes his place in the front and immediately slides up the privacy partition.
The moment we pull away from the curb, I begin the high-stakes, Princess Diaries–style transformation.
Whoever wrote that scene where Mia Thermopolis changes in the back of a limo while being tossed around clearly lived my life. Between the sharp turns and the London traffic, I’ve performed so many quick changes in moving vehicles that I could win a medal if it were an Olympic sport.
We make good time, arriving at 6:28 p.m. Alice is waiting for me at the Buckingham Palace service entrance, wearing jeans and a light-blue knit jumper that makes her eyes look turquoise. Her hair is in her usual half-up, half-down style.
She breaks into a full-body smile before throwing her arms around me. “Kaori! I’m so glad we’re finally catching up in person. Talking on the phone is nice, but it does not replace this.”
“Agreed.” I laugh, hugging her tightly. “I’ve missed you too. There’s nobody else I can girl talk with.”
It’s the truth. I love my sister, but there’s a five-year gap between us that feels like a canyon sometimes. Alice and I, on the other hand, are only a year apart. And we share a lot of overlapping interests, like trashy 2000s rom-coms. Which I hope Theo never finds out about.
She links her arm through mine, steering us through the familiar historical corridors of the palace toward the private wing. “It’s just Mama, Papa, and Amanda tonight,” she says.
Amanda, the newly minted Princess of Wales, finally married Alice’s older brother Edmund this past winter after five long years of anticipation.
I’ve always admired her, mostly because she’s a nerd just like us.
She actually loves math—not just the “budgeting for a charity” kind, but the real “solving differential equations for fun” type.
But more than her brain, it’s her spirit I’m drawn to. Despite the title, she’s normal. She’s always kept Alice’s brother on his toes. She grounds him. Watching them is like seeing a blueprint of how a person can belong to two different worlds without losing themselves in the process.
“No Eddie or Art?” I ask.
“No. Art couldn’t get off work. And officially, Eddie is still in Scotland.”
I snort. “What is he really up to?”
Alice grins. “Overseeing the final renovations to their new house in Surrey. It’s going to be move-in ready this weekend. He’s planning to surprise Amanda on Sunday.” She lifts her chin with pride. “And it turned out beautifully, if I do say so myself.”
She should be proud. Alice is studying structural engineering, and after she overhauled her own flat last year, the results were so stunning that her brother and Amanda begged her to design their new home. She had a bit of help from Art, but the vision was all hers.
“Oh, you have to show me pictures later.”
“I’ll do one better. I’ll have Eddie video call so we can get the full tour. Art has done an amazing job sourcing the furniture.”