Chapter 54
Fifty-Four
Daphne
Two Months Later
Iwas back in Calira and had accepted this was my permanent life now.
The gates of Saint Vale had closed on me forever.
My life there was history. Brooks was history.
Two months hadn’t made thinking about him hurt any less.
Everything was a mess. The public was still obsessed with Brooks and me. Only now, the headlines were saying that we’d broken up.
Prime Minister Bellamonte had gone missing right after the White House event. The conspiracy theories about him were endless. Some blamed my grandfather. Others pointed fingers at President Byron since Bellamonte had disappeared on American soil.
Cory played the role of the grieving son, telling the Caliran people he was working with US authorities to find out what’d happened to his father.
I didn’t mourn Bellamonte.
He’d ruined my life.
The night I’d left, President Byron had called my mother, warning her that if I wasn’t out of the country by midnight, I’d pay for my crimes.
When I asked how Bellamonte knew about the recording device, she admitted my father had broken down and confessed everything to him, believing they were friends.
Cory hadn’t known. Neither had the king.
I prayed none of them would get blamed for what I’d done.
Elodie and Blair were my only friends now.
I texted Adelina every day, but she never replied. Seraphina, Gemma, and Alessia—another Haven—texted occasionally, but the conversations never lasted long. It almost felt like they did it out of pity. They were loyal to Adelina, and I’d hurt her.
When Blair had mailed my things, a few of my sweaters were missing. I couldn’t prove it, but I knew Brooks had stolen them.
The sound of crashing waves drifted through my open window. I settled onto my bed and did what I’d done every night since coming home. I stared into the blue glow of my phone, searching for the latest articles about Brooks.
President Byron Refuses Questions About Son’s Relationship
First Son Throws Himself into Campaign Trail with Father
Brooks Byron Moves On with Oil Heiress Rachel Beckett
The last one absolutely gutted me.
I clicked on that article, seeing photos from a charity gala. Brooks stood beside Rachel, one arm wrapped around her waist as she smiled up at him.
I pinched the image larger, studying Brooks.
The corners of his mouth. The set of his eyes.
Anything to tell me something.
Does he regret us? Is he still angry?
Is he as heartbroken as me?
But I got nothing.
The article went on to say that they’d found each other at the right time.
It said that Brooks was at her side every day as she still mourned the loss of her father, who’d supposedly been shot during a home invasion while no one else was home.
Rachel was inheriting the business and planned to step into an executive role once she graduated from college.
The perfect First Lady for him.
A tear landed on the screen, blurring Rachel’s smile before I wiped it away.
Brooks was going back to the life planned for him.
Going back to pretending.
He’d marry her. They’d have babies. I’d become nothing more than a distant memory.
Meanwhile, me?
I’d spend the rest of my life knowing I had no one to blame for losing him but myself.
No one seemed to care that I’d broken the rules and left Saint Vale before my time as Brooks’s Fawn was over.
I’d asked Blair if Brooks had selected a different Fawn, but she told me she had no idea.
Enzo didn’t like talking about me, and he liked Blair talking about me even less. He saw me as nothing but a traitor, but she refused to turn her back on me.
As if she’d heard me thinking about her, a picture of her and me at the Devil’s Lair flashed across my screen with Blair’s name.
I kept telling myself to change her photo, since it hurt to see it with every call, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
The memory hurt, but it still made me feel like I was there with them.
As soon as I answered it, she said, “Get yourself ready! We’re coming to Calira to get married!”