Chapter 25 #2
I straightened my shoulders. “I know exactly who I am. I’m someone who’s spent the last four months discovering what it feels like to be authentic, to make my own choices, to wake up each morning excited about the possibilities the day might bring.
I’m someone who’s learned the difference between duty and happiness, and I refuse to sacrifice the latter for the former anymore. ”
“Gregory, you’re speaking utter nonsense,” my father said with obvious exasperation. “Four months of American university life has given you romantic notions that have nothing to do with reality. Your reality is here, with this family, with these obligations.”
“My reality is that I have fallen in love with someone,” I said, the words coming out in a rush before I could lose my nerve. “Someone who sees me for who I really am, not who you need me to be for public relations purposes.”
The silence that followed was so complete, I could hear the tick of the antique clock on Uncle Henry’s mantelpiece. Both men were staring at me as if I’d spoken in a foreign language.
“In love,” Uncle Henry repeated slowly, saying the last word with an ick factor. “With whom?”
This was it. The moment of truth that would change everything, one way or another.
I thought about Bash, probably waiting anxiously somewhere in the house, trusting me to be brave enough to fight for what we’d built together.
I thought about Charlie’s words about authenticity and happiness.
I thought about my mum, who had always encouraged me to be true to myself even when it was difficult.
“Special Agent Puller,” I said, my voice clear and strong. “Bash. I’m in love with Bash.”
The explosion was immediate and volcanic. Uncle Henry shot to his feet with the kind of fury I’d only seen once or twice in my life from him, both during true constitutional crises. My father went white as parchment, his mouth opening and closing without sound.
“Your bodyguard?” The king’s voice was dangerously quiet. “You’re telling me you’ve been having some sort of secret liaison with your security detail?”
“It’s not a liaison. I’m in love with him, and he’s in love with me. We’re building a life together.”
“You’re building nothing,” my father exploded, finding his voice at last. “Good god, Gregory, do you have any idea what you’re saying? The security breach alone, the complete violation of professional boundaries…”
“You mustn’t blame him for my choices. Every decision, every moment, every feeling is all mine. He’s the most honorable man I’ve ever known.”
“Honorable?” Uncle Henry’s laugh was bitter and sharp. “He’s seduced a member of the royal family while being paid to protect him. There’s nothing honorable about that. It’s a complete betrayal of trust.”
“He did not seduce me. Don’t be preposterous. If anything, I pursued him.”
“This stops now,” Uncle Henry declared with absolute authority. “Puller will be dismissed immediately and removed from the estate. You will have no further contact with him. The engagement to Lady Margaret will proceed as planned.”
“No,” I said simply.
The single word seemed to hit both men like a physical blow. In my entire life, I had never directly refused a command from the King of England. The precedent was as shocking as the refusal itself.
“Excuse me?” Uncle Henry’s voice was deadly quiet.
“I said, no. I shan’t marry Margaret. I won’t pretend this never happened. And I will not abandon the man I love merely because it inconveniences the family.”
“You shall be stripped of your title,” the king said, his voice shaking with rage.
“Cut off financially. Exiled from this family completely. If you walk away from this room without agreeing to end this… situation… you’ll be walking away from everything.
Your position, your privileges, your place in this family. Everything.”
I looked at both of them—these men who had shaped my entire life, who had taught me duty and obligation and the weight of royal responsibility.
Men I loved, despite everything, but who were asking me to sacrifice my authentic self for their vision of what I should be.
“I understand, but I cannot live a lie anymore. I will not marry someone I don’t love, and I won’t pretend to be someone I’m not just to make your lives easier. ”
Uncle Henry’s face had gone purple with rage. “Then you’re no nephew of mine. And if you think Agent Puller will want anything to do with you once he’s lost his career over this nonsense—”
“That’s enough,” I said, standing up with more dignity than I’d known I possessed.
“You may strip me of my title, if you so please, Your Majesty. You can cut off my money, exile me from family events, pretend I never existed. But you cannot take away the fact that for the first time in my life, I’m genuinely happy. And I won’t give that up for anything.”
I walked toward the door, each step feeling both terrifying and liberating. At the threshold, I paused and looked back at these two men who had controlled every aspect of my life for twenty-one years. “I love you both,” I said quietly. “But I love myself more. And I love Bash most of all.”
The door closed behind me with a soft click that felt like the end of one life and the beginning of another.
Prince Gregory Edward William Mountbatten-Windsor, the dutiful prince who lived by the rules and followed his family’s every command, was gone.
In his place was Eddie York, the man who’d found freedom… and love.
I had to steady myself against the wall for a moment as a dizzy spell threatened to bring me to my knees.
The fallout would be massive. The king made no empty threats, so I had to count on truly being disowned, all my titles and privileges stripped away.
That should’ve felt awful, should’ve made me question my decision… but it didn’t.
The thought of losing everything didn’t make me scared. Not anymore. It made me sad. Not because I’d be losing wealth and a lifestyle I’d never be able to afford on my own. No, it made me sad because I’d be losing my family. Well, most of them anyway. Charlie had made clear where she stood.
But above all, it made me feel free. I didn’t need any of this. Not the title, not the wealth and the privileges, not the fame and the connections. All I needed was Bash.
But when I wanted to tell Bash what had happened, he was gone.