Chapter l371

Chapter 0371

“Piper and I have been having an affair,” Joyce said into the microphone.

The King stepped forward and attempted to rip the microphone from his hands, but Joyce, younger and stronger, shook him off with relative ease.

“Let me speak my truth, father!”

“You are out of your mind!” the King snapped back.

“I’m not! I have proof!”

The Queen stepped forward then. “Joyce, please. This is not the this. Let us speak privately.”

way to go

go about

“So you can cover it up? So you can push the love of my life off onto Julian? No!” Joyce was frantic, so different from his usual, quiet persona. It was like looking at a different person.

I felt the accusation physically, like a blow, so I took a firm step backwards. Then I remembered Jane,

“What have you done?!” I shouted,

No one but Jane could hear me. The ballroom was now full of chatter and other commotion. Only Joyce on the microphone was louder than the rest.

“We slept together,” Joyce announced to the entire room.

My face burned. I’d only ever been alone with Joyce once, and that had been on the balcony that night he locked me out there. The entire conversation lasted all of five minutes, if that.

“I have proof!” Joyce said again. He lifted his cell phone high. Something might Thave been on the screen but I couldn’t see from this distance.

Nicholas made a move then. He snat ched the phone from Joyce’s hand and smashed it hard onto the ground. It shattered into pieces.

“Hey!” Joyce shouted.

A bit of hope shot through me. Nicholas was protecting me yet again. Whatever photos Joyce had, had to be doctored. If they were destroyed, then

Jane’s laugh interrupted my thoughts. “Your boyfriend is such a brute. So typical of an Alpha. It doesn’t matter though. You can’t think I wouldn’t have copies? Oh, you did? How cute.” Looking at my face, she laughed and laughed.

1/4

+15 BONOS

At the same time, Joyce announced, “I have backups, which I would be happy to provide to the press as proof!”

“Why are you doing this to us?” the Queen asked her son. “Why are you trying to hurt us?”

“I’m not, mom, I…” For the first time, Joyce seemed unsure. He shook his head. “No, I know what I’m doing. This is about what’s right.”

“Bulls hit,” came Nichola s’s voice. He wasn’t as close to the microphone as Joyce. He was softer, farther away. But I would be able to pull Nichola s’s voice out of a thousand people talking at once. The sound of his voice was so intrinsic to my being.

It was my second most-loved sound in the whole world, with the first being Elva’s laughter.

“You aren’t having an affair with Piper. You are delusional. Have you taken something?” Nicholas demanded.

“Nicholas!” the Queen gasped.

Nicholas gave her a look. He motioned to Joyce. “Does this seem normal to you?”

“Don’t say such things,” the Queen said. She looked out over the watching crowd.

“Like a tower of cards,” Jane said. “One tiny puff of air, and the whole thing comes crashing down.”

I realized something then. The photos wouldn’t have to be doctored.

Not if they weren’t of me.

“You didn’t?!” I asked Jane, outraged.

She shrugged. “He’s not terrible-looking. And he’s so sweet. Gullible really. Such a good little scapegoat.”

“You are a monster,” I said.

She looked at me with a smirk. “Don’t put it all on me. Terry was the one who pulled him in first. Terry saw something in the brat, I couldn’t. But then… I

clearly hadn’t been looking hard enough at the time. I see it now.” She snorted. Thanks, Terry. A ss hole.”

>>

“You have to stop this. It’s getting out of hand. Don’t you realize what this could do?”

3/4

+15 BONOS

She lifted a brow at me. “For your precious reputation.”

“For the kingdom! The people are already doubting the royal family. You can’t

))

“You think I don’t know that? You think everything hasn’t been carefully fabricated? Newsflash, dumbas s,” Jane said cruelly. Her smile fell into a vicious snarl. “I want the royal family to fall almost as much as I want to see you fall with it.” She schooled her face back into a smirk. “Two birds, one night of passion with a quiet prince. It evens out.”

Hardly.

“Hold it!” shouted a new voice from the top of the stairs. Julian.

I turned in time to see Julian descending. He sauntered straight up onto the stage and yanked the microphone away from Joyce. Joyce made a grab for it again, but Nicholas caught him by the upper arms and forcibly held him back. Compared to Nichola s’s strength, Joyce was weakness incarnate.

“Hello, everyone,” Julian said with a smile. “I want to personally apologize for my wayward brother and his ridiculous ‘announcement,’ which we all know is absolutely untrue.”

“How do you know?” someone shouted from the crowd.

Julian laughed, bright and loud. It startled most of the crowd into silence. He looked back to Joyce. “Name the exact day and time those pictures were taken.”

Joyce lifted his chin in defiance. “Last Monday. At 9pm.”

I desperately tried to remember what I had been doing last Monday. The days had blurred together somewhat. Either way, I knew I hadn’t been with Joyce.

Jane, however…

I glanced at her now. She was watching the show with sudden annoyed interest. All of her smugness had vanished.

“That f ucking as shole middle-child…”

Julian, it seemed, was a thorn in her side. An unseen wrench thrown into the machinery of her plans. /

Good.

Julian laughed again, good-naturedly. “That simply cannot be.” He shook his head as he turned from Joyce to face the crowd. “I’m afraid that Piper was with me that night. And I have pictures to prove it, if necessary.”

3/4

+15 BONOS

Blood rushed to my face. Pictures? What pictures? He better be lying. Or maybe that’s where he was just now? Doctoring photos?

G od, I really didn’t want to know.

“Unless you are suggestion, brother, that I can’t satisfy my girlfriend?” He must have given the front row of the crowd his most swoon-worthy look. A few girls shouted. It looked like someone fainted.

Nicholas backed up Julian’s words, the muscle to his flash. He held Joyce firmly, and shook him every time Joyce tried to speak.

“Don’t bother lying,” Nicholas said to Joyce, so firmly and sharp that I heard it. He was growling with barely-constrained rage.

“You’ve offended me, and you’ve offended my girlfriend, Joyce,” Julian said. His own voice had edge now, as he faced Joyce once more. “And you’ve offended all of these good people by attempting to disrupt this festival of fun and joy. You’ve picked a sad time to cry for attention.”

Joyce looked around at his family. Then, though I couldn’t see from this distance, it almost looked like he started crying.

“We should speak privately now,” the Queen said, placing her hand on Joyce’s shoulder. “Don’t you agree?”

Joyce nodded.

Julian turned back to the crowd. “Sorry for the unpleasantness, everyone. Please, return to your merriment with our best wishes. We will return to you soon.”

He motioned for the orchestra to start again, then went with his family off the

stage.

Beside me, Jane threw her champagne glass onto the floor and jumped to her feet.

Her rage-filled eyes found me, and she lunged.

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