Lynette agreed. “Not enough time.”
“Why?” Lottie interrupted. “Why must so many come to the shower?”
My mother and hers laughed like she was too funny.
“You’re having the next Crowne heir, Charlotte,” Lynette said. “Your pregnancy will be the most watched birth since the royal baby.”
“More watched,” my mother concluded easily.
A new Crowne heir to complement the Couple of the Century.
Inside, Lottie and I knew the truth. I’d asked her for a divorce multiple times.
There was no love between us.
We’re only still married because if I divorced her, I’d put my real soulmate’s life in danger. The one whose dress hid the truth.
The color drained from Lottie’s face. “That seems… What if we just didn’t tell anyone?”
My mom tilted her head, eyeing her like she was a cute curiosity.
Lynette’s eyes flashed with something dark, but only for a moment. “Hundreds of years we’ve been at odds, and now we have you. Your child is quite special.”
My mother clasped her hands together. “We haven’t even talked about Crowne christening jewels. We haven’t had a chance to break them out in decades.”
Lottie placed her forehead into her palm. “I don’t think I need that… I’m sure someone else could use it…”
This time, my mother looked like she’d been shot. Her mouth parted and she stared at the floor, clearly at a loss for words.
“Lottie could use a rest.” Mrs. du Lac reached for Lottie, shepherding her off the chaise. “We can always talk about this another day.”
“That sounds…” Lottie stared at me, eyes wide with words I couldn’t read. She sighed, leaning into her mother. “That sounds lovely.”
“Oh, it will be so magical,” my mother called after them, clasping her hands together.
“Magical like ten minutes ago?” I asked.
My mother’s smile wavered, Lynette froze. It was a brief record skip, before everyone smiled and continued.
Classic Crowne: ignore the elephant in the room, even as it stomps on your fucking face. The day after the Nutcracker Masquerade, Lottie was the one who found me and unlocked me from the bed. She never asked why, and I never told her. Within minutes, her mother and mine were in the room. As far as they knew, I’d left Lottie on the floor during the blizzard and declared it wasn’t my baby. Yet they acted as if nothing was wrong, smiling as if the sun had always been shining, discussing plans for the shower.
The only indication that the night even happened was puffy skin beneath my mother’s eyes, which I’m sure she spent hours trying to reduce.
Were they wrong? Did anything change?
Bloody and pointless.
“Perhaps you should get some sleep as well, dear,” my mother said. “The party is dwindling, anyway.”
I didn’t have to be told twice. Eyes followed me as I exited. Tomorrow, none of these people would be allowed into Crowne Hall. No one save family was allowed for Christmas.
“Hello again…assholes,” I said under breath, waving at my guards as they parted for me.
The guards shared a look as I passed between them, lifting off the marble pillars. They didn’t follow me, but I had approximately fifteen minutes to get to my wing before I saw those fuckers again.
To everyone else, nothing was amiss. I was just Grayson Crowne, with a fleet of guards keeping him safe.
I had the illusion of freedom.