“This doesn’t make any sense,” I tell Harold, out of breath and confused as hell.
“Maybe they—” His words are cut off at the sound of the sweetest voice I’ve ever heard.
“Daddy!” Jasmine yells, running over to me. Her arms open and I lift her into my own. I take a second to inhale her sweet scent, then shift her to my side, so I can see over her head.
Natalie is standing several feet away, holding both their luggage. Her eyes are glassy and her cheeks are stained from her tears. She’s chewing on her bottom lip and staring at me.
“Baby,” I breathe, stepping over to her.
“Why did you come after us?” she asks, her voice cold, devoid of all emotions.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“You told them we needed to leave.” I was right. She heard a piece of the conversation, but not all of it.
“Did you also hear the part where I said, after I addressed the people, I would go away with both of you?”
Her eyes widen. “I-I heard you say that us leaving would be for the best, so I left…”
“I also said I wouldn’t let either of you out of my sight. That we would go away together.” There was also the mention of my plan to propose, but I don’t bring that up.
“You don’t want us to go?” she murmurs, fresh tears pricking her eyes. “But everyone knows…Stephanie warned me I would embarrass you and she was right.”
Fucking Stephanie. I’m going to speak to my attorney and see about suing her. She can’t get away with what she’s done.
“No, baby. I don’t want you to go anywhere. Stephanie is the one who leaked everything to the media, and I’ve fired her.” I shift Jasmine slightly, so I can pull Natalie toward me with my hand that’s not holding my daughter. “I’m so sorry for what she did.”
I run my knuckles down her cheek. “Please don’t go. We’ll get through this together. My team has a plan. Trust me to handle this. And then I’ll take you both anywhere you want to go, so we can spend some time together while it blows over.”
A single tear slides down Natalie’s cheek and Jasmine reaches over and wipes it. “Don’t cry, Mommy,” she says, her tiny, sad voice piercing my heart.
“I already lost you once,” I tell her. “I can’t lose you again. Please.”
“Okay,” she finally says. “We’ll stay.”
“Yay!” Jasmine cheers. “I get to go back to my princess room!”
“Thank you.” I press my mouth to hers. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she murmurs against my lips. “Let’s go home.”
Epilogue
Natalie
Five Months Later
“Mommy!” Jasmine exclaims, running over to me.
“Hey, sweet girl!” I bend at the waist and she flies into my arms. “Did you have a good day at school?” Unlike the other royal children, who were homeschooled for pre-primary and primary school and then sent away to boarding school for secondary, I insisted Jasmine be placed in school here. Because of who she is, she couldn’t be sent to a state-funded school, but Liam agreed to send her to a private pre-primary school in town.
“I did! I painted the most beautiful picture.” She pulls the paper out of her backpack and hands it to me. “Melissa said it’s her favorite.”
Melissa is Jasmine’s best friend. I was worried after everything that went down Jasmine would have trouble making friends, but I was right to trust Liam. He and his team handled my story and spun it in a positive way. By the time Jasmine started school, the majority of the country was supportive of us being together. It probably helps that he opened a charity in my honor called The Fairy Tale Organization. Its purpose is to help mothers who don’t have the means, receive an education. He donated a significant amount to it and while Jasmine is in school, I’m helping to run it. Had my mom had something like this, maybe she wouldn’t have resorted to what she did… and maybe I wouldn’t have ended up homeless and on the streets.
“It is beautiful,” I agree, looking at the photo. It’s of me and Liam in the church, standing before the priest, saying our vows. I know what it’s of because she drew the colorful windows in front of us. We were married three months ago, and on that day, Liam also signed Jasmine’s birth certificate, making him her father legally. It was a good thing we married when we did because a few weeks later, Liam got his way and the pregnancy test I took, after throwing up three days in a row, came out positive.
When we arrive at home, the first thing Jasmine does is run through the house to find her dad. He makes it a point not to schedule any meetings between one and two o’clock, so he can spend time with her. He pulls her into his arms and she spends the next thirty minutes, while Sandra brings them an afternoon snack, telling him all about her day.