"That's not what he's telling the media."
"Then he's lying!"
"Is he?"I gestured at the tablet."Because from where I'm standing, it looks like you've been keeping some secrets about your past."
Viktor cleared his throat."Perhaps we should discuss how to manage the media response."
"Secrets?"Betty ignored Viktor entirely, her attention laser-focused on me."What secrets?That I went on some casual dates?That I had friends?That I lived like a normal person before I knew I was supposed to be a saint?"
"You were supposed to tell me if there were things that could become scandals."
"I was supposed to predict that some guy I barely dated would lie to international media for attention?How exactly was I supposed to foresee that?"
"You were supposed to think about how your behavior might reflect on the royal families you were joining."
"My behavior of existing as a twenty-one-year-old college student?"
I knew I was being unfair.Knew I was taking out my fear and jealousy on someone who didn't deserve it.But the image of her in that hot tub, laughing and carefree with another man's arm around her, had lodged itself in my brain like a splinter.
"Your behavior of parading around half-dressed with men while you were supposedly committed to marrying me."
"I wasn't committed to anything!I didn't even know you existed when that photo was taken!"
"But you should have conducted yourself as if you did."
She stared at me in disbelief."Are you serious?I was supposed to live like a nun my entire life on the off-chance that someday I might discover I was secretly royal?"
"You were supposed to have some sense of dignity and self-respect."
The words hung in the air between us, and I watched them land like physical blows.Betty's face went white, then red, her hands clenching into fists at her sides.
"Dignity and self-respect," she repeated slowly."You're lecturing me about dignity?You, who spent a week lying to my face?You, who let me torture myself thinking I was developing feelings for the wrong person while you sat there playing your little games?"
"That was completely different."
"Is it?Because from where I'm sitting, you're both men who think it's fine to lie about me to get what you want.Him for fame and money, you for, what exactly?Entertainment?"
"I was trying to get to know the real you."
"No, you were trying to evaluate whether I was suitable princess material while keeping yourself safely anonymous.And now you're standing here judging me for having a normal past while you hid behind a fake identity!"
Viktor interjected smoothly."Perhaps if we all took a moment."
"Stay out of this," we both snapped simultaneously.
I turned back to Betty."I never lied about who I was fundamentally."
"Right, you just lied about your name, your job, your entire identity.But that's totally different from some guy exaggerating about our relationship status."
"What he's doing could destroy both our reputations."
"What you did destroyed any chance we had at a real relationship."
The words hit harder than I expected."A real relationship?You mean the kind where you're fantasizing about other men?"
"Other men?What other men?"
"How should I know?Apparently, you've got quite a history of intimate encounters that I'm only learning about through tabloid headlines."
