Oliver shook his head, a wry grin splitting his face. “Birdie, it’s exactly what I think. For fuck’s sake, who do you think has been coaxing the two of you together all these weeks?”
My jaw dropped as Birdie sank onto the edge of an armchair, ice in her voice. “What?”
“You remember the day I gave you that tour of the palace?” Oliver said, leaning his hip against the back of a couch.
“Of course,” Birdie answered.
“I could see it then even if neither of you could. Your attraction to each other was clear to me, and that was the day I knew you and I would never be romantically involved.”
“Then why didn’t you send me home?”
“And break my best friend’s heart? Birdie, Knox’s loyalty tome is unparalleled. I knew he’d never admit to me how he felt about you, so I decided to see what happened with a few…nudges.”
“Nudges,” Birdie said, her tone flat.
“Who do you think put your name down for Knox at the silent auction?”
I rubbed my face with my hands.That bastard.He continued, “I also made sure that you were in his group for the tree cutting.”
“I suppose you also slipped me bananas the other day.” The tight line of her shoulders and the bite to her words told meexactlyhow she felt about this conversation.
“God, Birdie, no! I would never do that! But I won’t lie and say that I didn’t hope having Knox take you to his cottage might encourage something to happen.”
Birdie stood, her hands clenched at her sides. “Oliver, you had no right to interfere like that.” I wasn’t sure I disagreed with her.
“Birdie, I’m sorry, but?—”
Birdie’s hand flew up, cutting him off. “No, Oliver. No ‘buts.’ I don’t care if you’re the prince or king or fucking emperor of the universe, you had no right! Maybe you should have spent your time advocating for yourself instead of going along with this stupid contest when you clearly don’t even want to get married right now anyway!”
“Excuse me?” Oliver said, coming to his full height.
“Oh, don’t take that ‘I’m royalty’ tone with me. I know you’ve convinced yourself you’re protecting Rosie by martyring yourself, but I think we both know that’s a load of bullshit. You’re the fucking Crown Prince; if you don’t like the law, work to change it! If you don’t want to be king, step down like Xavier did! You have options, Oliver—far more options than forcing yourself to marry someone you barely know just because anold, dead relative said you had to. Buck the fuck up and stand up for yourself and future generations in all of this.”
Oliver’s eyes widened. “You don’t know anything about Wexstone?—”
Birdie cut him off again. “Yeah, well, right now I’m not sure I want to. I’m out. I’m getting on the next plane home. Have a nice life, Oliver.”
“Birdie, wait—” Oliver started as she stormed past him and out the door. My stomach clenched and my head reeled. I sank to the floor, putting my head between my knees.
“See, I knew I did it for your own good,” a sickeningly sweet voice said from beyond the door where I still hid.Jesus H. Christ, would this night never end?
Oliver’s voice turned cold. “Renata. What are you talking about?”
Renata slithered toward Oliver, her phone outstretched. “I knew that girl was good for nothing. I just made sure the country knows it, too. Now that she’s out of the picture, we can be together like we were always supposed to be.”
Oliver’s face paled as he took Renata’s phone, his eyes widening as he read the screen. I quickly pulled my own phone from my pocket, brought up Google, and searched “Wexstone Bernadette Hamilton.” Ice slid down my spine as I clicked on the top headline result:Wexstone Palace Source Reveals Contestant’s Instability.
Fire now licked through my veins. The article was full of the most ludicrous lies I had ever read. A quick skim of the rest of the search results indicated that nearly every outlet in Wexstone had either written about the article or was posting about it on social media. I might have been angry with Birdie, but I would have never wished this kind of personal attack on her.
I looked up to see red-hot rage fill Oliver’s face. “Renata, let me make sure I understand. You orchestrated this article?”
Renata preened around the room, somehow oblivious to Oliver’s anger. “Of course. I knew she couldn’t possibly be here for the right reasons. I just needed some time to get the proof I needed to show everyone else that she clearly was not cut out for the job of being your queen.”
“Get out.”
Renata stopped, spinning on her heels. “What?”
“Get. Out.”
