—London Independent Standard, 9 February 2024
PRESIDENT PARK COMMENDS EVANGELINE BRIGHT FOR BRAVERY, ISSUES OPEN INVITATION TO WHITE HOUSE
—CNN, 10 February 2024
LIVE INTERVIEW WITH EVANGELINE AND LORD CLARENCE SET FOR TOMORROW NIGHT—‘ALL WILL BE REVEALED’
—BBC News, 11 February 2024
The week that follows istorture.
Tibby tries to cheer me up by showing me headlines from around the world—headlines that endlessly praise me and Kit for bravery they don’t even have context for—but all that does is remind me of everything I didn’t do to protect Kit, and every mistake I made in my relentless pursuit of trying to take Ben down.
I don’t so much as try to come to terms with that guilt and grief as I do wallow in it, and between VidChat prep meetings with Doyle and Astrid, I haunt my guest room like an agoraphobic ghost, accompanied by the loyal spaniel puppy and occasionally an annoyed Tibby. The only time I leave is when I visit my parents, spending as much time with them each day as I can before it’s obvious that Alexander is pushing himself to stay awake for me.
The one silver lining in all of this is that he’s recovering faster than any of his doctors expected. His memory is improving and his words are mostly intelligible now, barely a week after regaining consciousness, and he only slurs when he’s tired—usually the first sign that I need to find a reason to leave. His left leg, which was shattered in the bombing and isn’t healing properly, is now the biggest problem his medical team is facing, and I try to pretend I haven’t heard the whispers of what they might need to do if things don’t change. But it’s written in the way my mother’s smile grows tighter each time I visit, and despite the surgerieshe’s already endured, despite the odds he’s already defied, I know Alexander is nowhere near out of the woods yet.
On the third day of this, Tibby hands me a new phone without comment, and it takes me all of two minutes to realize that the ringtone is, in fact, her reluctantly repeatingfarta dozen times in her uppity accent. It’s the only thing that makes me grin in this strange, endless week, and I do my best not to think of how miserable I must look if she’s willing to do that for me.
I don’t text Kit. I want to, desperately, but I’m determined to give him the space he needs. And selfishly, I know that if I try to reach out and he doesn’t reply, my heart will permanently shatter, and I’m already in too much pain to put myself through that.
But when my text notification goes off hours later, I nearly drop my phone as I scramble to unlock it. Did Tibby tell him she replaced it? Or maybe he’s been texting, and I forgot to check—
It’s not him, though. Instead, it’s from a number I’ve never messaged before, even though it’s saved in my contacts.
Lady Primrose Chesterfield-Bishop.
Rosie
i’ve been following the news…did you take him down, too??? xx
I stare at my screen as the puppy snores softly beside me on my bed. Rosie, my half sister’s former best friend, is the reason we know Ben is guilty. She’s the one who revealed back in January that Ben runs theRegal Record,the royal gossip site focused on destroying me and Kit. She even confessed that he’d been blackmailing her into slipping him pieces of gossip and writing articles for him—a practice she swears she’s since stopped—andshe’s the reason we know exactly why he’s doing it in the first place.
But Rosie and I aren’t exactly friendly, and I can’t remember a time we’ve ever talked, just the two of us. Which makes her text all the more baffling. But the more I study it, the more I realize that even though she’s undoubtedly seen the endless headlines, thehimshe’s referring to isn’t Guy Fawkes.
Evan
Just the ones you’ve heard about. I’m sorry.
Rosie
damn. is there any chance…? xx
Evan
I don’t know. It’s a long story.
Rosie
i can ring if you’d like xx
I have a pretty solid idea of what Maisie would say if she ever discovered I’d spoken to Rosie behind her back, especially about Ben, and it isn’t good.
Evan
Can’t. Puppy is sleeping.
Rosie
