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He stared at her, wondering what had happened to the woman he’d fallen in love with. Thoughts clogged his head. She wasn’t a princess. She had no royal blood flowing through her veins. She was an imposter. A fraud, as she put it. His shoulders dropped as he shook his head. He had no answer for her.
“You only loved the idea of me, Juan Carlos. You said it just a little while ago. You think of me as your perfect princess. But now you know I’m not perfect. Hardly that. And how can a man who demands perfection in everything and everyone want me? I was only good to you when I was Princess Portia of Samforstand.”
He let that sink in. He loved her, wanted her as his wife. Now, nothing made sense, and blackness from deep in his soul overwhelmed him. His Portia, the woman he’d thought she was, was gone. She wasn’t a princess, but a fraud. He couldn’t marry Portia Lindstrom. According to royal decree he was obligated to marry royalty. She was once a part of everything good that had happened to him and now there was nothing left between them.
“We had a fling, and it’s over,” she whispered. “Let’s let it go at that. I think you should leave. Go back to Del Sol, be the king you were meant to be. Give me some time, I’ll make sure...no blame will come to you about this.”
“Portia,” he said. He couldn’t bring himself to move.
“Go, please.” Her quiet plea broke his heart. “You shouldn’t have come back. Goodbye, Juan Carlos.”
She picked up the kittens playing at her feet, hugged them to her chest and walked out of the room.
She was right. He should leave.
There wasn’t anything left for him here.
* * *
“Mr. Tanaka, it was a pleasure seeing you again. I’ll be in touch once I’ve found the right prints and antique paneled floor screens to separate your work spaces. You’ve given me a good idea what you are looking for. I promise you, you’ll be happy with the collection I come up with for your magnificent new corporate offices.”
“Thank you, Princess. I have faith in your abilities. Your recommendations for my home have worked out nicely. I’m grateful you would take time from your leave of absence to do this for me.”
Portia shook hands with her client outside his private office, her belly squeezing tight every time he called her princess. The title she’d grown up with no longer rang true and his respectful use of it during their meeting reminded her constantly that she was a fraud. “Goodbye.”
Mr. Tanaka, founder and president of a highly successful Japanese food chain, hadn’t wanted to work with anyone else. He’d called her personally to request her expertise, offering a big bonus if she would consider advising him on the artwork for his new offices. She’d agreed without hesitation. Pining for Juan Carlos and what would never be had grown old. She couldn’t cry herself to sleep any longer. Three days’ worth of tears had exhausted her. But she was glad her secret was out. At least to him. Admitting the truth to Juan Carlos had been difficult, but it had also been liberating. There would be no more lies between them now.
He’d been angry with her when he’d left her condo the other day. She’d seen the pain in his eyes, too, and she’d shivered when he’d looked at her as if she were a stranger. It had been so very hard to hear him berate her. He hadn’t believed her, and even thought so little of her that he’d accused her of putting her career above her love for him. His accusations had slashed through her body like a dagger. But ultimately, it was better to allow him to believe the worst about her. It was a clean break.
Still, the love she had for him would never die. It would be hard, if not impossible, to get over him. Even if he had believed her claims, he couldn’t marry her. They would have no future. He lived by a stringent set of rules. He did everything by the book. It was a no-win situation. So she’d made the supreme sacrifice for his benefit. She’d dismissed him without defending herself. As if her life wouldn’t be forever altered after knowing and loving him.
He would get over her. He had to. He had to go about his life as if they had never met. In the near future, she didn’t know exactly when, she would quietly make an announcement that they’d broken off their engagement. Their whirlwind romance was over. And then at some later point, when it had all died down, she would admit to the world, or anyone who cared, that she wasn’t of royal heritage.
She would not go on living a lie.
But for now her goal was to protect Juan Carlos from a scandal. She would not have him looked upon as a fool.
