Page 247 of Vexatious Queen

“No, sweetie, he did, very much. When Lawrence finally revealed himself on the night that changed everything, it was Neil who helped me form my plan. He chose to stay behind so we could make sure you arrived at Wayward safely. He felt responsible for leading Lawrence to us. I know he kept his distance once you were here, but he stayed in the area in case you needed anything. I think he knew that Lawrence was going to use him against you. He wanted to give you a reason not to care about him. Neil sent me a message, letting me know that Lawrence was unstable, that he had no more funds left, and he was going to run. I don’t know how Lawrence found out, but he captured Neil, and that was the last I heard from him. But never doubt that he loved you.”

I closed my eyes remembering, the shopping trip where I maxed our his credit card, and how unusually angry he had been. Then when he showed up and told me to go to Canada and gave me the envelope of cash, how scared he’d been. Oh my god, what had I done?

“Mum…I think I got Neil killed. I think he ran out of money because of me.”

She shook her head. “No. None of this is your fault.”

“But…”

Mum squeezed my hands and forced me to look at her. “This is not on you. I need you to hear that and understand that. None of it. Okay?”

I nodded but my heart still hurt.

“I can’t believe this all started so long ago,” I said with a sigh. “So many people hurt, and so many lives lost.”

“So, you really love Nash? He’s good to you? And the others, too?”

I nodded, smiling.

“I know it’s completely unconventional, but I don’t care. I love them, and they love me. And…to show you the kind of guy Nash is, he asked Dad if he could change his name to Genovese, because he doesn’t want me to be a Collier. The paperwork is already filed.”

She smiled, and it was warm and genuine and completely my mother. The woman I’d lost and loved and thought I’d never see again.

“I know this is going to sound silly after everything else that has happened, but…would you let me throw you a reception or a celebration?”

She cringed like I was going to tell her to go to hell, but I’d always wanted to plan my wedding with my mother. It wouldn’t be traditional, but I did have an idea.

“How would you feel about organizing a handfasting for all of us. I don’t want any kind of ceremony that excludes the others.”

Mum’s face lit up.

“I could do that. Your father planned ours, so this will give me a chance to do something good for a change. Something less chaotic.”

“Don’t put that out there, whatever you do. Our gatherings tend to go sideways when we say stuff like that,” I said.

I smiled, and we ended up laughing.

We weren’t fixed. One conversation couldn’t repair what was broken, but it was a step forward. It was like wiping a chalkboard clean—the words vanished, but the dust never did. We were the dust. The residue of something that once existed and could never be written the same way again.

Listening to the truth I’d been denied for so long and reliving wounds that would never heal, I realized something heavy.

My mother was human…I was human. We were both flawed, and she had made impossible choices and lived with the consequences. Now, it was my turn to live with hers, and mine, and my grandmother’s before us, and so on. It never ended, not for any of us.

We weren’t mother and child anymore, not in the way we once were. We were two women standing in the wreckage of the same war, finally seeing each other clearly. Even through the pain, I knew this much to be true. I was still standing. And so was she.

And…I finally understood that it wasn’t about choosing the right move. It was about surviving long enough to make one.

My mother had been born a queen.

And I became one when the board tried to break us both.

MARCH 12 – THURSDAY 6:10 PM

Nash

Ileaned against the wall in the entrance hall, arms crossed as I glared at Myles, who was still smirking and laughing at me. He’d at least been smart enough to shut up after the first ten minutes, or he would be knocked out by now.

“So, they’re on their way down,” Theo asked.