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“Oh.” Faith pointed at the television.
“And the hero of the day, Major Chad Prescott, is still up to his charming, lady-slaying ways,” the newscaster was saying.
Hope whipped around. What about Chad? She put a hand to her lips as she realized what video angle they had. The television showed her and Chad kissing passionately. It did look insane. Better than anything Hollywood could produce. It looked so real. It had been so real. She tingled from head to toe remembering the sensation of kissing him.
“Charming Major Prescott was in lip lock moments before he hurled a ticking bomb like Captain Euro himself to save the entire royal family and numerous friends, dignitaries, and media. Experts are now saying from the footage of the explosion that it could have killed everyone in the courtyard. The entire Augustine royal family and numerous dignitaries, friends, and media were rescued by Major Prescott.”
Hope knew Chad was a hero, but she was fixated on the earlier footage of them kissing. The screen switched to the different camera angles from castle security showing the bomb’s explosion. It looked much worse than her angle as the bomb had exploded below the towering castle courtyard wall.
What was the lady saying about Chad being a lady slayer? That snagged in her mind. Just in reference to her?
“In very good news, Madeline Prescott is reported to be in stable condition. Here’s another video we’ve recently had sent in by one of our viewers. You can see that charming major we all love isn’t done celebrating or kissing.”
What? This newscaster was losing her mind.
“Major Prescott with a beautiful local nurse when he heard the good news about his mum.”
Hope stared, fixated on the television. She clenched her hands together and her vision blurred.
The video showed Chad pacing outside a hospital room. A beautiful blonde nurse walked straight into his space and whispered something. Chad leaned in and the woman wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Chad tellingly did not push her away.
Hope’s stomach dropped out, and her knees couldn’t support her. How could this be happening? Not now. Not again. She sank into an armchair, tasting bile.
“Ah, that’s our favorite Major Prescott. I hope the beautiful American fashion executive Hope Radisson wasn’t too attached to him.”
The screen changed to Prince Steffan being interviewed outside the hospital.
Faith stormed over and shut off the television. “What a bunch of lies,” she snarled.
Hope looked up at her sister. Her eyes were cloudy, and she blinked hard. She wouldn’t cry. She couldn’t. She had to be strong—for Faith, for herself. She was always strong. In control.
Work. Was there some kind of work she could do? Where was her laptop? She had dozens of emails and requests to deal with.
“That lady obviously threw herself at him,” Faith said. “That’s ridiculous they put that on the news. It must’ve been some attention-seeking nurse having her friend video and then they sent it to the media. Stupid narcissist. She just wanted a piece of Chad and a moment of fame. You saw that clearly, right?”
“Oh, I saw it clearly.” Hope wanted to crawl into bed and cry.
“You trust Chad. Right?”
Hope couldn’t take it any longer. She stood and started pacing. Faith watched her.
“No, I don’t trust Chad. How could I?” She threw her hand at the TV and then rubbed at her chest. Her heart hurt. Her entire body hurt. What was wrong with her? Why did she have to love the one man who could never be faithful to her? She’d convinced herself for a few beautiful hours that Chad was not her dad. Now she was terrified.
What if she was her mom? What if she was the type of woman who loved a cheater until they finally left and then she left her children behind to ‘fulfill her own dreams?’
Hope couldn’t do that. Never.
“Ah, Hope.” Faith jumped in her path and grabbed both of her arms. “Please. I know it’s hard with what we’ve seen, how Mom turned out, but you aren’t Mom and Chad isn’t Dad. Neither of you has a selfish bone in their body, and that’s all our parents were formed with.”
How did Faith know exactly what was scaring her? She worried her lip and didn’t answer.
“Please, Hope. Listen to me. Chad is the best man. I know him. You know him. He’s been patiently trying to show you how much he loves you. He’ll be there for you. I can see it so clearly.”
Hope stared at her younger sister. She couldn’t see anything clearly. Her dreams were shattered at her feet. She felt groggy, disillusioned, unsure of herself, and even more unsure of Chad. How could she take action in a moment like this? The only action she could see was to run.
“I can’t handle this,” she muttered.
Faith groaned and tried to shake her. “Don’t shatter. Don’t.”
