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“You first.”
“I was with the King when… some member of the staff came running in to tell us about the commotion. How did she find out? How is Alexis?”
I shake my head and bury my face in my hands.
“Furious, I’m guessing,” Lily says.
I nod and start crying as soon as she says the word. I can’t speak. Lily pulls away and lets out a wail. “My one chance to know my son…”
The tears are streaming down her face. I hug her silently.
“Don’t you cry, too, Bella. I don’t want you to be sad on top of Alex… loathing me.”
That just makes me cry harder. He loathes me, too, I’m sure.
Out of nowhere, a staff member appears and hands Lily a box of tissues, then turns. Lily wipes my tears away, ignoring her own.
“He hates me,” I whisper.
“Oh, honey. He doesn’t. But don’t worry about that. We’ll go home and…”
“I’ll never see him again. But he doesn’t hate you, Aunt Lily.”
Lily yanks some more tissues out of the box. I blow my nose in a very un-princess-like way.
“Isabella.” My aunt touches my face so I look at her, and I see her concern. “I’ve seen you this upset, but it was a long time ago. Tell me what you’re feeling.”
The words start tumbling out of me along with more tears. A lot more.
“I love him, Aunt Lily. I’m in love with him.
“With Alex?”
“Yes. I’m head-over-heels in love with him. And he hates me.”
“I thought so. I just wasn’t sure. I wouldn’t have known what to do about the two most important people in my life. So I didn’t want to think about it. But of course. It makes sense.”
Lily wraps me in a hug, and I sob into her shoulder.
“He makes me crazy, you know, all the time, Aunt Lily. But somehow that just makes me love him more. I’m not making any sense.”
“ I know exactly what you mean.”
Lily grabs my hand and leads me up to the room she has been using.
“Can I sleep with you tonight?”
I haven’t asked to do that in years. She smiles at me. “The bed’s big enough. Of course. But we have to go as soon as we can. We need to figure out flights before we go to bed.”
“I know. Alex’s secretary said he’d get us tickets. I told him I’d pay.”
She raises her eyebrows.
“I know. It’s one of those niceties. They know we won’t pay, we know they’d never ask.” I start crying again, harder this time. “Alex will be so happy to get rid of me, I’m sure he won’t mind paying.”
“Shush. Let’s just get some sleep. We need to go home. Broken hearts can be mended.”
Yours wasn’t.But I just nod. I can’t say that. Not right now.
