Page 142 of Rags to Royals

“Get it,” Henry says shortly.

I step into the room. My gaze immediately finds Mariah. She looks scared. I grab my bag from behind the desk and make a decision. It’s probably a bad one, but I can’t just leave. “Miss Gale?” I say. “Can I see you in the hallway, please?”

Her eyes get wide, but she immediately stands. “Y-yes.”

There is a murmuring of conversation and I’m sure there are all kinds of rumors now spreading in room two-oh-eight.

I can’t worry about that now.

We step into the hallway. Henry frowns at Mariah but I turn to her. “I have to go to Cara. My grandfather had a heart attack.”

“Oh my God,” she says quietly. “Is he okay?”

“We… don’t know.” I swallow hard. “I’m sorry. I… I just didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye.”

Her face is etched with concern. She nods. “Thank you.”

It’skillingme not to hug her. I can’t believe I have to say goodbye to her like this. I can’t tell her when I’ll be back. I can’t tell her that I love her. I can’t say we’ll talk soon. I don’t know if that’s true and I’m just her teacher here. And I don’t know when I’ll be back.

“Okay, so…”

“Are you going to tell Mom?” she asks.

“Of course.”

“Cian,” Henry says. “We don’t have much time.”

“I have to see Scarlett,” I snap.

His jaw tightens but he doesn’t say anything more. For now, anyway.

I focus on Mariah again. “Kick ass on the test. Make me look like a good teacher, okay?”

I see her eyes fill with tears. It’s clear she’s thinking about hugging me too. But she only nods. “Yeah. I will. Youarea good teacher.” She drops her voice to a whisper. “And a good friend. I’ll miss you.”

Fuck. “Ditto,” I tell her. “Now get back to class.”

She does. I blow out a breath. Then start down the hall. We get in the rental car Henry has waiting at the curb.

“We’re going to the garage. I don’t want to hear any shit about it,” I say.

Henry doesn’t say anything at all, just turns the car in that direction.

We drive for about three minutes before I ask, “Should I ask her to go with me?”

“She can’t do that.” He doesn’t seem surprised I asked.

“Why not?”

He looks over. “We don’t have time to deal with all of this.”

That makes my chest hurt.I might lose my grandfather. And I don’t have time to make sure the woman I love is okay and understands why I’m leaving and that I don’t want to, but I have to.

“Are you taking her as a friend?” he goes on. “Your girlfriend? Your fiancee? How are you going to introduce her to your grandfather, who just had a serious heart attack and who wants you to marry Astrid?”

I nod. He’s right. This isn’t the time to introduce Scarlett to my grandfather. Definitely not. It’s not fair to either of them.

“What do I say to her?”

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