Page 26 of Rags to Royals

“Exactly,” Greta says.

“Can you teach me to throw a punch?” Mariah asks.

“Absolutely,” Henry says.

“No,” Ruby says over him.

“Why don’t you just come to school and tell Leah and Mrs. Carter and our principal who you are and that Mariah is telling the truth,” Greta says.

“Would she believe me? I’m just some guy,” Henry says.

“You have your ID and your badge,” Greta insists. “Plus everyone knows what you look like and your name.”

“They do?”

“Sure. They all know about the podcast. Leah follows it too. And she’s looked all of you up. Everyone has.”

I wince. For some reason, this doesn’t seem like a good thing. I can’t say exactly why. Maybe it’s just because I’ve spent the past decade trying to fly under the radar and I’m not used to people knowing who I am outside of Cara, and a tiny town in Louisiana. But I’ve always liked it that way. I can honestly say that everyone in my life likes me for who I am as a person, because they don’t know about my title, my money, or my connections.

And dammit, that includes Scarlett. We had a great time. We had a real connection. She might’ve told me a few things that aren’t entirely true, but she had a good time.Thatwas true. She didn’t fake the laughter, the contentment, or the orgasms.

And none of that had anything to do with me being a prince. It wasn’t about my wealth or potential power.

And she doesn’t know about the things that I’ve done with that money and those connections since we were together. But I was very much looking forward to telling her about that. I’m proud of it. And because it was her idea, I was looking forward to sharing it with her.

I tamp down all of those swirling thoughts and emotions and reach for the box of fruit flavored cereal at eye level.

One thing at a time. I need to see Scarlett again. I need to figure out what was real and what wasn’t.

“The kids at school have checked out the podcast? Looked stuff up about us?” Henry asks Mariah and Greta.

“Of course,” Mariah says. “It’s not like I can get away with claiming to know someone like you without them looking into it. But the more they found out, the less they believed me.”

“So what does the principal want?” Ruby asks.

“I’m not sure. We could get into Mom’s account and read the email. But I’m guessing it has something to do with an apology to Leah. Probably publicly. And admitting I lied. And I would ratherdie. One, she butted into our conversation. Two, I’mtelling the truth. I don’t think I should have to apologize for a lie that isn’t a lie.”

“Are you sure that you don’t have to apologize for pouring tomato juice on her?” Ruby asks.

“Yeah, Mom will make me do that,” Mariah says, sounding dejected.

“Yeah, she will,” Ruby agrees.

I frown. Leah sounds like a bully. I don’t agree with an apology for standing up to her. But I haven’t done a lot of apologizing in my life so I’m no expert.

“But,” Ruby says. “I agree that you shouldn’t have to take back what you’ve said about Cian and Henry and it’s bullshit that they’re trying to leave you out of the school musical because of this.”

“Great,” Mariah says. “Then I’ll just have Henry come to school and back me up.”

“Your mom willhatethat. That is just more attention on her, on all of us, that she won’t want. Especially from Hannah,” Ruby says. “We need to figure out a way to placate Leah, without you having to apologize for something you didn’t do.”

“Just telling her that Mariah is right and she’s wrong will make her back off, right?” Henry asks. “Maybe I can just talk to Leah and her mom? Not make it public at school.”

“That would be almost as bad,” Ruby says. “No one hates Scarlett more than Hannah. She’llhatebeing wrong and will make Scarlett miserable. By making Mariah miserable.” Ruby sighs. “That’s what this is really all about. Hannah found Scarlett’s biggest vulnerability—Mariah. Now she’s making sure Mariah is unhappy as a way of keeping Scarlett unhappy and in her place.”

I scowl. What the hell is going on here? Why does someone think Scarlett needs to be kept “in her place”? What does thatmean? The woman I spent that weekend with was amazing. Everyone should think so.

She’s not who you think she is, remember?

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