Page 44 of Tall, Royal Hater
What?
It wasn’t the sudden outbreak of thrilled noise that made my ears ring. It was the numb stillness that sunk through me as I tried and failed to process what had just been said.
I knew at some point it would happen, but I supposed the majority of me had still very much been in denial of it happening. And with Esmeralda’s shock engagement, I wasn’t sure I had it in me to accept the surprise of my mother’s marriage to Prince Arsh within the next week or so.
I wasn’t prepared. I wasn’t ready. Not to fend off the hostile chatter of the world that had so far been limited to social media, nor was I comfortable with the way my life would change once my mum married into royalty.
I wouldn’t be a prince by blood, but I’d be tied to royalty anyway. I already was through my job, but this would be different from the times I escorted Esmeralda while cameras flashed all around.
Those cameras would now face me and Mother. We would be the ones in the public eye.
There would be no more secrets or privacy. Our lives would be out there for them to judge.
Including our past.
When they found out who he was, everything my fucking father had done would be aired out like dirty laundry in front of the world. None of it had been her fault, but I knew they’d point fingers at Mum and blame her for it. Because that was what the world of aristocrats and the wealthy did.
A man with the backing of his rich family could get away with whatever shit he pulled.
But the woman from a meagre background who’d ended up alone and pregnant because that man had failed her would always be at fault.
I’d tear the world apart before I let another insult find its way to Mother, but no matter what Prince Arsh said or promised, their marriage would make that a million times harder.
I was the only one who sat there frozen. I didn’t rage, I didn’t smile, I didn’t utter a word. All I could do was struggle to get a grip on the turmoil inside me.
Mum placed a hand over my knee and squeezed. I stared down at her wrist but eventually lifted my gaze.We’ll talk, her soft, green-eyed stare said, wavering back and forth between worry and reassurance. But aloud, she said, “We would like help planning the ceremony.”
Was she asking me to plan a wedding I was kind of against?
Before I completely realised it, I started shaking my head, the movement slow and subtle. Mum noticed—her smile slipped and tightened—though she might’ve been the only one.
“Mariyah could do it,” Esmeralda declared brightly.
My attention snapped to the two friends. “What? Me?” Mariyah asked in surprise.
“Yes, you.” To Mum and Prince Arsh, Esmeralda said, “Mariyah is interested in event planning, and she’s good at it too. I’m sure if you told her what you wanted, she could plan a brilliant wedding for you.”
“No, no,” Mariyah quickly said as she waved Esmeralda away. “She’s just exaggerating. I am interested in event planning, but I don’t have a lot of experience. I wouldn’t know what to do. Plus, it’s your wedding, I’m sure you don’t wantmeto plan it.”
Her humbleness caught me off guard, and I almost burst out laughing. Mariyah and humble were like water and oil—they didn’t usually mix.
“Why wouldn’t we want you to, dear?” Mum asked. “And it isn’t anything big. Just an intimate ceremony with family and a few friends.”
Mariyah opened and closed her mouth like a fish. “But…don’t you want someone else to plan it? Family, I mean.”
Mariyah looked at Esmeralda. Esmeralda glanced across to Prince Arsh and Mum. Mum turned to me. And I instinctively braced myself.
Mum’s hand clamped around my knee again. “Would you help Mariyah plan our wedding, Sher?”
You have got to be fucking kidding me.
Refusal sat on the tip of my tongue, ready to fire off, but the pleading hope branded in Mum’s eyes forced me to trap it behind my teeth. “I don’t think—” I cleared my throat. “I’m not the right person to plan a wedding.”
“Why not?” she asked.
Why not? Maybe because I don’t want this wedding to happen, let alone spend more time with the fucking brat planning it.
But those selfish reasons made guilt rock through my middle. They made me feel like a shit son.
