Page 120 of Tall, Royal and Grumpy

“I need to speak to Mother and Father.”

“I don’t think they’re in their room if that’s where you’re headed. They went to the TV room with Uncle and Shehryar’s mother after breakfast to watch a movie, so I—”

I swore under my breath and turned around, rushing past him to head back the way I had come.

“Hey—what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

I didn’t answer him, and Fay being nosey Fay followed after me, demanding to know why I was acting like the world was coming to an end.

But my world was in threat of coming to an end.

By the time we got to the TV room, I was breathing heavily from running all over the palace. I shoved the door open and tore inside without even thinking to knock. Four sets of eyes landed on me, two with a gasp that faded away into the sound of whatever was playing on the TV screen.

“Bloody Neves,” Uncle Arsh sighed, dropping his arm from in front of Katiya.

“Way to give everyone a fright, son,” Father grumbled from the sofa opposite the TV screen.

Next to him, Mother sat upright, her brows scrunching together. “Kai. What’s wrong?”

“Have you checked your emails recently?” I asked, moving towards them with Fay tailing me.

“No, sweetie. Not for a couple of days.”

“I need you to check them.” Someone turned the TV off.

“Now?” Mother said.

“Yes, now. Please. Quickly. It’s urgent. Mother, please.”

“Hold on, hold on,” Father said, all signs of easiness gone from his hazel eyes. “Slow down, Kai. Tell us what has happened first.”

“Someone bugged my room and took a recording of me—of me and Esmeralda.” The colour drained from all four faces at once, and Fay swore. “Gary and Rocco are searching my room and checking CCTV footage, but it was sent to King Kareem. I need to know if they sent it to you too.”

“Oh no,” Katiya whispered, her hand covering her mouth.

Mother quickly stood from the sofa, elegant strength fortifying her shoulders. Father, Uncle Arsh, and Katiya got up too. “Let’s go to the office immediately.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

KAI

Shehryar and King Kareem had assumed correctly.

Mother and Father had been sent the email with the two videos too, just with a different message. But they weren’t the only ones.

It had been sent to me as well. From the same email none of us recognised, but with a different message to the ones King Kareem and my parents had received.

“So the Perfect Prince found himself a fraud princess? What a fairy tale match.”

I’d lost count of the number of times I had read the single line since I’d discovered the email after leaving my parents’ office. My teeth ground harder together every time I did.

That nickname. The Perfect Prince. Seeing it grated at my bones. It reminded me why I hated the name before Esmeralda started calling me it. All the times it had been used to taunt me, and that made me suspicious. It made me see red.

I felt numb with rage as I stared at my laptop screen, sitting in my office after dinner.

A dinner I hadn’t stayed for beyond the moment I realised Esmeralda wasn’t there. The same way she hadn’t been there for lunch. I lost my appetite to the fear of what her absence meant for us, so I left and holed myself up in my office, torturing myself with silence that I wanted filled with her voice.

Now there was a tray of untouched food at one end of the dark oak desk I was tapping a set of fingers against. The red velvet curtains were drawn over the two large windows to my back, and the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling glowed with a warm yellow light.

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