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“Why?” I ask once more wholly invested.
“Because the Royal family do not need controversial love children,” Byron says bitterly.
“That’s fucked up,” Zane admits.
“Maybe, but my father recognized me as his son even though he has a family with his wife. He always made sure I was taken care of and attended the best schools.”
“But you were never part of his family,” I observe, a little shocked by this latest revelation about Byron.
“No, I wasn’t,” he confirms.
“Does the King know who you are?”
“Yes, I imagine so, but we never met. Given the circumstances of my conception, I wasn't going to be publicly acknowledged," Byronadmits.
“England’s dirty, little secret,” Astro mocks.
“What about your mom’s family?” I ask, ignoring Astro’s idiocy.
“They’re a prestigious family from China and want nothing to do with an illegitimate child. It’s considered an embarrassment to their name.”
“But you’re a person, not some thoroughbredhorse!” I protest, upset by the way he’s been treated.
“That would imply he’s purebred, but obviously he’s not.” Astro chimes in, earning a glare from me.
I could shove one of the fire torches into his mouth to shut him up for good.
“Emily told me she’s related to the royal family. She knew who you were, and here I thought you were the one with the problem. But the truth is that she didn’t want to acknowledge you,” I remark, connecting the dots. Emily’s attitude towards him was strange, but when I noticed and asked her about the problem she had with him, she refused to elaborate.
“You knew?” I direct my question to Foster and Jack since he’s related to European royalty.
“No,” Foster replies. “It’s not in his file. Plus, students' backgrounds don’t concern me in the slightest.”
“My birth certificate lists Thomas Harding as my father, one of the prince’s staff members who agreed to this and to an early full-salary retirement. I never met him. I see my father a few times a year, but our relationship is somewhat lukewarm. I spent my life hoping one day to win his approval. That’s why I have all those academic awards; I wanted to impress him. Make him notice me. I always put myself under pressure to perform because I felt if I didn’t, he’d lose interest in me and walk away from my life.”
“That’s awful,” I blurt out.
“Well, I’m older and wiser now,” Byron responds. “I spent two years traveling abroad at his request until Hawthornes accepted me. The further he keeps me from London, the easier it is for him to move on with his life. I will graduate in less than two years, and then I'll access my trust fund. It's a payoff for me to disappear so my father can move on from his responsibilities over me."
“You could go public with this,” Zane suggests.
“To achieve what? Humiliate the royal family further? I’m a person, not a product for the tabloids to get rich on. I’m going to access my trust fund and disappear.”
“To where?”
He shrugs his shoulder.
I glance at Byron, feeling a newfound respect. Despite his apparent dislike for me and his rejection of my advances, I struggle to understand why he holds my background against me. Is this why he hates me so much?
Byron’s story just silenced all of us, and I think despite all the shit we’ve had to go through with our families, he just topped us all with the shock factor.
“That has to be the saddest story I’ve heard all night,” Astro affirms what I’m sure we’re all thinking.
“What about you?” I ask him directly. “What’s your story? Is it true you spent a year or two in a Californian prison?”
Astro shifts uncomfortably, his demeanor suddenly guarded. He avoids direct eye contact, his gaze darting around as if searching for an escape route. His body language becomes tense, shoulders hunching slightly, and his lips press together in a tight line. There's a subtle defensiveness in his posture, a reluctance to divulge anything personal.
“You couldn’t handle it,” he scowls at me. “But Byron isn’t close to finishing. There’s so much he wants to tell you all.” He looks at him with this shit-eating grin. “You took after your pervert dad, didn’t you?”
