Page 153 of The Royal Art of Revenge

“I know. This way is more fun, though.” I grin.

“And more stressful for Her Majesty.”

“I know,” I repeat slowly. “But I—”

“Hattie! Let me just release the DNA test!” The woman in question sweeps into the room, followed by Louis and Finn. “Before that vile creature speaks to someone else and spreads more lies.”

With a sigh, I pat the bed next to me, and she flounces over dramatically before sitting down. “You’re the one who taught me how to play the media game.”

“I didn’t think we’d be playing it like this,” she grumbles, earning herself a sympathetic pat on the shoulder from her husband. “I have someone waiting to ‘leak’ a story from the palace when you’re ready. Everything is in motion.”

“Are you sure you want to do it like this?” Finn asks, sitting in front of me. “We don’t have enough evidence to prove the affair for sure yet. Alec and Oscar are working on it now, but proving Jasmine is your half-sister might be harder than we think.”

“And I’m very angry about that,” Beatrix says. “How could you keep that information from me? Both of you?” She gives us both a gentle tap around the back of the head, and I dip my chin to hide my smile.

“Because you’d burn the place to the ground, and I wanted to be the one to do it,” I reply, smiling sweetly. “Besides, I thought you knew. He said he’d tell you. Finn is the one who really kept it from you.”

Finn knocks my pointing finger away and clears his throat. “I was worried about your blood pressure.”

“The only thing giving me high blood pressure is you, you brat,” she grumbles. “I never knew William had an affair. I can’t believe Franny kept that from me. I could have helped her.”

“There’s a reason she didn’t leave,” I say quietly. “I don’t know what it is, and we will never know, but I trust she knew what she was doing.”

The Queen sighs. “She likely thought it was better for you if she stayed. William would never divorce her because of how she helped him and the business become what they are today, and I can’t say they had an unhappy marriage. If she stayed with him, it would ensure you inherited one hundred percent of everything, at the very least.”

“Then I’m sorry that it won’t be happening.” I look down at my hands as Finn reaches forwards and uncurls my fingers from my fist before I even know what I’m doing. “When this is all said and done… Rowan?”

“Yes?” he says, still inspecting his orange segments.

“How difficult is it to legally estrange yourself from your family under Askurian law?”

Everyone stills, including him.

“Miss Harriet.” He lowers the orange piece to his plate and gets to his feet, slowly walking over to the bed. “Have you thought this through?”

“I don’t want to discuss it. I just want to know how difficult it will be to disinherit myself from everything. When everything is said and done and I’ve got access to my trust fund from my mother, is it possible for me to legally part from the Sinclair family?”

He glances at the Queen and Louis, then clears his throat into his fist. “Yes, it’s possible, and the process itself isn’t terribly difficult, although complications can arise. However… You are to be a member of the Royal Family. I implore you to think of the optics.”

“The optics are irrelevant,” Beatrix says, reaching over and wrapping her arm around my shoulders. “This is not a frivolous decision by a silly little girl. This is a meticulously thought-out plan by a young woman with every reason to distance herself from her blood family. Whatever the ‘optics’ are, we will handle them. Together. As a family.”

Oh.

There’s a lump in my throat.

Rowan inclines his head towards her before turning back to me. “It is possible, and while the process can be drawn-out and sometimes complicated, I do not foresee you having any problems given your circumstances.”

“Thank you,” I say softly. “All of you. You don’t have to do this for me.”

“We want to.” Louis smiles over at me in the kind of fatherly way I haven’t seen in years. “For you. And for Francesca. Both of you deserve so much more than William is giving you.”

Finn slips his fingers between mine and raises our hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to my knuckles.

“I’ll start looking into the estrangement process,” Rowan says, collecting his plate of orange segments from the table. “Let us file for control of your trust fund and settle that matter first, and once that’s done, we can move on to other things. If I may make a suggestion…”

“Of course.”

“Wait and see how your father reacts to the situation. If he handles it badly, I daresay many people will support you in estranging yourself. In the unlikely event he backs you over Rosalyn and Jasmine, you will have a harder time of it.”