Page 160 of The Royal Art of Revenge

“Oh, oh, I want to see that!” I clap my hands together. “Looks like I need a burner account.”

Oscar sends me a withering look over the top of his laptop, still fucking typing.

The man is a machine.

“Sorry. I have to get my amusement somewhere, and your little social media riot over there sounds like a good place to start.” I shrug a shoulder so nonchalantly that even he cracks a smile. “What do we do now?”

Finn shifts, making me turn my head to face him.

“What?”

He raises an eyebrow, amusement glinting in his eyes. “Why are you the one asking that? We’re following your lead.”

“That seems like a very questionable idea.” I press my lips together. “I don’t know what to do now. I gave him twelve hours to get me all my inheritance, so I feel like I’m stuck until tomorrow morning.”

“Then we’ll wait,” he replies, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “In the meantime, Oscar will continue pushing the idea that Rosalyn and Jasmine are behind the rumour. It already has a life of its own, so it won’t be difficult.”

“They are pushing back,” Oscar replies somewhat morosely. “A couple of accounts we know to be affiliated with Jasmine are already spinning that they have nothing to do with it despite the sources’ claims from this morning. I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up utilising some bots because the tide is not turning in their favour.”

“Good. There are already a lot of stories out there about Jasmine’s behaviour since the Lammens incident, so hopefully it’ll be harder than they think.” I glance down at my hands in my lap. “One thing is for sure. They weren’t expecting me to have the DNA results.”

“Or one of their major investors to be close to you,” Finn adds. “Granted, they still don’t know that Alec is ACN. None of us could have predicted that he’d pull out of the company.”

He makes a good point.

That’s an acceleration none of us saw coming.

“Then maybe we just wait for now?” I look at them both, although it’s still rather pointless trying to get the attention of Oscar.

I never imagined I’d have my own personal Internet troll.

“Let the story about my paternity die out tonight as its overtaken by who spread the rumours and see what my father does. I’m reluctant to do anything else until I have access to everything that belongs to me. As of right now, he’s still in full control of my trust fund. I don’t doubt that Rosalyn had her eye on it for Jasmine, and I don’t know what else is left that belongs to my mother. Either way, I’m going to rain merry Hell on that household.” I turn my attention to the television where the weather report is taking up the entirety of the screen. “I was going to give them more time before I blew up their world, but Rosalyn was stupid enough to react to my threat.”

Finn peers at me out of the corner of his eye. “I know you have this planned, but are you really ready for this? Once you out your father’s true relationship with Rosalyn and Jasmine, there’s no coming back from it.”

“You’re not going to talk me out of it after all this, are you?”

“No! No. I know this has always been your ultimate goal, and you know I’ll do whatever it takes to help you, but it will be the thing that severs your ties with them. Even before you file the necessary legal documents to separate yourself from them.”

“I know. Thing is, I don’t think I’ll ever have the proof I need to tie Rosalyn to my kidnapping. If even Alec is struggling to get information after I connected him with Ryan and Rafayel, I have to accept that it’s something I may never get justice for. That doesn’t mean I can’t get it in my own way.” I turn to him as he takes my hand. “Besides, it’s not as if there’s much of a relationship between me and my father anyway. I’ve never once been his priority, so I refuse to make him mine.”

Finn links his fingers through mine and rubs his thumb across the back of my hand. For a moment, the room is silent, absent even of the tapping of Oscar’s fingers against his keyboard.

After a moment, his typing resumes once again. Thank God for that—the silence was beginning to get awkward.

I understand why. Neither of them have any idea what it’s like to be an afterthought in your own family, so my feelings are completely foreign to them.

Which makes it all the stranger that they accept them without thought. Neither one of them have ever tried to talk me out of this or questioned my choices.

What a pair of weirdos.

“All right,” Oscar says, giving his laptop a good tap with his fingers. “My work here is done. The Internet sleuths are officially awake and asking all the right questions.”

“Really?”

He smiles as he looks over at me. “Yes. They’ve latched onto the fact you did your DNA test two years ago, yet Rosalyn and Jasmine allegedly suspected your parentage. They’re running with it.”

“Good. Let them.” I drag my gaze from him and back to the TV where the weather is now being rattled off. “With any luck, they’ll complete a marathon.”