Page 162 of The Royal Art of Revenge

“There’s yet to be a contract Alec hasn’t found a legal loophole in.” Finn pauses. “It’s mildly terrifying, actually.”

Anxiety curls in the pit of my stomach. I want nothing more than to expose my true familial relation to Jasmine, but not at the expense of someone else.

I know my father. I know how extensive his contracts are.

“Something will go wrong,” I say quietly. “Too much has gone my way. It was never supposed to be this easy. Ever since we met, everything I’ve planned has come to fruition with little resistance. I don’t trust this.”

“Have you considered this is the universe paying you back for all your hardships?”

“You need to spend less time on the internet,” I mutter.

Finn laughs, reaching for me. He captures my hand with his and gently winds his fingers through mine. “You were taken from your family, Hattie. The life you were supposed to have was forcibly stolen from you, and now we know it was because of Rosalyn. Perhaps things are happening the way they are because everything is righting itself. The life you were meant to live is being given back to you, one thing at a time.”

“I just don’t like it.”

“We don’t have to do it. We don’t have to do anything. Not if you don’t want it.”

“I do, but not like this. I don’t want to put an innocent person in their way. Is there not a way to do this without that? Whoever she is, the poor girl will have already suffered enough having worked in that house.”

Understanding makes his eyes shine. “Yes, we’ll work something else out. There’s more than one way to start a rumour, and Oscar happens to be very good at it.”

“Are you sure?”

He nods. “Positive.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX – FINN

“They’re forbidden from talking about you, but nothing relating to Jasmine being your father’s daughter.” Alec slaps an envelope on the table in front of Hattie who, having been paying attention to editing her photos on her laptop, jumps at the noise it makes. “Sorry.”

She briefly glares at him. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said,” Alec replies, perching on the table and looking over at her. “The only restrictions on discussing specific family relationships refers to you, Harriet Sinclair, otherwise known as Hannah Porter. Jasmine’s name isn’t mentioned once.”

“How?” I ask, looking between them both. “Unless…”

“They really don’t know,” Hattie says, pushing her laptop away and reaching for the envelope.

Alec points at it. “Relevant bits are highlighted. Six lawyers have read this over the past five days, by the way.”

“That’s a bit overkill, isn’t it?”

“Not with how concerned he says you were.” He cocks his thumb in my direction. “It’s my duty to alleviate your worries, my lady.”

Another weary look gets shot his way. “How are you single with such smooth lines?”

“I find the notion of dating to be soul-crushingly boring,” Alec replies without missing a beat. “It’s my hope that one day a wife shall just appear on my doorstep, offer me marriage, and we’ll negotiate a mutual arrangement that benefits us both greatly.”

“Oh, a business merger. How romantic,” Hattie says flatly, scanning the sheets. “You’re right. I suppose because everyone believes Jasmine’s adopted, it’s not weird that she calls them mum and dad or that they refer to her as their daughter. If she were adopted, they would be, after all.”

“They did adopt her in a way,” Alec says. “Other sheet.”

“What?” I raise my eyebrows, leaning over to see.

“Well, William did. Rosalyn never did, because she’s never needed to. But since Jasmine moved into the Sinclair house well before she did, William needed to have legal documentation allowing him to have full legal and physical custody of her.”

“Wouldn’t Rosalyn have had to sign something?”

“You’d think. There’s no record of Jasmine’s birth in Askurg. We checked.”