Page 185 of The Royal Art of Revenge

“I am,” I say firmly. “And I’m smarter than you ever realised because my life has been so much harder than you ever cared to find out.”

“I let her deal with the consequences, whatever they may be, and you won’t release her birth certificate. Is that the deal?”

“Yes. Even if she gets charged and faces court. You let her handle it. Pay for her lawyer, sure, but you cannot buy her way out of this. Rosalyn, too.”

The line crackles with what sounds like him hissing out a breath. “Fine. You have my word. Our help will not extend past financial assistance for legal representation. Jasmine will have to face up to the consequences of what she’s done.”

“Thank you.”

“You’ve recorded this phone call, haven’t you?”

For the first time, I grin. “From the very beginning.”

He laughs bitterly. “I should have guessed.”

Yeah.

He should have.

“Do you even care about this family at all?” he asks.

“No. Not in the slightest.” The words leave me easily. “Ever since I returned, all I asked for was some kindness, and even that couldn’t be given. I learnt long ago not to care about people who don’t care about me, so why should I care about the Sinclairs?”

Finn presses a kiss to my shoulder and rests his head against me.

“Very well,” my father says after a moment. “If that’s how you feel.”

“It is.”

There’s a shout in the background.

“You should go,” I say. “I doubt Rosalyn will take this news well.”

I can just picture him rubbing his hand across his forehead.

“I’ll deal with her. You just keep your word and make sure that birth certificate stays where it belongs.”

I smile, looking down at mine and Finn’s intertwined fingers. “Don’t worry. I won’t share it with anyone.”

“See to it that you don’t.” Those are his final words before the line goes dead.

I end the recording with a snort and toss my phone onto the bed by my feet. Finn turns to me, a twinkle in his deep blue eyes.

“You won’t share Jasmine’s birth certificate, huh?” His lips curve into a wry smile. “You worded that very well.”

“You noticed?” I grin and flop back down onto my back so I’m looking up at him. “Strictly speaking, it’s not mine to share. I never dug it out, and Alec is the one who has it in his hands. Whatever he does with it is his business.”

“Does Alec know that?”

“He will.”

Finn chuckles and lies down next to me, opening his arms for me to roll into. “How do you feel now? Jasmine will have to stand on her own two feet for once, and you have your father and Rosalyn backed into a corner.”

“I don’t know,” I say honestly, closing my eyes as his heartbeat pounds against my cheek. “I don’t think I feel anything, to be honest. I thought I might be happy or satisfied, but I’m just… I don’t know.”

“That’s not surprisingly. Revenge isn’t always a big, flashy moment like it was at my birthday. This is a far more realistic version of it.”

“Perhaps I’m just accustomed to the feeling, given how successful I’ve been.”