The only word that comes to mind is…forever. But I can’t tell him the truth—especially now. He just made it clear he doesn’t want children, so now what am I supposed to do?

I straighten slightly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

‘Th-these.” His voice is shaking as he shoves the stupid pamphlets at me. “You… You’re…”

I grab the papers from him and shove them back in the bin where they belong. “That means nothing. Those…” I glance at the leaflets in the bin. “Those mean nothing.”

He grabs my wrist. “Justine—”

“Unhand me.” I wrench my arm away. “I think you were saying you were leaving.” I march over to the door and open it, motioning for him to go.

The color has drained from his face, and he seems unable to move. “I never said—”

“I’m saying it, then. It’s time for you to leave.”

He shakes his head. “I’m not going anywhere. Not until you’re honest with me.”

“I haven’t been dishonest with you.” And it’s true—I haven’t lied to him. Not yet. But I will do what I need to do. And now that he’s made his feelings about children known to me, what else am I supposed to do? I can’t exactly spring the news on him. And even if I did, there is still the issue of my father. As soon as he finds out, I’m quite certain there won’t be an issue any longer. And there’s nothing saying William will hold true to his word, anyway. I trusted him once and he betrayed me. There’s nothing stopping him from doing so again.

“Justine.” William runs a hand through his hair and leans against the counter separating the small sitting area from the tiny kitchen. “Justine.”

I let out a long sigh before I close the door again. “There’s nothing to say.”

“There is, though. How…how long have you known?”

I stare at him for a long moment, unsure of what I should say. But there is little point in lying about it. And truly, having him know might make things easier. If he knows, my father will find out. And when my father finds out, there won’t be any more choices to make.

I let out another long breath. “Four days.”

“Oh.” He nods. “I suppose…I suppose that isn’t very long.” He nods again to himself, almost as though he’s trying to convince himself the news is true. “But…but you were planning to tell me.” His voice is flat, and there is no question in the statement.

I frown, dropping onto the sofa. “William…”

“Well…I suppose I know now, right?” A small smile comes to his face and he lifts his gaze to meet mine. “We should…we should celebrate. I’ll get champagne—no, you can’t have champagne.” He laughs. “I…I’m going to be a father. This…this is amazing. This is unbelievable.”

I shake my head slowly. “William, sit down.”

He’s still laughing, almost giddy, as he drops onto the chair across from me. “How do you feel? We should see a doctor, be sure that—”

“I’ve seen a doctor. It’s where I got those leaflets.” I stare at him for a moment. “William, I—”

“My family is going to be overjoyed. Two grandchildren in a year…”

My eyes widen for a split second before I realize he’s speaking of Leopold’s child. His would be first. Mine would be second—of course he doesn’t know about the third.

I’ll admit, William looks much happier than I’d ever anticipated he would. He does run his hand through his hair every few moments as he laughs to himself, showing how nervous he is, too. The thought of bursting his bubble is like a knife in my stomach—he doesn’t understand that there is nothing to be happy about in our situation. Nothing at all.

“I’ll move here to be with you, of course. Though…” He looks around the small room. “I think we should get something a little bigger. Perhaps, something more appropriate.”

I glance around myself. The room is somewhat dingy, but I don’t mind it at all. It makes me feel normal—human. “I haven’t decided what I’m doing yet, William.”

His gaze snaps to mine. “What you’re…doing?” His mouth falls open, and it looks like some of the air has deflated from his chest. “Justine… You can’t be serious. You—”

“I am serious.” I cross my arms over my chest. “And it isn’t as though it matters.”

He leans forward. “What do you mean, it doesn’t matter? Of course it matters. It matters more than anything.”

“You don’t understand, though. You don’t really understand anything.”

“I understand that I am the father of that child. And that I have rights—”

“Not here, you don’t. Here…” I motion around the room. “Here, I get to make the decisions.”

He shakes his head. “You can’t just…” He shakes his head again. “You can’t just make a decision like that. Not without speaking to me about it first.”

I close my eyes for a moment, trying to center myself. I finally open them, glaring across at him. “You can’t really be saying this to me. After everything—”

“How many times must I apologize? How many times do I really have to tell you how sorry I am—?”

“At least a dozen more. At least.” Tears fill my eyes. “You have some double standard, Your Highness.”

“It isn’t like that—”

“Isn’t it? You decide I’ll marry you. You decide you’ll annul our marriage. You decide to come here without being invited. Why do you get to make all the decisions in my life now? You think my father and brother are somehow incapable of making decisions for me as they’ve always done?”

“I think that when they find out—”

“Oh, yes, William, when they find out about this, I know exactly what they’ll do. Exactly what they did the last time. Yes, I know what happens when they find out.”

“Like…last time?” His words are slow, and he tilts his head. “What do you mean, the last time?”

My cheeks burn—I hadn’t even realized I’d said anything. I can barely raise my voice above a whisper now. “I think you should go.”

“I know what you think I should do.” His eyebrows draw together. “What last time was there, Justine?”

I shake my head. “I misspoke.”

“No, I know all about when you say you’ve misspoken. It means you’re hiding something from me. What last time was there, Princess?”

“It isn’t important now.” I close my eyes, trying to drown out the memories of that day. “Please…please just go.”

“I’ve already told you, I’m not going anywhere.” He rises, walking over to sit beside me. “Tell me now. What happened last time?”

“You’re an idiot, William. You really are. If you truly believe there is any choice in this matter at all, you are truly an imbecile—”

He grabs my hand, pulling it into his. “You have a choice. You have a choice to allow me to be a father to my child—”

I interrupt with another shake of my head. “Don’t you see—?”

“We’ll remarry. We…we can have the annulment reversed. Clearly there was no basis—”

“There was a basis, though. And we won’t be remarrying.” I pull my hand from his. “It isn’t going to happen. None of this is going to happen.”