I sleep on the flight home. I had no idea how tired I was—I haven’t let myself think much about it, but I haven’t slept very much since Leo came to get me for our first date. I can’t really remember how long ago that was—less than a week ago, I think.

Less than a week. That’s all it took for everything in our lives to change. It was all it took for our lives to change after our first meeting in Rio de Campo, too. And it was all it took for Leo to father a child with some wannabe royal. I don’t think I could have ever imagined that my entire life could change such a short space of time—then change again. And again.

My fairy tale is over now, though. After almost a full day of travel back to the tiny town in Arizona where my car and all my things have been sitting in a parking lot for almost a week, I realize I have nowhere to go. My house in Los Angeles is currently occupied by a couple with a young child who signed a year-long lease. I gave up the interview I’d had arranged in Oklahoma which means I pretty much gave up the chance to ever work for the medical agency I had been working for before.

I realize for the first time in my life I don’t have a plan. I don’t have anywhere to go—anything to go to. I suppose I can make my way back to Rio de Campo and check on Owen at some point, but I imagine he would have called me for help by now if he had wanted it from me.

But I am going to have to go back to work. My mortgage and student loan payments are a few days late—I’ve been a little distracted this past week, and I haven’t thought about something as mundane as bills while I was playing dress-up in the palace.

I pull out my phone and plug it into my dashboard to charge for a few minutes. I might have bills—and nowhere to call home—but I do have an interview with the reporter tomorrow. She had wanted to speak to me by video conference when I first spoke with her when I was in Montovia—I hadn’t known where I would be or even how I could meet with her in person, but now that I’m here, maybe I should find out where she is. It wouldn’t hurt to speak to someone in person—to have a real-life acquaintance. It might be nice, actually.

My exhaustion is catching up with me again—it’s probably just the thought of having to drive from this tiny desert town to anywhere else. I’m not sure what I had been thinking, being out here in the middle of nowhere. I know I was hiding—trying to hide, anyway—and look where that got me. On a private jet to New York City with a free week’s trip to the palace in Montovia, only to end up humiliated by Prince Leopold.

Yeah, I haven’t come very far.

My phone is finally charged enough to use and I check my bank account to be sure my last check from the medical agency is there. I see that it is and I log myself into my student loan account to pay my monthly bill.

I have to check it three times, though—something is wrong. The balance—the enormous balance of medical school loans that I’ve had—the amount that has kept me up more nights than I’ve ever wanted to admit—is now zero. Zero. It isn’t a number I thought I would ever see in the ‘amount owed’ column on the website. There has to be some sort of mix-up—I click the button to pay the bill, but it says there is no balance owed. It won’t even let me fill in an amount to pay. I suppose I’ll need to call them after I get the mortgage paid.

But when I log in to that account, the balance there is also zero.

It takes me a few minutes to realize what’s happened. I had said something about these bills to Leo. I remember telling him that first night how I had bills to pay—how I lived in the real world and that I had to go back to work so that I could meet my obligations. And he had waved his hand like it was nothing. Those dollar amounts—those enormous bills probably are nothing to Leo. But I can’t let him do this. It amounts to prostitution as far as I’m concerned. He only paid these bills for me because I agreed to stay in the palace with him until that damned state dinner.

And because I said I loved him.

I close my eyes at the pang I feel in my chest, realizing why this happened. That it isn’t some sort of payoff for sex. That it has nothing to do with money. That it only has to do with him loving me, too.

I’m free.

Part of me wants to call him—to at least thank him. But then I remember why I’m here and not there. And I don’t want to be the one interfering with his life. I know he’ll do the right thing—he’ll own his mistake. He’ll learn to be the man he needs to be—the father his child deserves to have. The man I know he is deep down inside.

Tears well in my eyes thinking about it again. It isn’t like me to be this tearful—it has to be because of the travel. Because of the extreme level of emotion that’s taken its toll on me over the past week. And I haven’t slept—my being overemotional can be explained by my exhaustion at least as much as by anything else.

I decide to send an email to Victoria—to tell her I’m available to meet in person if she wants to do that tomorrow instead. And I remember how I had been looking forward to driving through New Mexico before Leo had sidetracked me last week.

It’s so strange to realize I can do whatever I want. That I’m no longer bound to anything—that I have a new sense of freedom that I’ve never felt before. And it’s all because of Leo.

I turn on my ignition and smile. And I say it to myself again—the words are almost playing on a loop in my head.

I’m free.

* * *

I’ve never been to Santa Fe before, and I guess it isn’t exactly as I imagined it, though it’s pretty great in its own way. I stayed in a motel last night—I suppose I have the funds to stay in a fancier hotel now if I want, but there’s something about living the life I talked to Leo about—the life of a normal person—that is making me happy, at least for the time being. I don’t need fancy things just for the sake of having them. I guess they’re nice to have once in a while, but I definitely don’t really even want them that much. A clean room with a bed that isn’t too iffy is more than enough for me.

Victoria is meeting me at a cafe she suggested—I hadn’t asked where she lived when I spoke with her a few days ago when I was still in Montovia. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised to find out that she lives in Los Angeles—she is a celebrity reporter, after all. But she told me she’s traveled throughout the Southwest and she remembered this place.

I see her walk through the door of the cafe—I’m not sure how I know it’s her, but I do. There’s something almost familiar about her, but that doesn’t make much sense. She’s not a huge journalist or anything—from what she said on the phone, she’s been trying to break into more substantial reporting than covering celebrity scandals. And Matthias had said that though she had written a lot about the royal family, she had always portrayed them in a positive light.

I stand and she walks over to me, pulling me into an embrace. She pulls away after a moment and smiles at me. “It’s so good to see you again, Elle.”

Again?

Her smile widens a little. “You don’t remember me, do you? I suppose it was pretty crazy that day. All those reporters in your face.”

My jaw drops and I remember where I’ve seen her before. Outside my house in L.A. When I took the garbage out—she was the reporter who asked me how my relationship with Leo was going to end.

I drop into my seat without a word and stare across at her. It takes me a few moments to collect myself. “You…you were there.”

She nods. “You remember?”

I drop my gaze to my water glass, nodding. Fuck, that seems like it was a million years ago. And there was something so…invasive about that whole thing. I’m almost embarrassed about it now. About how it ended, especially.

“I’m not proud of that either, Elle.” She presses her lips together. “It was a job—I’ve been assigned to report on the Royal Family for the past few years.”

“I know.” My stomach is twisting on itself again—I’m not even sure what this is about. I shouldn’t feel ashamed to be talking to her. I don’t owe Leo’s family anything. The fact that I’m speaking to her at all is proof enough of that. If Stephan hadn’t been trying to protect the family he serves, my secret might still be safe inside that palace.

“So, I did a little digging on your story. It turns out your medical school has almost sixty sealed claims against that particular professor. Did you know anything about that?”

I shake my head and lift the water to my lips. My hands are shaking now—I’m not sure what I was expecting from this visit, but I guess I wasn’t planning to talk about it. About what happened back then. I guess I—stupidly—thought this would be more like a get-to-know-you kind of thing. A sort of lunch with a friend.

She nods. “They’re sealed, so there’s no way to know what’s in them. But someone in the office was willing to tell me there are claims almost every year. They’ve paid out a lot in hush money, Elle.”

“Oh.” My brow furrows—I have no idea what to do with this information.

“I found two women—they’re both a little older than you. More established in their careers.” She lifts a brow. “And both of them have families, so they aren’t willing to speak on the record, but they have stories extremely similar to yours.”

I can only nod.

“I also spoke to a lawyer friend of mine. She said that the statute of limitations is probably up on any damage they might have done as a school. But…” She smiles. “She thinks you should file a suit, anyway. On the day this article comes out.”

I gulp. “For what purpose? I don’t want any money from them. I don’t want the school to suffer—”

“Elle, they know about his actions. That professor. They’ve been covering it up for years. If they catch wind that you’re going to go public, they’ll do whatever it takes to stop the story from running. They’ll try to pay you off.”

I nod again. “I don’t need the money.” And I don’t—not now. Thanks to Leo, I don’t even have to fear what will happen if I lose my medical license and can’t work again. It doesn’t matter anymore.

“They’ll still do what they can to try to stop you, so we need to move fast. You just have to be prepared that there will be consequences. The licensing board will probably open an inquiry. My lawyer friend thinks that they’ll probably find in your favor—especially since you repeated the class with a different professor and ended up passing legitimately. You did pass legitimately, right?”

My head bobs. It seems to be about the only thing I can do right now. I hadn’t realized how fucking hard this was going to be. How difficult it was going to be to talk about this stuff. It’s been buried inside of me for so long—and it wasn’t something I ever wanted to be dredged up.

“Elle, I really need to thank you. This is exactly the kind of story I’ve needed to try to break out of the world of celebrity bullshit.” She frowns. “I don’t want you to think I don’t care about your story—I do. What happened to you was wrong, and I want to try to help you as much as I can. But it’s going to be painful. You’re going to lose a lot.”

“I know.”

She nods. “Do you know what you want to gain by going public?”

“Yes.” I let out a short breath. “I want to be able to let it go. And I want for this to not happen to any other young women.”

She smiles. “That’s perfect, Elle.” She splays her hands on the table. “The other thing we need to talk about is the Prince Leopold situation.”

“We don’t have to—”

She interrupts. “We do, though. It’s the main reason people will be interested. Otherwise, you’re just another wronged woman. If you’re a wronged woman and also the ex-lover of Prince Leopold…”

Ex-lover. My breaths hitch in my chest and tears sting at my eyes again.

What the fuck is wrong with me? I guess I’m taking this a lot harder than I thought—I mean, I know my heart is broken. There’s no question about that. I feel like someone has ripped it out of my chest and stomped on it before shoving it back in there. But I’ve had my heart broken before. Hell, I’ve had my whole life stomped on before, and I didn’t react like this.

“I don’t want to talk about it. Not yet.” I take a shaky drink of my water. “Maybe afterward.”

“It’s part of your story, Elle. It needs to be told—”

“I said I’m not ready.” There’s something strange in my voice when I interrupt—something I don’t recognize. I try to gulp it down, whatever it is. “I’m sorry. It’s still really raw and I’m not ready to talk about it. Maybe in a few days.” Or never. And that still might be too soon.

She frowns. “Okay. But Elle, I’m just going to lay it out there for you. It doesn’t get easier. It might hurt a little less if you wait, but telling your story isn’t going to be any easier the longer you wait.”

“Well, maybe I need for it to hurt a little less, then.”

She watches me for a moment—probably trying to read my expression. But then she nods. “Okay. We’ll take it at your pace. But we really need to get in front of this. The Montovia state dinner is coming up and all eyes will be on that palace. If we get your story out before that, it will get you even more attention. It will—”

“It will get you more attention is what you’re saying.” My jaw tightens. “I’m not doing this for your career. I appreciate that it’s something you want for yourself—I know all about wanting more. But I’m not going to do a celebrity tell-all—”

“That’s for your book. The publisher I’ve worked with in the past is ready to deal. And I have an agent ready to sign you—”

“I don’t…I don’t want that. I never…” Tears well in my eyes again—I can’t do that to them. To the Royal Family. Not now. Not with what I know Leo is going through. Not with how kind they were to me—well, most of them.

She reaches out and pats my hand. “It’s something to think about. But striking while the iron is hot… Well, there’s a reason for that expression. If you wait to tell the rest of your story later, the world will have moved on. If you can get it all out there now, if we can time it all to happen around that state dinner… You’ll have it all, Elle. You’ll have the world at your feet.”

“I don’t want the world at my feet, Victoria. I just don’t want to have any more dirt for anyone to dig up on me. I want to be able to live my life without this shame hanging around my neck.” I shake my head. “I could have lived my whole life without ever having told this secret. If I hadn’t met Leo—”

“And that’s what the world wants to know, Elle, as hard as that is to hear. They’ll be interested in the medical school stuff, but only because of your relationship with a prince. They want to know about the fairy tale—they want to be secretly happy that it failed. Telling the whole story is a way to get everything you can out of what you’ve got. You got the raw end of this deal in every way, didn’t you? You had your shameful past brought out for everyone to see and your prince left you for another woman. Isn’t there some small part of you that wants to come out on top?”

And when she puts it that way, there’s no way I can’t agree. I know exactly what I have to do.

I have to tell her everything.