Chapter 54

I was dreading the morning because I knew that my life had already taken a turn and it is almost impossible for things to go back to the way they were. I should have listened to Christine when she advised me but I was so concerned with trying to keep my life the way it was that I unknowingly set the chain of events for the exact things that I did not want to happen.

Before I was able to put Audrey to bed at night, it took almost twice the usual time it would. She was so excited about her father and kept asking whether or not her father could put her to bed. I had to reluctantly let her know that he wasn’t allowed on the palace grounds after dark as he wasn’t a member of our family and she was so saddened by the words. It hurt me to see her like that and honestly, I didn’t know what to do.

This morning she did the same thing. She asked if her dad could get her dressed for the day and I hated being the one to tell her no, I hated being the one who had to deflate her hope and make her sad. I hated it and I didn’t know what else to do or say about the entire situation without looking like the bad guy.

I managed to calm her down with the prospect of seeing Ryker again after breakfast and that was the only thing that spurred her to actually get out of bed and get dressed. She put on one of her nicest dresses and demanded that I put a little bow in her hair. As we walked through the castle walls, she had a permanent sk ip in her step. She looked more excited than I had seen her in the past few days and I didn’t even think that was possible.

My mother arrived in the dining room shortly after we did and from the look she leveled towards me, I knew she wanted to speak to me. At first, I tried to focus on my food and ignore her but I slowly lost my appetite and I ended up standing slowly to my feet. I saw all eyes fall on me but I ignored them and walked right out of the dining room.

I waited by the door because I knew she would be out soon as well and my thoughts were correct because within five minutes, the door to the dining room opened and mother walked right out. She sighted me leaning against the wall and she walked right over to me and leaned against the wall in silence.

“Before you start berating me, I know I messed up,” I began, “I didn’t expect Audrey to walk in like that and I should have told Ryker about her before.”

“You should-have,” she agreed, “But now Tyson is telling everyone that Audrey is his. There’s no point sitting on the things you could have done better. Our main focus should be the things you have to do now, so what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted even though I hated how foolish it made me sound. “There is no way for me to prove that Audrey belongs to Ryker except timing. But the problem is that I wasn’t with Ryker for more than three months. I don’t even know when I got pregnant, I just know I had Audrey in March and I left him in August.”

“I have an idea but you might not like it,”

“At this point any idea is a good idea.”,

“Announce Audrey as yours and Ryker’s daughter.” I turned to her sharply, “I know you want her out of the spotlight and everything but that is the only way you can discredit Tyson. Anything he says will make him look stu pid and desperate. It will be rumors and nothing else.”

“Doing that would mean that Ryker has claim to her.”

“You’re stuck between two evils Camilla. You can either give Ryker claim to his child or you have to deal with both men around your daughter with equal claim. I don’t know about you but it seems like a very easy choice for me. Besides, Audrey loves him already from what I’ve heard.”

I knew my mother was right, it was an easy choice but it didn’t mean it was one I wanted to make.copy right hot novel pub