Page 25 of Coronation (Royally Forbidden #1)
It is her, though. The starlet and the girl in the country pub are the same, and I find myself wholly captivated by both. She is so beautiful.
A sour taste fills my mouth when I scroll down the page a little further, only to find myself staring at the image of her on the red carpet, under the arm of a grinning blond man. It’s fairly alarming how quickly I decide I hate him.
Unwilling to take the chance of seeing more of them together, I turn my attention to her bio at the top of the search engine.
Zelda Moon Flowers (25 )
Born: June 11 (Los Angeles, CA)
Spouse: N/A
Children: N/A
Parents:
·Birdie Blackwood (47) - Founder of ‘Blackwood Couture’
·Owen Flowers (60) - President of Tectonic Productions
Siblings:
·Sterling Harris Flowers (38) - Co-founder and CEO of YUM dating app
·Calvin Elliott Flowers (36) - Lead Guitar and Vocalist of Case and Aim
·Sybil February Flowers (23) - Chess Grandmaster and World Champion (youngest woman to hold the title).
I read through this twice before I’m able to identify the source of the slow, sinking sensation that has opened up in the pit of my stomach.
Twenty-five. Fuck. That’s far too goddamn young for me. The man I saw her with in that red carpet picture had to be about her age—more appropriate, as far as many would be concerned.
Rubbing my beard, I lean back in my study chair.
My eyes close, as, just for a moment, I allow myself the indulgence of sinking into the memories of my time with Zelda.
I’d known she was younger, known she was an actress, and while it occurred to me I should be wary, I never truly allowed myself to question her motives or whether her interest in me was genuine.
Was that foolish? Have I been terribly naive, working all this up in my mind, when in reality I’ve narrowly escaped an opportunistic gold digger?
Internally, I recoil at the suggestion. No.
That isn’t… That isn’t her. I’ve always trusted my gut.
At times, it was the only compass I had when the world around me was so horribly as kew, and to this day, I still find myself deferring to it whenever someone new comes into my life.
That night, my typical suspicions were nowhere to be found, and weeks later, my gut is still telling me that my impression of Zelda Flowers was not wrong. She’s… soft . Unusually so.
And now—if I don’t bow out of the tour, anyway—I’ll see her again.
Restless and unsettled, I open my eyes, leaning forward to examine the gallery of images again.
My gaze catches on the red carpet photograph of her and the blond man, and, because I’m clearly not miserable enough, I click it.
The photograph is attached to an article, dated from just under two years ago, but the headline makes me still, reading it over three full times: The Devil Is in the DMs: Xaden Bishop in Hot Water for Comments About Girlfriend Zelda Flowers.
My stomach is heavy with dread as I click the link below and begin to read.
According to statements put out by their respective teams, former child star Xaden Bishop (25), has officially called it quits with girlfriend of one year, Zelda Flowers (23).
For those of you who missed the viral video, Bishop was outed last week by lifestyle influencer Kayla Lucy (27), after sliding into her DM’s with only one thing on his mind.
The video, entitled “Sorry Z, your man is a dog,” has gotten over fifteen million views.
In it, Lucy shows multiple screenshots of her conversation with Bishop, which continued over several weeks.
These messages contained everything from details of a legal dispute with his agent, to sexually explicit selfies, to complaints about then-girlfriend, Flowers.
Perhaps the most damning message of all came when Lucy questioned Bishop on why he felt the need to talk to her if he was in a relationship.
To this, Bishop replied: “It’s a for now thing.
You know who her dad is, right? Lol, don’t judge.
Man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do, and it’s all about who you know.
Once I have a few more projects lined up, I’ll ditch the cold fish. ”
There’s more, paragraphs and paragraphs more, a link to the influencer’s video, then images of the screenshots themselves. I can’t read any more. Even one more word would make me lose my lunch.
That first night together at the party, Zelda had said she was still recovering from a breakup.
Surely this has to be what she meant, and— fuck —I want to hurt Xaden Bishop.
It’s a first for me, generally being more content wounding with my words, but that is so obviously insufficient here.
I want to actually, physically, put my fist into his face with as much power as I can muster. I want to make him bleed.
How Zelda must have felt… I know how she must have felt, and how she must feel now.
Surely she questions the motives of every person to come into her life, wondering what they want to gain from her.
Did my position make me, in some way, safe to her because I had nothing material to gain from our relationship?
If that’s the case, I proved her wrong, didn’t I?
It’s been a very long time since I cared about hurting someone’s feelings.
That is, if I ever did at all. Certainly, it wasn’t something I was taught.
Being an Ashwell meant that the appearance of being relatable and compassionate was emphasized a hell of a lot more than the actual qualities were.
Now, though… Jesus . I was such a bastard to Zelda Flowers.
However brief our relationship was, there was an intimacy and connection there which outpaced any other I’ve had in my life.
I must have laughed and smiled more in the space of that single weekend than in the past two years combined.
Even if our relationship could never become more, she deserved so much better than I gave her .
I should apologize.
The idea alone makes me pause, my pulse racing. It’s the least I can do, isn’t it? After what that little fuck, Xaden Bishop—which is a stupid fucking name—did to her, I can’t just let this go, leaving Zelda to bear the burden of my actions.
Besides, if the tour of The Dark House set has already been added to my agenda, that means the press office has made all the necessary preparations with the production company. There is a very good chance that Zelda knows I’m coming, and if I back out now, wouldn’t that be adding insult to injury?
The suspicion that I am doing mental backflips to make the current situation fit my desired outcome briefly occurs to me but is dismissed as quickly as it arrives.
I’ll go. Arrangements have been made, and Zelda deserves an apology.
If I’m able to steal a few moments alone with her or even speak to her when we won’t be overheard, I’ll tell her.
It won’t fix what happened, but at the very least, I can sleep peacefully knowing I told her our situation is not the same as hers and Xaden’s.
This is the right thing to do.
It has nothing to do with my wanting to see her again.