Page 78 of Royal Trouble
“What makes you think anything’s going on?” she asked, stalling as she scrambled for something—anything—that would satisfy her mother.
“Sweetie, the rest of the world may not know your beautiful face when they see it in those grainy tabloid photos, but I’m your mother, and a mother always knows her baby.”
So much for flying below the radar.
Everly sighed. “Why were you reading the tabloids? You hate that garbage.”
“What? They’reright therewhen I’m checking out at the grocery store.” She could easily picture her mom shrugging as if to sayI’m only human. “How can I not look when my daughter is on the cover?”
Okay, the woman had a point there.
“Anyway,” she continued, forging ahead without waiting for a reply, “when I saw the stories about you and Prince Alexander, I promised myself I’d stay out of it and let you live your own life. I figured you’d tell me when you were ready.”
And she would have, when the time was right. They’d always been close, and she could count on one hand the number of things she’d kept from her mother, but she hadn’t been ready to talk about Xander yet. It was all too new, too far outside her comfort zone.
“But then I saw the latest headlines, and I knew I couldn’t stay quiet any longer.” Her mom paused, and Everly wasn’t sure if she was giving her a chance to spill her guts or collecting her thoughts. When she spoke again, her voice was softer and laced with sympathy. “What’s going on, Everly? Did you write that story about Prince Alexander?”
Great. Now her own mother thought she’d sold out the prince? Just fucking great.
“I didn’t write the story, Mom.” She slouched down into her blanket fort. This was going to be a long call, might as well get comfortable. “But I’ve written other, equally damaging stories.” She closed her eyes. She’d wanted to talk to her mom about this in person, but she couldn’t explain Xander or her trip to Valeria without starting at the beginning. The real beginning. “While I was at Westbury, I ran a website called Royals Gone Wild. I published horrible stories about my classmates, Xander included.” She swallowed the lump in her throat at the mention of his name. “Xander especially. It was truly awful.”
Tears slid down her cheeks, and she swiped them away angrily. She’d brought this on herself. If she’d never made that fucking website…
Why couldn’t she have just had a normal teenage hobby like taking selfies?
“I know about the website, Everly.”
Her eyes snapped open. “You knew?”
“What I never understood was why you would do that.” Her mother’s voice was gentle. There was only a hint of judgment, but hell, it was only a fraction of what she deserved. RGW was at the root of every lie she’d ever told, a poison tainting every aspect of her life.
Shame washed over her anew. She’d known this wouldn’t be an easy conversation, but she hadn’t anticipated how utterly shitty it would feel to tell her mom just how low she’d sunk.
“How did you know? I never told a soul.”
“You left the dashboard or whatever you call it up on your computer during one of my visits.” Her mother sighed, as if she’d been waiting ten years to have this conversation.
“Mom…if you knew all this time, why didn’t you say anything?”
“I was still trying to figure out the best way to approach you about it when the site went dark. I figured you’d worked it out on your own, and I knew that if you ever wanted to talk about it, you’d come to me. But what does this have to do with Prince Alexander?”
“I’m getting there,” she said, still trying to process the fact that her mother had known all these years. She couldn’t decide if her silence made her the world’s coolest mom or…something else.
Everly shook off the thought and explained everything. This time, she left nothing out. She came clean about her nonexistent scholarship to Columbia, the anonymous angel donor who’d been paying her medical bills, and everything that had happened since she’d arrived in Valeria. Her mom listened quietly, allowing her to spill her guts without interruption. It was surprisingly cathartic, and when she reached the end, she braced herself for the worst.
But it never came.
In fact, her mother’s response was surprisingly enlightened. “We all learn from our mistakes. I’m just sorry this had to be such a painful lesson for you.”
That made two of them.
“I’m so sorry you felt like you couldn’t tell me the truth, but I want you to listen to me and listen good, Everly Jane Wilson. I am your mother. I will always love you, and I’m so, so proud of you.”
“No matter what?” she asked, embarrassed at how small her voice sounded.
“No matter what.”
Relief flooded her chest, and when she inhaled, it felt like the first full breath she’d taken in ten years.