CARLY
“What’s wrong?” With his furrowed brows, Rome asked before he looked over his shoulder.
“Nothing.” I thought I saw Aunt Alessia. “Um. I need to use a restroom.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“To the restroom?” My eyes widened.
“Not inside.”
I stepped back. “I’ll be fine. It’s just the crowd is kind of overwhelming. And I need to freshen up.”
“Alright. Come find me when you’re done. I’ll be with Mykel.”
I gave him a thin smile. “I will. Thanks.”
I rushed out of the crowded ballroom toward the hallway. My stomach was constantly in knots. I knew my father’s illegitimate sister was in New York, but I wasn’t expecting to bump into her tonight.
Aunt Alessia ran a multi-million dollar fashion magazine. Now I realized I was with a billionaire, and chances were feasible.
I entered the bathroom, which was empty, thank God, until someone just grabbed my wrist.
I yelped.
“Princess Carlott?” I froze. My body turned as cold as a corpse. I instantly recognized the voice behind me. “Princess, what are you doing here?” she hushed her question.
Drawing a breath, I turned around with a faint smile. “I’m sorry. You’ve mistaken-”
“Don’t do that.” She held my hands, smiling sadly at me, just like her eyes. “I know you through and through, even if you changed your hair.”
I looked away. “We can’t talk here.”
“I heard about you stepping down your duty.”
“You don’t have to sugarcoat, auntie. Everyone knew that I did not step down. I ran away, and I had no plans to come back home. I will never go back.”
“Don’t ever say never. You can never run away from home and never go back.” She rubbed my arms and squeezed my hands as she tried to meet her gaze.
“Says who never stayed a week at home.”
“I was never a Caprean.”
“Don’t say that.”
“I was born out of wedlock. I would never be one, even if half of my blood is a royal. I will always be an outcast, and the court would never accept me as one of your own. I’m branded as a bastard daughter.”
“You will always be a part of the family.”
“Then be a part of the family, Carlott. Go home. Prove to them that one mistake would not define you as who you are. It was just a page of a book. You can still write a new