Annalise Stark, orphaned after losing her parents in the military, is desperate to find a way to pay off her sister's medical debts. She finds work at the palace, home to the infamous Prince William. Despite her efforts to ignore him, Annalise soon...
"It is not the pain, it's who it came from." ~Drishti Bablani
Will
I woke up the next morning from a sleepless night, plagued by nightmares of how I'd treated Annie.
Deep down, I knew she couldn't have done this, but I came to my senses too late and let Annalise walk out of my door and out of my life. Now, Annalise wouldn't answer any of my phone calls or respond to any of my texts, no matter how much I tried...
All I wanted to do was go see her, get down on my knees and beg for forgiveness, but duty called. I had a press conference to address the rumors about my dad to the public.
I dreaded facing him more than the press conference. He wanted Annalise's head for the situation. Mom managed to calm him down enough before he did something rash, but only barely. I'd tried helping her, but I couldn't get my argument with Annalise out of my head. Even twenty-four hours later, it still repeated itself obnoxiously loud in my head. Specifically, her response to Lorraine about me being the future King.
God help us when that happens.
God help us when that happens.
God help us when that happens.
Maybe Annie said it knowing it'd hurt me, or perhaps she said it because it was true. Regardless, she voiced my worst fears, and every bit of confidence I'd scraped up in regards to my future as King shattered in an instant.
I deserved it.
My alarm blared again and telling myself I couldn't get out of this, I rolled out of bed. I donned a grey suit and prepared to leave for the office when someone knocked on my door. I said they could come in, and Lorraine slid quietly into the room, giving me a soft smile.
"Hey, how are you doing this morning?" she asked.
"I feel like I got run over by a train. Repeatedly," I confessed, slumping down onto the chair in front of my mirror. Lorraine took it upon herself to start styling my hair for the conference. I let her, knowing full well I would do a shit job in my current state.
Appearances weren't all that important to me at the moment.
"Have you spoken to Annalise?" Lorraine asked, running her fingers through my hair.
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"No, and considering she won't answer any of my attempts to get in touch with her, I'm pretty positive she wants nothing to do with me."
"She'll come around. She can't ignore at you forever."
"You don't give Annie enough credit. She's one of the most stubborn people you'll ever meet. If she wants nothing to do with me, then she'll have nothing to do with me."
"But you were her best friend! How could she do that to you?"
"I did turn my back on her and accuse her of leaking my father's condition to the public."
