The King pulled a document from the dossier. “According to the official family history Rachel submitted to the state, she claimed she was an only child raised by a prominent family in New England, and that her parents had passed away years ago. She created an entire fabric of lies to distance herself from her true origins.”
I felt a cold chill run down my spine. I knew Rachel wanted to distance herself from our humble beginnings, but I never imagined she would completely erase our living parents.
“Mom and Dad are alive,” I said, my voice shaking slightly with rising anger. “Dad just retired from the school district last year. Mom still volunteers at the clinic. How could you say they were dead, Rachel?”
Rachel burst into tears, covering her face with her hands. “You don’t understand! The media would have torn us apart! They wanted a perfect, elegant story. If they knew our dad was a janitor and we lived in a tiny house in Ohio, the tabloids would have made a mockery of the entire royal family! I did it to protect Alexander’s reputation!”
“You did it to protect your own vanity,” Alexander said, speaking up for the first time, his voice filled with bitter betrayal. “I loved you for who I thought you were, Rachel. I didn’t care about your background. But you lied to me, you lied to my father, and you discarded your own family as if they were trash.”
King Christian stepped between them, his presence commanding total authority. “The marriage has been legally solemnized, and for the sake of the crown’s stability, we will not announce a separation tonight. But the truth will not be buried. Commander Carter, your sister thought your uniform, your background, and your family’s honest hard work would ruin her royal wedding. She believed an American naval officer was a stain on her fabricated image.”
The King walked over to a grand mahogany desk and picked up a formal document, signing it with a fountain pen before turning back to me.
“Tomorrow morning, a state reception will be held to introduce the new royal family members to the diplomatic corps. You will be attending as our guest of honor. You will sit at my right hand, wearing that very uniform. The world will see exactly who Alexander married into—a family of honor, duty, and sacrifice. And your sister will sit at the far end of the table, reminding her every day of the truth she tried to erase.”
Rachel looked up, her face pale with horror as she realized that her elaborate house of cards had completely collapsed, and the sister she tried to hide was now the one the palace chose to honor.
