Page 111 of The Billionaire's Royal Challenge

A mix of emotions roiled through Nate from elation that Chloe was out of their lives to heartache for his brother. He knew all too well the sting from that woman. “Wow, I…don’t know what to say.”

Victoria squeezed his arm. “I imagine you’re happy about it.”

“I’m happy not to see Chloe at breakfast every morning but…” He shook his head. “Stephen never should have married her.”

“We agree on that. At least it’s behind him. Your dad’s already on the phone with the lawyers. Stephen stupidly didn’t have a prenup, but given the short duration of the marriage and her cheating, they’re confident he can come out of this unscathed.”

“That’s good. I’d hate to see GenoTech suffer because of her. She’s taken enough from this family.”

“We may need Ellie to give a statement about her cheating. Why don’t you–“

“Don’t say go talk to her. Go get Dad and Maddie. I want out of this place.”

“All right,” Victoria said with her hands raised. “I’ll go get them.”

Nate paced the floor outside his former room as his mother left him behind to gather the rest of the family. His mother’s question about his rush to get out of the palace rattled through his mind.

He needed to be away from here. He needed to put distance between him and any chance of seeing Elena. He didn’t think his heart could take it.

He curled and uncurled his fingers into fists as he waited. A variety of emotions coursed through him with every beat of his heart. He chewed the inside of his cheek as he stared down the hall, suddenly considering going to speak to her.

Before he could, the rest of his family appeared.

“We’re ready,” Victoria said.

“Good, let’s go,” he answered, taking it as a sign that he wasn’t supposed to see her.

“Are you sure you don’t want to–“

“Yep,” he answered, taking his mother’s suitcase from her and rolling it alongside his.

They snaked through the halls and arrived at the front door. He’d already called for the car to take them to the airport hours ago. He helped load the luggage along with the driver before he ducked into the back, sliding into the seat next to Maddie.

She refused to look at him, the frown on her face telling him exactly what she thought.

The driver’s door slammed closed, and the car began to slide away from the palace’s entrance. His heart turned over as they rolled down the driveway, leaving the Eldorian palace and its royal family behind.

Within fifteen minutes, they were at the airport. His stomach flip-flopped as he stepped out of the car. Maybe he’d feel better once he was on the plane. Right now, he felt awful.

They should be airborne within thirty minutes. He tried to focus on that. He forced his mind to go over the things he needed to do when he arrived home. He had a number of proposals to review. He needed to check the progress on the anti-aging project.

He reached into his pocket and dug out his phone as they entered the airport. He’d get a jump start on returning emails as soon as they were on the plane.

“Sorry,” his father said with a shake of his head, blocking him from striding out the door to the waiting plane. “Problem with the plane. We can’t board.”

“What?” Nate asked. “What problem?”

“Something mechanical. I don’t know. Some warning is going off. We are not allowed to get on until they find the problem and fix it.”

“No!” Nate said, his voice raising. “They can fix it whilewe’re on there.”

“They can’t. Regulations and all that. Sorry.”

“But–“

“Nate, there’s nothing we can do. Just…grab a seat.”

Nate stared longingly at the plane. If he could just get on it, he knew these doubts that were eating away at him would dissipate. “Well, how long is this going to take?”

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