Page 69 of Modern Romance Collection December 2024 Books 5-8

Jolie had been almost done with finishing school before she understood what was happening. She had never cared much about her grandfather’s will, or the fortune she had hardly been able to comprehend was to be hers. Because she hadn’t had to worry about it, she understood now. And by the time she realized that she was no longer protected, it was too late.

The pain of that never quite left her.

She sank down in one of the comfortable seats in the Hotel Andromeda library and blew out a breath, remembering that terrible day when she’d finally fully understood the truth of things. She’d been nineteen and she’d thought that she was misunderstanding something, that was all. She had tried to use one of the cards her grandfather had always designated for her use, only to have it declined. That had sent her on what should not have been an arduous journey to locate her aunt and uncle, who were not living where they’d told her they were.

Jolie had tracked them down at the chateau. The chateau that did not resemble the home she had left that fall because they’d stripped it clean. And were in the process of selling it off, piece by piece.

I... I don’t understand,Jolie had managed to say, close to tears as she stood in the entry hall, looking around at bare walls and empty rooms beyond in shock.

I deserve it, after the way they treated me,her aunt had said, an ugly triumph making her face twist.And I’ve taken it.

And you’re welcome to do something about it, if you like,her uncle had chimed in with an unpleasant laugh.But by the time you do, it will all be gone.

Their daughter Mathilde had been sitting on the steps behind them, her eyes wide. And Jolie had seen that same frightened awareness in her cousin that she knew must be written all over her. It had made her heart lurch inside her chest.

But... But that’s not right,Jolie had sputtered.

Because back then, she’d still imagined that something like honor, or truth, orwhat was rightmattered to anyone.

The truth was, her aunt and uncle had taught her a series of very valuable lessons.

At first, Jolie had felt helpless. They had sacked her home, pillaged her future, and taken everything that had meant anything to her. Oh, she knew that they thought she was upset about the money. But she’d never had any comprehension of that. Of what it meant.

What they had thrown away were her memories.

All those pictures. All those objects, softened by all the fingers she’d loved that had touched them. Paintings that were not just art to her, but windows into the marvelous stories of their travels.

All of it, gone.

But what is to become of me?she had asked them.

Her aunt had laughed and laughed.

Her uncle had snarled.That school of yours should set you up just fine to marry one of the rich men always hovering about. That’s what Mathilde will do when it’s her time, and she won’t be breathing in your rarefied air, will she?

Again, the cousins had gazed at each other, each entirely too clear about what he must mean. Though, looking back, Jolie knew that she—at the least—had truly had no idea.

Some of us have to make do,her aunt had said with another unpleasant laugh.You will find out, littlemademoiselle.Soon enough, I should think.

Sitting in an armchair in the library of the very rich man she’d gone ahead and married, Jolie found herself feeling something like rueful.

Because, of course, she had not wanted to marry anyone. She had vowed that she would do no such thing.

But over the course of her last year at school, her stark financial situation had been made clear to her. Her grandfather had paid her tuition in advance, but she was otherwise penniless. She had confessed everything to the headmistress one cold winter’s day, and the older woman had listened with sympathy.

And then had fixed Jolie with a gimlet eye.I am not saying that your horrid relatives are right, in any regard,she had said.But the fact remains that while this institution has been happily responsible for the education of many strong and powerful women in their own right, from politicians to activists to philanthropists of all kinds, its original purpose was to do all of those things but in the form—

Of a wife,Jolie had said hollowly.

Not just any wife,the headmistress had replied, a stern sort of glint in her gaze.This institution does not create trophies. It assures triumphs.

What she did not ask, but what had hung there between them anyway, was,Do you have any better ideas?

And so, when her classmate’s very old father had paid her close attention that spring, she’d accepted it. She had returned it, cautiously. And had gotten far more than financial security out of the bargain.

She had become instantly famous, everywhere, the moment her name was linked totheSpyros Adrianakis. Having not heard from her aunt and uncle in a couple of years by then, they had found a way to get in touch with her again once they heard the news. Perhaps unsurprisingly—though it made Jolie sad and bitter in turn—they had already run through the fortune they’d stolen.

Yet by that time, married to Spyros and living at the hotel in the company of so many different kinds of powerful people, Jolie was a far cry from the naïve girl they had taken advantage of years before.

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