Page 6 of Will You (Not) Marry Me

“I tried that, and it didn’t work. I’m better off just lying low for a while. And besides, the public has always loved you more. You can do no wrong, so if you say you don’t want to get married, then I’m sure it will go down fine.”

“Oh, that’s reassuring. Thanks so much. Because the press are so well-known for putting a positive spin on things.”

“Maybe you’ll like the guy? Give him a chance,” offered Magnus weakly.

“Oh, sure,” said Eva. “If it’s such a good idea, then you marry him!”

“I’ll take a crown-prince husband if neither of you want him,” offered Abbie, eating a cookie as she listened intently.

Despite her anger, Eva couldn’t help but smile—just a little.

“Eva,” said Magnus, sounding deadly serious, which sent a chill up her spine and wiped the tentative smile from her face. “Go and have a look at the stuff the press is printing in the Skärov papers. I don’t think you really understand how savage they’re being back here, how much of a bloodbath it is. They’re digging up everything they can and plastering it over every headline. Stories and rumors about Mother and Father and all the cousins going back decades. You’re the only one with a spotless reputation, with no skeletons in your closet. It’s… unfortunate. I know it is. And I’m sorry, I really am. But they’re eating us alive, and I’ve tried thinking of an alternative to get you out of a marriage to the Eschenberg prince… But it’s really the only thing that could salvage our reputation. I’m sorry.”

Eva’s head was starting to hurt, a deep throbbing building up at the base of her neck.

“What did you evendo?” she snarled, completely fed up.

Magnus sighed. “Lots of things. Things I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry, Eva,” he said once again. “Mother didn’t tell you?”

“She said the papers were making a mockery of us, with your picture all over the front page.”

“Yes, that’s certainly true.” He sighed. “And the inside of the papers, and every website and social media outlet.”

He sounded… tired. Tired and serious. Eva had never heard her irresponsible bonehead of a brother sound that way. That’s what drove home how real this was. How dire.

“You’re an idiot,” she said coolly, snatching up the phone and hanging up before Magnus had a chance to say anything else. She went straight into her search engine and looked up Skärov’s national newspaper. She usually avoided it like the plague, but now she needed to know.

There was her brother, photo after photo of him with bloodshot eyes and a drink in his hand. None of the images were flattering, to say the least, and quite a few of them had certain bits and pieces blurred out. Then there was averyexpensive car wrapped around a tree which, according to the article beneath, didn’t belong to him but had been loaned by a friend. After that came stills from CCTV footage at a casino that Magnus now owed a fortune to.

He was right; he was getting ripped to shreds left, right and center. Even the comments were giving him no mercy, and by extension, their parents.

Eva scrolled through story after story—Abbie looking over her shoulder, understanding the pictures, if not the words—then she stopped with a jolt. There was a photo of her. A recent one, too.

Heart in her throat, Eva went into the article. It was a candid photo of her walking across the street in New York, Abbie clearly visible in the background walking after her. Eva’s scarf was flying out behind her, her choppy blond hair about her face, in her usual getup of jeans, boots and leather jacket, her eyes dark with makeup. She read the attached article with bile rising up in her throat.

Littlest Princess Engaged!

Skärov’s national darling, Princess Eva, seen here in her fashionable New York attire, has become engaged to Crown Prince Finn Baumann of Eschenberg. Both royal houses have expressed their joy at the union, stating that it marks progress into the future for the next generation of young royals. There has been no word yet as to when the young princess will be moving to Eschenberg to be with her future husband, with updates to come.

Like what the Littlest Princess is wearing? Click the link below to watch our fashion expert break down this shabby chic look…

Eva closed down her browser and put down the phone, suddenly remembering why she never went near these stupid excuses for “journalism.”

So. They’d already told the press. Or, at the very least, the press had already sniffed it out somehow. For now, she’d give her family the benefit of the doubt that the news had been leaked without their involvement, but it was still a blow.

If she called off the engagement, the papers were going to spin Eva into this mess as well, black mark her as much as they had her brother. She knew how they worked, and she could already see how they’d paint her out to be the villain who broke the heart of this Finn Baumann guy, or whatever his name was.

She sank back down onto the sofa and rubbed her temples, a headache continuing to build deep inside her head.

“So,” said Abbie awkwardly. “This all looks… bad.”

“Very bad,” mumbled Eva, not bothering to look up.

As much as it literally physically pained her to admit it, her mother was right. Right now, Eva was the only one with any leverage to fix this. Did shelovebeing a royal? No. But she did love her family, despite everything, and she loved her country too, no matter how much she loved her independence in New York. She needed to clean this all up, if only because something as dramatic as a royal wedding reallywasthe only option.

So for now she’d go along with it. At least it would give her time to think of a plan. Eva was smart, and she was going to get herself out of this if it was the last thing she did.

CHAPTER3

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