She Stole My Fiancé So I Married The Prince Chapter 02
I had worked around horses for years. My reflexes were faster than she expected.
The instant the fabric tore, I grabbed the side of the dress and pulled my coat around me, sparing myself from being exposed in front of the designer and the staff.
Adrian frowned, his disgust plain to see.
“Camille, have you no shame, walking around like that in front of strangers?”
My mother stepped forward to inspect the dress, only then realizing every stitch at the waist had been cut.
Her face went pale.
“Thank God it ripped now. If this had happened during the gala, how could you ever show your face in the capital again?”
For the first time, a hint of blame crept into her voice as she turned to Isabella.
“Why didn’t you check the dress when you picked it out?”
Tears instantly spilled down Isabella’s cheeks.
My father immediately moved to shield her.
“That’s enough. Isabella was just careless.”
“For all we know, Camille tampered with it herself to make you blame Isabella. There hasn’t been a single peaceful day in this house since she came back.”
“Isabella’s health is fragile. Don’t frighten her again.”
I said nothing.
My wolf lay cold and still in the depths of my mind, not even offering a growl of protest.
It knew, just as I did, that no one here would ever believe us.
By the time I came out, changed into my regular clothes, they were already discussing how to demolish my suite.
My father wanted to connect the two adjacent floors to build Isabella a recovery wing with medical monitoring and climate control. In my place, I would be moved to the smallest room in the staff building.
In my previous life, I had believed that giving in was the same as admitting I had no right to be there, so I had refused to move.
Isabella had publicly urged our parents to abandon the renovation, and everyone praised her kindness.
That winter, after an outdoor event, she developed a fever that refused to break for seven days.
My father decided it was because I had selfishly clung to the suite and denied her a proper place to recuperate. He revoked my car privileges and my access pass, then forced me to stand alone in a blizzard beside the Pack monument until I publicly apologized to Isabella.
I knelt in the snow all night, suffering severe frostbite in both knees. Werewolf healing saved my life, but it couldn’t fully repair the joints.
The day Isabella’s fever broke, I was left with a permanent limp.
This time, she spoke first again.
“Dad, it’s fine if Camille doesn’t want to move.”
“This is her home, after all. I’m just the adopted daughter. I don’t mind taking a lesser room.”
She lowered her eyes, her voice already thick with tears.
“I’ll move,” I cut in.
Everyone turned to stare at me.
I said, my voice even, “Queen Evelyn has arranged for me to stay in the staff apartments at the Royal Equestrian Center to help train horses for the northern patrol units. I’m moving out today, so I won’t be taking up a room here anymore.”
Adrian immediately grew suspicious.
“What game are you playing now?”
“Moving out on purpose so everyone will pity you? Or are you waiting for us to beg you to stay?”
I took the royal transfer order from my bag, showed them only the royal seal and my work assignment, then tucked it away again.
“No. I really am going to work for the royal family. This is an official order.”
My father looked at me coldly.
“You spend all day with livestock. You’re filthy, you stink, and you look nothing like an Alpha’s daughter.”
“Why can’t you be more like Isabella and do something befitting your station?”
I smiled faintly.
“If I didn’t know how to train horses, you never would have found me.”
When I was first sent to the North, the brokers dumped me at a failing horse farm. In the dead of winter, the owner refused to give me food. I could only trade my labor—caring for the border patrol’s wounded horses—for a bowl of hot soup.
Without that skill, I would have died long ago. And Queen Evelyn never would have discovered the irregularities in the birth records through the trail left by my work with the royal family’s horses.
Perhaps my father remembered that.
The deep crease between his brows eased slightly, and his voice softened.
“Once you’re staying in the royal district, tell me if you need anything.”
He pulled a black card from his wallet and shoved it into my hand.
“Appearances matter there. Don’t look shabby. And remember to come back for the gala in three days.”
I pretended to accept it, then turned and set the card on the desk.
Two suitcases were all I owned.
As I dragged them out of the Alpha residence, someone called my name.
“Miss Parker, please wait.”
I turned and saw Adrian and his assistant standing at the bottom of the steps.
Adrian’s face was cold, as if meeting me in person were an insult.
His assistant handed me a thick paper file.
“This is the final confirmation for the marriage alliance between Eastmere and Westvale.”
“Both Alphas and Luna Marianne have already given their electronic authorization. All that’s left is for Westvale to fill in the name, date of birth, and blood registry number of the chosen daughter.”
Adrian despised me so much he wouldn’t even write my name himself.
I took the file back to my mother’s study.
No one was inside.
I found Westvale’s public blood registry and, in the candidate field, wrote Isabella Parker’s name, her date of birth, and her adoption registration number.
If Adrian wanted to marry her, I would make it happen.
I slipped the confirmation back into the envelope and handed it to the assistant waiting outside.
Adrian didn’t even glance at it. He simply took the file and got into his car.
It was as if he feared that if he lingered one more minute, some unwanted connection might form between us.
And so, he never noticed that the name on the marriage contract was never mine.