Chapter 5 - HER TRUE NAME
The silence was absolute.
Daniel stared at Nora.
Nora stared at Adrian.
For one final second, she wished they were alone.
Then Prince Adrian lifted his head.
“My Queen.”
A senator’s wife gasped.
Someone dropped a program.
Madison Sterling’s face emptied of color.
Evelyn gripped the back of a chair.
Daniel whispered one word.
“Queen?”
Nora slowly turned toward him.
“My name is not Nora Ellis.”
Daniel looked as though he had been struck.
“My full name is Helena Adelaide Elise von Arden.”
The ambassador from Varenne stepped forward and bowed.
“Her Majesty Helena the Fourth, by constitutional succession Queen of Varenne, Duchess of Arden, and Sovereign Protector of the Crown.”
Cameras began appearing in guests’ hands.
Royal security immediately moved.
“No photographs.”
The command was quiet.
It was obeyed.
Daniel looked from Helena to the guards.
“You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
“Everything you told me—”
“Not everything.”
“Were you ever in foster care?”
Helena’s expression softened.
“No.”
Daniel took a step backward.
Evelyn recovered first.
“This is outrageous.”
Adrian stood.
His eyes moved to Evelyn.
Everyone near him felt the temperature change.
“You must be Mrs. Hawthorne.”
Evelyn lifted her chin.
“This ceremony was arranged under fraudulent circumstances.”
Adrian smiled without warmth.
“My sister used another name.”
“She deceived my son.”
“My sister spent eleven months living without royal title, state protection, household staff, or access to the sovereign accounts.”
The crowd listened in stunned silence.
Adrian continued.
“She did so because our father believed that anyone wishing to marry into our family should know Helena as a woman before knowing her as a crown.”
Helena looked at Daniel.
“My father died believing power makes honest love difficult.”
Daniel’s anger weakened for only a second.
“You could have trusted me.”
“I wanted to.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No.”
Helena swallowed.
“It isn’t.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“So this entire family was being examined?”
Helena looked at her.
“No.”
“Don’t lie again.”
“I was examining Daniel.”
“And us?”
“You volunteered.”
A few guests lowered their eyes to hide smiles.
Evelyn heard them.
Her humiliation deepened.
Adrian glanced toward the damaged seam of Helena’s wedding gown.
“What happened to the dress?”
Helena did not answer.
Sophie did.
“My mother cut it.”
Daniel turned sharply.
Evelyn’s face went rigid.
Sophie stepped into the aisle.
“She also hid Nora’s luggage.”
“Helena,” Adrian corrected gently.
Sophie nodded.
“She moved Helena into the servants’ wing.”
Murmurs spread through the room.
“She threw the champagne glass last night too.”
Adrian looked at Evelyn.
The prince’s voice remained perfectly controlled.
“You threw a glass at the Queen of Varenne?”
Evelyn laughed nervously.
“It was an accident.”
“No,” Helena said.
Everyone turned toward her.
“It was not.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
The truth was becoming unbearable from every direction.
His mother had humiliated the woman he loved.
The woman he loved had hidden an entire kingdom from him.
Helena reached toward him.
Daniel stepped away.
That movement hurt her more than Evelyn’s cruelty ever had.
“I need time.”
Helena lowered her hand.
“I understand.”
Daniel looked around at the guards, diplomats, guests, and cameras.
Then he walked out of his own wedding.
Evelyn smiled.
Not because she had won.
Because she believed Helena had finally lost.
But Adrian leaned close to his sister.
“There is something you need to know.”
Helena looked at him.
“What?”
“Hawthorne Capital has been under investigation in Varenne for six months.”
Helena’s face changed.
“For what?”
May you like
Adrian looked toward Evelyn.
“Someone in this family has been bribing members of our Defense Ministry.”
