"He has done what?!" Amelia yelled, standing up from her chair. "Tell me that he is speaking lies, mother. How could the prince be married to Penelope of all ladies? Has he not heard what is said?"
Amelia waited for her mother or father to say it was only an awful joke. The man she was preparing to marry could not be with the woman she hated most.
"Tell me that it is a lie!" Amelia yelled.
Ronan slapped Amelia's face to silence her. "Don't raise your voice to me. I am just as upset about this news as you are. I placed so much money on you to be with the crown prince, only to gain nothing."
Ronan didn't need all the noise in his ear, especially from his failure of a daughter. He had instructed Amelia well on what needed to be done to get the prince's attention, but she allowed Penelope to get ahead of her.
Amelia touched her aching cheek where her father had slapped her. Wasn't she suffering enough?
