Stand By Me Darling
Chapter 270: Remission

Chapter 270: Remission

Talia was preparing to leave in the Royal helicopter as she had planned. After dropping Celine in her home, she had planned to leave for the Oakland Isles after switching the helicopters to a much inconspicuous one.

She was talking to the siblings who were very entertaining and she was really amused by the innocence of those two. Such innocent people for her are hard to come by. And she was pretty satisfied that her visit today was not in vain as she had gotten want she wanted.

Walter was standing by her side and Celine was chatting with him. They’ve been talking for a long time starting in the tasting room and now continued to the lobby, and they still weren’t bored.

At that time, her phone rang and Talia immediately excused herself and went to a silent corner of a small garden outside. Mr. Ed followed her and kept a distance as he realised that the one who called her was Arthur Sinclair. He could see the smile in her face and knew it - This particular smile is only for Arthur Sinclair.

"Fred?" Talia was surprised by his sudden call, but then she feared that there might be some trouble for him to call now and so her tone was a little confused. "Is something wrong?"

"Am I disturbing you?"

The voice from the other end did not have the usual gentleness in it but it was so dry and somehow made her feel alerted.

"No, Fred. I’m about to leave Luxxenshire after my visit here. My work here has just started and I think I might need to visit here often," Talia casually expressed her thoughts.

"Yes, The positive PR you get... They really want you to marry one of theirs don’t they? Those Royals... "

Talia could hear a scoff and she didn’t know what Arthur meant and was confused. She had particularly asked her people not to publicise her visit today. She didn’t want this visit to be about her, but about bringing light to the corruption of the Duke of Luxxenshire and his golden child.

" What positive PR? And it’s not their decision who I marry though," Talia spoke her mind. Although she felt odd, she tried to speak softly not wanting to misunderstand what he meant.

"Yes... You do what you want and try not to face the consequences... The coddled Princess... And a very smart one too. What can I say? What you predict happens. It must be so nice to be so lucky, right?"

Talia felt her heart stop for a moment.

Try not to face the consequence? What does he mean? What is he saying? Is he angry at me for some reason?

" Fred? What is wrong? You’re making me scared by talking this way." Talia said and her fingers wrapped around her throat as she felt her throat getting heavy, making her unable to speak. Her eyes started to sting and she knew they will be filled with tears soon.

" I’m making you scared? " he scoffed. " And does that brewery guy make you feel amused? You look very pleased with him, laughing and exchanging looks-"

"Fred!" Talia now got offended by the tone and the words he used. This is not the first time he is accusing her of liking attention from others. He now says that she likes the company of other men than him?

Is he accusing me of cheating?

"Why are you getting angry? Isn’t your people who push puff pieces of you with that guy? Tell them not to worry. They might actually get what they want. And by the way, you were right. The King is sure we won’t be together. It was a waste meeting him. Maybe we should give up. Maybe I did a mistake when I decided to get fake engaged or maybe you were right when you looked for other suitors when we were actually married. Go on... Have a pleasant day with that gentleman, you are so keen on getting to know. "

*Click*

The call ended and Talia stared at her phone screen going dark. She didn’t know what happened and what made Fred go this angry.

I already told him that I’m meeting Walter and that I’m bringing Celine with me beside she likes Walter. What did he mean when he implied that I’m interested in Walter?

PR... He said something about PR push.

Talia swallowed the lump in her throat and took a deep breath to pull back the tears hanging by the corner of her eyes and checked her phone for notifications. That’s when she saw all the articles that had popped up in the past hour.

The article from Rosandale tabloid was not even from a reputable one. They were known to be very Liberal with their ethics.

Why did he believe what the tabloids said?

Doesn’t he know the Royal PR won’t publish in tabloids and they won’t be focusing on her relationship when she has actually did a lot of better things that day?

And who published this article? It definitely is not her people. The purpose of the article was to start rumours of relationship between Walter and her.

If so, was it Walter? Did he not take the rejection and tried to spoil my chances with Fred by publishing this article?

Talia leaned at a wall and Mr. Ed came to her. "Did the firm needed to put an end to the rumors about by sexuality and publish this?" she asked to confirm. If the Royal PR is responsible for this disastrous article, that could be the only rationale.

"No, Your Highness. You’ve asked us not to make today’s events about you. And our people won’t publish any articles before you reach your place. Your visit is supposed to be a casual one," Mr. Ed himself was surprised seeing that article.

The speed at which this article was published and the purposefully misleading picture cropping others out of the frame... This screamed foul play.

Talia who had a very good mood just minutes before, having a very successful day and her excitement for giving a surprise to Fred, were all replaced by sadness and emptiness.

She thought that after ten years, she had a productive day on Cyrus’ birthday without her being cooped up in her room.

Closing her eyes, she took in a deep breath.

"Investigate who is responsible for this article, Sir Robert," she said. For now, her gut feeling said it should be Walter.

Cyrus... They all say I’ve moved on after killing you... You know I have not, don’t you? How long will you haunt me? Why did you leave me alone? Why did you ask me to shoot you when you could have shot me instead? At least I’d be free of all burdens!

And why is Fred hating me too? What did I do?

Talia after a long time, started to feel the darkness once more.

At that time, when she was about to curl up and cry, she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay? What happened?"