Chapter 4 No.4

The headline the next morning was brutal.

DUKE TAKES A DIP: A WET AND WILD NIGHT AT SEARS MANOR.

The photo was even worse. Blossom looked like a drowned rat, her mouth open in a scream, while Cato looked at Bianca with undeniable tenderness.

Garrick Dawson threw the newspaper onto the mahogany desk. It landed with a slap that made Andria jump.

"Disgraceful," he spat. "Absolutely disgraceful."

Blossom sat on the sofa, her eyes puffy from crying. "It wasn't my fault! Andria pushed me!"

"I was ten feet away getting a towel," Andria said quietly from the corner. "The cameras saw everything, Blossom."

Garrick ignored them. "The Sears family lawyers called. They want to contain this. They're offering a marriage to silence the rumors about Bianca."

Blossom sat up straight. "He wants to marry me?"

"He has to marry one of you," Garrick said, rubbing his temples. "To show that the Dawson family is still in good standing. But he's requested... specifically..."

"Me," Blossom finished, a smug smile breaking through her tears. "He saved me. He held me."

Actually, he saved Bianca, but Andria didn't correct her.

"Yes," Garrick said. "He's agreed to marry you, Blossom. Which leaves us with a problem."

He turned his cold eyes to Andria. "The Royal engagement. We can't cancel it. It would be treason. Fortunately for us, the Palace's protocol for such matters is swift; they have a contingency for everything. They only need a bride, not a specific one."

"So?" Blossom said, waving her hand. "Let Andria do it. She's useless anyway. She can go nurse the dying Prince."

Andria lowered her head, hiding her expression. "But Daddy... Cato was my fiancé."

"Plans change," Garrick said sharply. "You will marry Prince Cameron. It's a higher title, Andria. You should be grateful."

"He's sick," Andria whispered, injecting a tremor into her voice. "Everyone says he won't last the winter."

"Then you'll be a rich widow," Blossom sneered. "Stop being selfish. I'm doing this for the family. I'm sacrificing myself to handle the scandal."

Andria took a deep breath. It was time.

"If I do this," she said, looking up at Garrick. "If I am to marry the Prince... I cannot go to the Palace empty-handed. It would be an insult to the Crown and reflect poorly on us. The Royal Family expects a bride with a dowry befitting her new station. Therefore, I must have control of Mom's dowry. All of it. The trust fund, the properties, the jewelry. It's not a request, Daddy. It's a political necessity."

Garrick narrowed his eyes. "That's a fortune, Andria."

"And the Crown expects nothing less," Andria said, her voice gaining strength. "If I arrive with insufficient assets, they'll think the Dawson family is cheap. They'll think you don't respect them. Is that a risk you're willing to take?"

She saw the hesitation in his face. He cared about money, but he cared about his reputation more.

"Give it to her, Daddy," Blossom urged. "Who cares? Once I'm Duchess Sears, I'll have access to the Sears fortune. That's worth ten times Mom's dowry."

Oh, you poor, stupid girl. The Sears fortune was gone. Cato was drowning in debt.

Garrick sighed. He pulled a file from his drawer. "Fine. Sign the papers. You take the dowry, you take the Prince, and you leave this house."

Andria walked to the desk. She picked up the heavy fountain pen.

She signed her name. Andria Dawson.

With that signature, she stripped her father of his liquid assets and handed her sister a lifetime of misery.

"Done," Andria said.

She walked out of the study. She went upstairs to her room.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket.

She pulled it out. A text from an unknown number.

"Deal accepted. See you at the altar. - C.K."

Andria stared at the screen. Cameron Kaufman.

He had been watching. He knew about the swap. He wanted the swap.

She typed back: "I hope you like black velvet."

She hit send.