From Substitute To Queen novel Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Her tone was conversational. Innocent. But something underneath made my shoulders tense.

Dad set down his tablet. “Victoria, maybe we should let Sable wake up properly before-

‘Oh, it’s fine. Victoria waved dismissively. “I’m just naturally curious about such happy news.”

She passed me a small plate loaded with scones. “I only worry that the transition might be… challenging.”

“What do you mean?’ Dad’s eyebrows pulled together.

Victoria sighed, arranging fruit on her own plate. “Becoming queen

–

that’s an enormous responsibility. The protocols, the expectations…”

Her gaze found mine. “Not everyone can adapt to royal life, you know.”

I cut into my scone with deliberate precision. “The wedding’s next month. As for adapting…” I met her eyes directly. “I suppose time will tell.”

Dad cleared his throat. “Sable’s an adult, Victoria. She can handle whatever comes her way.”

He turned toward me. “These three years away… what did you do?”

His hand moved toward mine, then stopped halfway. He pushed the jam pot closer to my plate instead.

‘I became a doctor,” I said quietly.

*Being a doctor is important work,’ he continued. “Meaningful.”

Heat built in my chest. The careful way he spoke. The obvious effort to find safe ground between us.

“Yes,” I said quietly. “I chose medicine so other families wouldn’t lose what we lost. So children wouldn’t watch their mothers die while their fathers…” I paused. “While their fathers moved on.”

Dad went very still. “Sable.”

“What? It’s true, isn’t it?” I spread jam on my scone. “I wanted to spare other people that kind of betrayal.”

“You need to stop this.” His voice hardened. “Stop picking at old wounds.”

“Old wounds?” I set down my knife. “Is that what you call Mom’s death? An old wound that should heal and be forgotten?”

Victoria immediately pulled Daisy closer. “Sweetheart, why don’t you go find Mary? See if she needs help in the kitchen.”

But Daisy stayed put, brown eyes wide as she watched the tension building between Dad and me.

‘I never forgot your mother,” Dad said through gritted teeth. “But life doesn’t stop because someone dies. I had responsibilities. A pack to lead. A daughter to

raise.”

“A daughter you couldn’t stand to look at because I reminded you of her.”

“That’s not-

“Because looking at me made you feel guilty about whatever you’d already started with Victoria.”

Dad pushed back from the table. “Enough.”

“You want to know what I can’t handle?’ I leaned forward. “I can’t handle that you’re too much of a coward to remember her properly. You’re so scared of your own guilt that you’d rather erase her completely.

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Dead silence fell over the dining room.

Victoria’s face went white. Daisy pressed closer to her, sensing the danger in the air.

Dad’s jaw worked like he was trying to find words that wouldn’t come.

“You’re a coward,” I said quietly. “A coward who betrayed the woman who loved him.”

The slap cracked across my cheek like a gunshot.

My head snapped to the side. Stars exploded behind my eyes. The copper taste of blood filled my mouth where my teeth had cut against my lip.

Victoria gasped. “Rodrigo!”

Daisy screamed. “Daddy, no!”

I touched my burning cheek. My fingers came away wet

–

not with blood, but with tears I hadn’t realized were falling.

The dining room spun slightly. I gripped the edge of the table to steady myself.

Dad stared at his hand like he couldn’t believe what he’d done. “Sable, I-‘

“Don’t.”

I pushed away from the table. My legs felt unsteady, but I managed to stay upright.

Daisy broke free from Victoria’s protective embrace. She rushed toward me, small arms wrapping around my waist.

“Sableate, don’t cry!” Her voice cracked with distress. “Please don’t cry!”

She looked over her shoulder at Dad, brown eyes blazing with fury.

“You’re mean! You hit my sister! You’ll make her go away again!”

Her grip tightened around me. “Sableate is the best sister in the whole world. She brings me presents and reads me stories and-”

“Daisy.” I gently extracted myself from her arms. “It’s okay.”

‘But you’re sad!”

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. When I looked at Dad, something cold had settled in my chest.

‘I’m moving out today.”

The words came out steady. Final.

Dad took a step toward me. “Sable, wait-

‘Don’t.” I backed toward the doorway. “Just… don’t.”

I turned and walked upstairs to my room, closing the door behind me. My hands shook as I turned the lock.

The confrontation replayed in my mind as I moved through the familiar routine of washing my face and brushing my teeth. Dad’s hand striking my cheek. The shocked silence that followed.

There’s no coming back from this.

I pulled my suitcases from the closet and began folding clothes.

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Chapter 53

A gentle knock interrupted my packing.

“Sable? Mary’s voice carried through the door. “Child, may I come in?”

I unlocked the door. Mary entered with a tea tray, her face etched with concern.

“You don’t have to leave. She set the tray on my dresser. “This is your

home.”

“No, it’s not.” I continued folding shirts. “It stopped being home a long time ago.”

Mary sat on the edge of my bed, watching me pack. “Your father… he’s carrying so much guilt. About your mother, about the choices he made.”

“That’s not my burden to carry anymore.”

“But running away won’t heal these wounds-

‘I’m not running away. I faced her directly. “I’m choosing to live somewhere I’m wanted.”

Mary’s eyes filled with tears, but she nodded slowly. “What can I do to help?”

‘Wait until they leave. All of them. Then help me get my things to the car.”

I listened from my window as car doors slammed in the driveway below.

The SUV’s engine started. Gravel crunched under tires as they pulled away.

Only then did I open my door.

Mary waited in the hallway, her face resigned but determined.

‘Let me help you with those bags.”

We carried my suitcases downstairs in silence. At the front door, Mary pressed a wrapped package into my hands.

“Your mother’s china set. I kept it safe all these years.”

Tears threatened, but I blinked them back. “Thank you.”

Mary helped load everything into my car. When the last bag was secured in the trunk, she pulled me into a fierce embrace.

“You call me,’ she whispered. “Every week. I need to know you’re safe.”

‘I will. And Mary?” I pulled back to meet her eyes. “I’ll come back to see you. This isn’t goodbye forever.”

She nodded, unable to speak.

I drove away without looking back.

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