EVERMORE (COLBY BROCK)

16. THE DISCOVERY

Samuel Golbach was nothing if not loyal. Especially to His Royal Highness. The pair of them had become friends in boarding school, and had been as thick as thieves ever since. When his mother had met Cole for the first time, she said they were like magnets. Where one went, the other followed. But, at the same time, in a lot of aspects, they were polar opposites. Sam was more prone to confrontation that Cole shied away from—and that was why Sam was the one Cole trusted to carry out this harebrained scheme. And, well, after everything that Cole has gone through Sam, he knew that he had to do this one thing for his lifelong friend.

And that was why, on the night of the Cliffton ball, Sam took a carriage to the Wharton residence, bearing a gift.

Sam usually wasn't the type of person to judge. Okay, perhaps he was. But he'd never say it out aloud, so that had to count for something. Didn't it? Still, looking up at the Wharton was absolutely abysmal. He knew that they had struggled since losing the Queen's favor all those years ago, but to show the state of things so openly? Where the rest of high society could see and pass judgments, as everyone knew they would? Was things really so bad that they couldn't put up a façade, to at least have a nice front of the house to mask the horror beneath? If he hadn't known better, he might've felt bad for them.

He exited the carriage and went up to the front door. He knocked, and the door opened to reveal a maid.

"May I help you, sir?" she asked.

"I'm here to drop off a gift," he said, lifting the box a little higher. "It's from His Royal Highness."

The maid's face lit up. "Oh! Come in, come in!"

"Thank you."

"Here, let me take that for you—"

Sam pulled away slightly. "Actually, I have explicit instructions from His Royal Highness."

"Oh?"

"Yes, I'm to take this to Lady Serena's chambers."

The maid paused. "I...I don't think that's appropriate. Here, let me—"

"His Royal Highness made himself clear." And though he felt like an ass doing it, Sam added, "Are you really in a position to be denying a price, the heir to the throne?"

The maid sucked in a breath, then put a strained smile on her lips. "Very well, Lady Serena's chambers are right up the stairs, third door on the left."

"Thank you," Sam said. "I'll be a few minutes. The prince has explicit instructions on how this is to be set up."

The maid started to say something, but silenced herself when he raised a brow.

Sam followed the maid's directions to Lady Serena's chambers. Once inside, he shut the door and deposited the box on the four-posted bed. Fuck, now he had to work quick.

Where to begin? Where to begin? If you were a piece of crucial evidence that could indict a scheming woman, where would you be?The desk? Was the desk too obvious? The desk might be too obvious. Fuck it, he's checking the desk.

He started wildly opening and shutting drawers, sifting through its contents. God, he didn't even know what exactly he was looking for. Would Lady Serena really be so dumb as to leave something so incriminating out for anyone to find? No, of course not. Of all the things Lady Serena was, stupid was not one of them. She was evil, she was conniving, but goddangit did she have a brain. It's not wonder she was able to pull off this ridiculous plan in the first place.

And then—

Oh, that's interesting.

Not what he was expecting, but it could be useful...

To some degree, he was aware that you shouldn't read a lady's diary, but to hell with what you should and shouldn't do. Lady Serena clearly didn't give a damn about social conventions. So why should he? So, he opened the diary and landed on a random page.

"One day," it read, "I will be Queen of Liberdon. I know I will be. I've had that rotten prince wrapped around my finger for years. Even now, when I haven't spoken to him in years, he still comes crawling back. He cannot escape him. He will be mine, and no wretched Covington bitch will ever stand in my way. I will be the one to sit on the throne, I will be the one to lie with the prince. I will have everything she thought was hers but was really mine. And then, I can finally make that bitch and that hedge whore pay for thinking they could take what's mine."

Sam shut the diary, knots tying in his stomach as he realized the depth of Lady Serena's obsession. He slowly pocketed the diary, deciding that it was, indeed, something of use, and then he continued on with his search of the chambers.

He was nearly about to give up, when something caught his eye. A large, oval mirror hung on the wall where Lady Serena's vanity was. But the mirror did not lay flat against the wall. It was titled at a downwards angle and, if Sam was any shorter, he might not have been able to see the pieces of paper tucked away.

He reached up, and pulled them out from behind the mirror. He opened them and began to read. Oh. Oh, these were indeed useful. For they laid out explicit plans, and an exchange of money, between Lady Serena and the man in prison. Yes, they were exactly what he was looking for.

Sam quickly stashed the letters in his pocket and made to leave. But, with a parting glance at the mirror, he decided he would need to make it look like nothing had been touched. So, he quickly grabbed some blank pages off of Lady Serena's desk and folded them the same way each letter was folded, and tucked them behind the mirror.

There. Perfect.

Now, it was time to get to business.