The Prince’s Pregnant Challenge(2)

She arrived home and rushed upstairs to get dressed for the dinner. She walked into her bedroom, still wrapped in a towel to find her baby sister lying on her bed. “Hey, baby girl,” Liane said, as she walked to her closet to find something suitable to wear.

“Hi, Annie,” Macee replied.

“Are you staying for dinner?”

“Definitely not.”

Liane smiled. As the youngest, Macee and their mother did not see eye to eye on many things and Liane was fairly sure that many of Macee’s antics were designed simply to rub their mother the wrong way. Not that she could blame her. As the oldest and the one betrothed to the Crown Prince of Monaco, the expectations laid upon her at an early age prevented her from living the life she would have preferred. In fact, she was often jealous of her sister’s free spirit. Macee truly hated these dinners their mother organised and Liane did not blame her; they were such a bore.

“How was the country club?” Macee asked. That was another thing she was not into, as she disliked the sort of people who went there. If they were anything like the people their mother invited to the house when she wanted to brag about Liane, then they were not of interest to her, as they valued wealth and prestige more than family and friends.

“It was fine,” Liane replied.

“Just fine, of course nothing interesting happened.”

“Riding was interesting.”

Macee laughed. “My dear sister really knows how to have fun,” she said sarcastically. Liane laughed.

“Where are you off to while I sit through another one of mother’s dinners?”

“Go-karting,” Macee said with a smile and wiggled her eyebrows.

“Stay out of trouble.”

“I never get in trouble.”

Liane whipped her head in Macee's direction and raised her eyebrows at her. Macee laughed as she stood up from the bed. She waved at Liane and walked out of her bedroom.

Liane dressed quickly and pinned up her hair before rushing downstairs to meet her parents. Her other sister, Francesca, was also there. Unlike Macee, she always attended the dinners and events her mother organised.

Colonel and Mrs LeBlanc greeted the guests, as they arrived. As the highest-ranking officer in the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Roi, Colonel LeBlanc was an advisor to the king and a long-time friend. As Mrs LeBlanc introduced everyone, she made a point of reminding her guests that Liane was engaged to the Crown Prince, something that was continually the subject of conversation for their mother. Since their father’s promotion to Colonel and the decision to unite the two families in marriage, their mother’s thirst for power and prestige was endless. And these dinner parties were always subject to political gain as the guests vied for Liane’s attention, which annoyed her. They could not simply take interest in her, as a person. Their lust for power was too obvious as everyone jockeyed to be friends of the crown.





Chapter 2


10 months ago

Liane was counting down the hours until she could go riding again. She needed to release all the stress that had built up inside her. Charles, the royal tutor, who was assisting her in her princess lessons was driving her crazy. She had been training under him for the past ten years and he still treated her as if she was that same eleven-year-old girl all those years ago.

Liane was finally free of Charles and off to the country club. Her mother insisted that she have a driver given her pending role as princess. Normally, Liane didn’t mind having a chauffeur as it gave her time to think, but there were occasions when she preferred to drive herself if only to contemplate driving as far away as possible.

When Liane arrived at the country club, she saw her friend, Tracey getting out of her car. Even at that distance, she could see that she had highlighted her already blonde hair. “You look lovely,” she said to her as she walked up to hug her friend. Tracey flipped her blonde locks with a smile.

“Thank you,” she said. “I too need to get engaged,” she added as they walked into the building. “After all, I am not getting any younger.”

Liane laughed and shook her head. They were both the same age and she was certainly not rushing into marriage, even though she was engaged and did not have a choice. When they got into the changing rooms, Liane changed into her riding gear but Tracey just sat there. She had no intentions of changing. Liane asked her why, “Oh hon, you know I don’t come here for the horses,” Tracey replied, as she waved her hand dismissively. “While you may find horseback riding a stress reliever, I’d much rather watch all those yummy men in their tight britches.” Liane laughed at the faces Tracey made as she described her idea of fun.