#Chapter 201: Piper Versus Everything Else

Nicholas I was relieved to see Piper rush away, but I was also furious at myself. All my talk about protecting her, and I couldn’t stand up against my own father. Julian was right. I was a coward. And my cowardice was what was going to cost me Piper in the end. “Father,” I said, ready to try again. Piper wasn’t here anymore, so his anger should go down. Maybe we if we just talked, I could reason with him. “I don’t want to hear anything from you, Nicholas, except agreement for what I’m about to say.” Except, his anger didn’t disappear. Instead, it simmered at a high boil. He didn’t shout anymore, but the ferocity in his voice left little room for argument. “Do you have any idea how lucky we all are that it was me who caught you, and not the cameras? Have you considered the optics of this at all?” “Piper is a candidate in the contest, and I’m a prince. It would have been scandalous but –” “You don’t know at all! Everything we’ve worked for. Every plan we put in place. Ruined! P