The Black Sheep and the Princess Read Free Page B

said felt like fourteen, her divorce settlement alone had ensured her continued residence amongst the highest of high society. Her transformation finally complete.
    And although Kate had never gotten along with her sole stepsibling, by rights, the pile of assets her mother had accrued upon her death should have gone to Shelby. No matter whether the slimy little toad had actually deserved any of it or not, he was the one who had stuck by Louisa’s side, year in, year out, husband in, husband out. He was the one who’d endured working for her all those years, helping to grow her fortune, doing whatever was asked of him, taking her abuse with a smile and a nod, waiting for the day it would all pay off.
    Kate, her only natural child, hadn’t done any of those things. So no one had been more shocked than Kate when Louisa’s lawyer had calmly recited the contents of the will stating Shelby was to inherit Winnimocca—which had belonged to his father and was, at the time, the single greatest asset he’d brought to his union with Louisa—and only Winnimocca. Leaving Kate to inherit everything else.
    Although, to be fair, perhaps Shelby had been even more shocked. If the instantaneous blanching of every bit of color from his already florid complexion and the white-knuckled grip he’d had on his Hermes briefcase were any indication. She’d been half afraid he’d go into full coronary occlusion right then and there.
    The final irony was, she’d wanted the only thing Shelby had gotten. She’d wanted Winnimocca. Kate turned onto the long drive that led into the camp grounds. Well, maybe it wasn’t so ironic. Just before her death, Kate had ended her long estrangement with her family to ask about leasing Winnimocca. So, with that bit of information at hand, Louisa could use her last will and testament to deprive both of her children their hearts’ desire in one fell swoop.
    A small smile curved Kate’s lips. Well, Mother , she thought, you can’t control things now . Before they’d even left the probate lawyers’ office, Kate had proposed a deal to essentially swap her inheritance with Shelby’s, giving them both what they wanted. Perhaps it had been an emotional and not entirely rational decision on her part, but, of course, Shelby had jumped at her offer.
    Her expression grew more determined as she passed the cheerfully painted sign announcing the new Winnimocca Youth Camp. She’d officially moved in thirty-seven days ago. Shelby hadn’t said a word about it, which she’d taken as a good sign, as their arbitration had headed into the final stages. The sign had been the first thing she’d changed. More as a statement to herself, one of hope and optimism, than to the world at large, but it was only a matter of time. If everything went as planned, next year at this time, the whole world would know. And Winnimocca Youth Camp would be open for business.
    She tightened her grip on the wheel as she thought about her endless wait that morning, and the formality that had never happened. She didn’t know what stupid game Shelby was playing, but he was going to find out, and find out quite swiftly, that she wasn’t going to be jerked around. She and her mother might not have had a loving relationship by any definition, but he was going to learn that there was, in fact, a bit of Louisa Slavine, secretary from the Bronx, in the daughter. Kate had already put a call in to her attorney to see what leverage she had in bartering her inheritance back from Shelby. He wasn’t the only one who could jerk the marionette strings.
    Her determined smile slipped a little when she saw the neon orange spray paint streaking across the trunks of several red spruce and old-growth hemlocks that crowded the steep camp terrain down to the lake. Not again. Hadn’t she suffered enough setbacks for one foul day?
    Apparently not.
    GO HOME, RICH BITCH!
    Same as before. If