Hey Guys! Thank you all for being so kind last chapter! You are literally the best people in the world! Ok so this chapter is a little shorter, but it has a big revelation at the end! We are getting down to the wire and I'm so excited for you all to read it! Without further ado, here is Chapter 28!


I'm sitting at my desk when I hear a knock at my door.

"Come in," I call from the cushioned seat of my desk chair. As the door opens I set aside different papers and reports that dad asked me to look over and make notes on. I look up and I see my mom standing in the doorway. Her fiery red hair is tucked up in a bun and she is wearing a cream day dress.

I smile at her, "Hey mom, what's up?"

She walks into my office and sits down on one of the chairs opposite my desk, "Emma, we need to talk about the selection."

I look at her confused, "OK, why?"

She smiles stiffly, "Your father and I know that you choose Alex, so we feel that it is time that you have another elimination to eliminate Tyler and Lucas."

I nod grimly, "I know, I know. Its just so hard, Mom. I know that I want to be with Alex, I just don't want to break any hearts along the way."

She chuckles, "Emmalina, darling, there were twenty men here a few months ago. You eliminated seventeen of them. Do you think that they walked away without any type of heartbreak?"

"Mom!" I groan, "This isn't making me feel any better."

"I'm sorry, honey. I just want you to realize that you aren't doing any one any favors by postponing this elimination." She crosses her legs and folds her hands in her lap, "Think about it this way, the upcoming elimination is like taking off a bandage. You can either take it off in one swoop and have it sting for a short amount of time, or you can pull it of slowly and drag the pain out for a long time. Which way would you want to have the bandage taken off?"

On that note she stands up and walks to the door; she looks at me one more time, smiles, and leaves.

I cover my eyes with my hands and sigh into them. I pick up the phone and call one of my friends, who I know will help me.

"Hello?" She answers.

"Sabeena!" I exclaim into the receiver.

"Emmalina! Emma, it's so good to hear from you! How are you?"

"Ugh," I groan, "That's why I called you, I need help."

"Of course, what can I do?"

"I need help trying to eliminate the final two contestants in my selection."

The line is silent for a few moments before Sabeena speaks again, "So you found him? You found your fiancé? "

I smile, "Yeah, he is amazing. I can wait for you guys to meet him when we go to the Summit in a month."

"I cant wait to meet him, can you tell me who it is?"

"Fine, fine." I say, "Alex, Alex won."

"I knew it! I knew it!" She exclaims, "I knew it from the moment his picture hit the screen when you were announcing the names! I saw your eyes light up and I said to my sister, 'That's him, I know that Emma is going to fall for him.' I freaking called it!"

I start laughing, "Good job Sabeena, you apparently know me better than I know myself."

Once Sabeena calms down, she speaks again, "So you need help with this elimination?"

I sigh, "Yeah, I just don't want them to think that I'm heartless, or that I was leading them on."

"Oh, Emma." She says, "If they made it that far into the competition, they should know that you are certainly not heartless and that you weren't leading them on. It's a competition for the heart of the princess for heaven's sake! Obviously only one person can win. I know for a fact that they understand that."

I look over at my papers sitting on my desk, "Yeah I guess you're right."

"I know that I'm right, you will be fine, Emma. All you have to do is tell them the truth. Let them know that you thought that something was there but it just isn't anymore. They will understand, I promise."

"Thanks, Sabeena. You always know what to say."

"No problem, boo. Just remember that I'm always here for you. Only a phone call away." When she says this I can hear a door opening and Sabeena starts speaking in her first language of Hindi.

She returns to the line, "Hey, Emma, I have to go. Father and I have a budget meeting in five minutes and the conference room is across the palace."

"Ugh I hate budget meetings," I chuckle into the receiver.

She laughs, "I would much rather be talking to you but, well you understand, when princess duty calls…"

"…You have to answer. Yeah, I totally get it," I say, "I have a bunch of security reports that I should be getting back to."

"I'll talk to you later, Emma. Good luck with your elimination."

"Thanks, Sabeena. I'll talk to you later."

The line goes dead and I sadly look at the reports.

"Well these aren't going to finish themselves," I mumble under my breath as I start reading about the movement of guards in the palace. Dad has been going ballistic because he doesn't want anyone else to get into the palace under his watch. He has started to change the way that the palace is protected and, to him, the best way to do that is to change to movement of the guards.

Movement of guards.

Guards.

I snap my head up and stare at the wall.

I know the one person that can figure out who shot me.


Sooooo, how was it? I hope you guys liked it. We haven't heard from Sabeena since the earlier chapters so I thought that we should give her a call. Here are some reviews from last chapter and the special!

PinkPotterPanda- You are SOOOO Sweet! Thank you so much! It's so cool that your name is Emma, haha. Emma is one of my favorite names (Obviously!) I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Emma Kate- YOU'RE WELCOME FOR THE UPDATES. Thank you so much for your kind review! I hope that one day my songs will be on the radio, a person can dream right? And thank YOU for being awesome!

Guest- I am so glad that you're enjoying the story! Thank you for the exciting reviews!

Heather (Guest) - Thank you for reviewing! It was really nerve-racking for me because I am pretty protective over my lyrics because they are my thoughts put into melodies. I loved the story about your nickname! Thanks for sharing!

You are the best! Thank you all so much!

Read, Review, Favorite, Follow, Fangirl and I'll see you next sunday!

Happy Reading

xoxo, Rosie

Question- Who do you think Emma was talking about when she said that she knew who could figure out who shot her?

Answer- I know, but my lips (or fingers) are sealed ;)