While the men and pretty pregnant Jane made the trek to Evie's castle, the girls were making the same travel through the mainland. With some luck and timing, the two groups arrived at the property a few hundred yards away from each other. A weight of stress lifted from her shoulders as Mal bolted to her fiancé. Ben managed to brace himself before his beloved slammed into his arms and kissed him passionately.

When the engaged couple finally had a chance to breathe, Ben teased, "Hello to you too, my queen. I didn't expect you to be so happy to see me."

"I'm always happy when I see you," Mal insisted giddily, running her fingers through his bushy facial hair. "New beard?"

"And new fangs." The king gestured to the modifications made to his mouth against his will. "Courtesy of the new enchantress."

"I also had a run-in with her," Mal grumbled bitterly. "She's trying to spread rumors about me around the kingdom and stole my locket."

Ben's eyes widened, feigning surprise at the announcement. "I didn't know about your locket," he fibbed too easily. "We'll get it back when this is over. I promise."

Ben kissed his forehead lovingly to make the lie more believable, causing her to swoon at the affection.

Although she loved to stay in that moment forever, Mal broke free from the lovey-dovey moment once she saw a couple of unexpected people with the men group. "Jane?" She snarled her nose. "Chad? Why are they with you?"

"Audrey crashed Jane's birthday party, and they escaped her sleeping spell," Carlos informed, tightening his grasp on the birthday girl. "Chad carried Jane until they met up with us; Jane partially broke the curse on Ben with water from the Enchanted Lake; Chad apologized to Jay and Aziz, so they are on good terms; and Jane's pregnant with our baby."

The girls from the second group nodded along at the information. After a moment or two of quiet pause, they all gasped at the unexpected news. While three didn't know what to say, Mal squealed happily. "Congratulations, you two!" she cheered. "You're gonna make awesome parents! You're gonna have a fun senior year."

Chad chuckled, though the tone of it made it sound . . . tense. "I told Jane the same thing when I guessed it," he informed after strange looks were casted his way.

"How'd it go on your end?" Aziz interrogated, forcing the subject to change for the prince's sake. "Did you find out where Audrey could be hiding?"

"Her diary mentioned Fairy Cottage several times," Uma answered since she was the one to read it. "Does anyone know where that's at?"

"Audrey took me a few times while we were together," Ben informed with a sigh. "Every visit, I watched as the three fairies constantly fought for her attention and gave her everything she wanted. I wish I would've ended things sooner."

"I say we rest for a while before we head that way," Carlos suggested, oblivious to the building tension created by his next statement, "And we need to decide who stays with Jane and Chad in the castle. I don't want Jane alone, and while Chad has done great protecting her, there should be a second person to help with Dizzy and the twins sleeping inside."

"I'll sta—"

"No!" came the immediate shouts of five people, causing the rest to flinch at the abrupt harshness.

Throwing his head back with a groan, Harry complained, "Why not? Jay obviously doesn't want me around, and I didn't want to be here in the first place. Me staying in Evie's castle would be best for everyone."

"Except we don't trust you to be left alone," Jay retorted bitterly. "You could knock Chad out and do whatever you wanted to Jane. No, you will stay where I can watch you."

"I—"

"Then I'll stay," Gil volunteered giddily, shrugging nonchalantly. "I'm stronger anyways and I don't want to fight anyone. Besides, they can tell me more about Auradon while I'm with them!"

"Then it's settled." Gazing at her beloved with a certain . . . hunger, in her eyes, Mal failed to hide her smirk while insisting, "I need you, alone."

Suppressing his emotions better, Ben averted his attention to the castle owner, requesting, "May we use one of your rooms?"

"Of course!" Evie cheered with a wide, sugar-sweet smile. "The spare guest bedrooms are upstairs for you to talk privately."

"Oh, please." Aziz scoffed at the innocent remark. "Talking is the last thing they're gonna do. You know, I haven't seen my evening view in a while . . . need an audience?"

"Ha!" Mal laughed as her smirk turned more possessive. "As your husband told me before, you have your prince; leave my king alone."

Ignoring the varying reactions of chuckles or groans of disgust, the future-queen took her fiancé's hand before dragging him toward the castle. After everything that's happened, Mal could use a distraction from everything. Besides . . . she wanted to see the spell's effect on Ben for herself.

The castle door closed.

There was a moment of pause, as though waiting to hear movement inside the home. The silence in the air was as noticeable as the tension between a certain two. The hostile atmosphere continued to grow and grow and grow—

Until a bedroom door slammed shut.

Twirling on her heels, Evie glared viciously, spatting, "Get the hell off my property!"

"No," Jay denied firmly, though his tone was just as harsh. "I'm not leaving, especially when Mal has her guard down and with Harry lurking around. I'll stay in one spot until we're ready to move."

"Not unless you pay me what you owe me."

"I don't owe you shit!" Jay argued. "Ben paid you what was stolen to stop this feud when he shouldn't have."

"You mean what you stole from me?"

"I didn't steal shit! I told you, it was your lame-ass boyfriend!"

"And I told you, you're a fucking liar—!"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Stepping between the two that were dangerously close to one another, Uma wondered, "What the hell is going on with you two? Why are you at each other's throats?"

"Evie's been mad at me ever since she found out I knew about the assault on Mal and didn't tell her," Jay informed the clearly confused group. "She tried to get every little detail about what happened from me and was even more pissed when I refused to say anything. The day after our yelling match in her starter castle, her money from her clothing business went missing, and she blamed me for it."

"The exact amount the merchant asked for Hakim was taken from me," Evie insisted stubbornly. "I know what I originally paid you wasn't enough because they changed the price. I could've lent you the remaining balance, but you shouldn't have stolen the entire amount!"

"Evie, I would have worked my ass off to repay you if I needed to," Jay argued sincerely. "But I didn't. Ben convinced the merchant to keep the original price. I didn't need to steal from you because I had enough."

Evie paused at the declaration, scrunching her nose in confusion. "That can't be true. Doug said you told him—"

"I never talked to Doug about anything that involved Hakim," Jay interrupted firmly. "Why would I? I was working for you and your company."

"But . . ." Evie trailed off before shaking her head in denial. "Doug wouldn't lie to me! He's my true love—"

"He isn't, though," Jay disputed defiantly. "If he's under Audrey's sleeping spell, you won't be able to wake him with 'true love's kiss'. Face it, E. Doug's been using you for your money. I bet he stole it in the first place and blamed me so you wouldn't get suspicious since we were already fighting."

"Y-you're changing the subject!" Evie accused weakly. "I want you off my property!"

"And I told you no," Jay reminded firmly. Taking a stand for himself, the Isle Thief sat crisscrossed on the tree line. "I am staying here, like a good little street rat, until it's time to leave. Meanwhile, if he's in there, you can try breaking the spell on Doug. I'll be waiting for your apology when you realize I was right the entire time."

Glare sharpening at the smug Lost Boy, Evie stormed her castle; determined to prove Jay wrong. Ignoring the banging furniture and load moans from the second floor, the blue-haired woman searched the main floor for her beloved boyfriend. He wasn't in the living room with the sleeping Dizzy and twins, nor in the kitchen to prepare a snack while waiting. Reluctantly, Evie expanded the look-out to her office, where she kept her latest creations, custom orders—

And her business money.

Creeping inside, Evie's confidence quickly turned into nerves when she spotted Doug dead asleep on the floor—

Next to her safe that was no longer hidden from view.

But there must be an explanation! Maybe, Evie forgot to hide it after all the commotion from the last couple days. Maybe, Doug was trying to get change for a customer while she was gone! No . . . that wouldn't be it. Customers don't pay until after Evie has completed a piece, just in case she needed to make alterations, or they have a last-minute request for their clothes. But there must be a reason!

Right?

Taking a deep, shaky breath, Evie knelt next to her beloved boyfriend. This has to work, she thought to herself. If it doesn't . . . I don't know what I'll do.

Sighing softly, the seamstress decided to just go for it. Swooping down, Evie placed the gentlest kiss on Doug's lips. Savoring the moment while also pleading for it to work, she leaned back until they were no longer connected. Seconds turned into minutes . . .

No reaction.

Tears filled her eyes as Evie shakily stood. All those times where he claimed he cared for her, sneaking out late despite the school rules, all those moments shared . . . it was just a lie—

A scheme, for Doug to get what he wanted all along.

Needing room to breathe, Evie burst through the office glass doors, which led to an outdoor terrace on the opposite side of her castle. She only managed a few feet before collapsing on the metal sofa chairs, completely drained from having her darkest nightmares confirmed.

Although her vision blurred, Evie refused to let the tears spill. Doug doesn't deserve her tears after betraying her. She should've known better than believe in something as pathetic as true lo—

"Something wrong, Princess?"

Holding in a sigh, Evie tilted her head to glare at the unwanted visitor. "Of course not," she spat sarcastically. "Turns out the person I thought I was going to be with forever was a liar and a gold digger. Now, I have to suck up my bad attitude and apologize to Jay for being an ass about him keeping Mal's assault a secret from me. I can't believe he was telling the truth."

Cautiously taking the empty seat, Harry considered his next few words. "Not about everything," he denied softly. "Mal wasn't raped."

Glare sharpening, Evie interrogated hotly, "What the hell are you talking about? Didn't you see Mal's reaction when she confessed to it?"

"She was surely pissed," Harry agreed softly. "But it wasn't rape, more like a regretful one-night stand, because the person she slept with didn't reciprocate her feelings. She's screaming rape as one way to punish him for leaving in the middle of the night, though it was his room they shared the night in."

"And you know this how?"

"Because . . ." Harry trailed off, debating his choice of words. "The person Mal slept with . . . was me."