♕ ...the day her life ended, then began again

“Ma chérie? Où es-tu?”

The voice of Prince Niklaus Konstantine Alekzandr of Liechtenstein filtered down the grand hallway of the upstairs wing of Vaduz Castle. Nik (as he was known to his loved ones and close friends)was currently trying to locate his fiancé. In the grand ballroom, which was located in another section of the castle, a New Year’s Eve celebration was in full swing. Members of the royal family, friends, and VIPs and dignitaries from other counties were partying the night away, honoring the end of 2015. In addition to looking forward to a new year, all of Europe were welcoming a new royal into the family. Prince Niklaus and his beautiful fiancée, French socialite/heiress/daughter of sports royalty, Oceane Rousset, were being recognized on this incredible night. The couple had recently gotten engaged on a winter holiday ski trip in the Swiss Alps surrounded by their closest friends.

Oceane typically loved parties and the fact she had disappeared from Nik’s side and had yet to return troubled the 26-year old prince. Things had been rocky in their relationship since the engagement, and to say that Oceane had been distracted most of the night would be an understatement. The midnight hour was approaching and Nik’s father, the crown prince and heir apparent of their country, wanted to give a toast before the clock struck midnight. Nik wanted Oceane with him. With a sigh, Nik turned the corner and headed down the massive hallway towards the west wing of the castle where his private rooms were located. With Oceane not in any of the other rooms she usually frequented, all that were left to check belonged to him.



“I hate seeing you like this.”

The voice of Sabina St. Germaine sounded worried, and rightfully so. For as long as she had known Oceane Rousset, she had only ever seen her cry like twice. And the two best friends forever had been through some sticky situations together in their short lives. At the moment, the two women were sitting on the massive king-sized bed inside Prince Niklaus’ bedroom. Oceane had spent the past 45-minutes crying on Sabina’s shoulder and feeling sick to her stomach.

“I hate being like this. Merde!”

Oceane forced herself up and off of the bed and headed towards the en suite bathroom that connected Nik’s actual bedroom to his wardrobe room, which was nearly as big as a small home. The gorgeous brunette bombshell headed to one of the full length mirrors and cringed at her reflection. Her emerald green, satin Ralph Lauren gown was rumpled and wrinkled, thanks to the fact she had curled herself into a ball on Nik’s side of the bed for the first 30 minutes of her crying session. Her makeup was smudged all over her flawless face, giving her a streaky appearance and her eyes were swollen. Her raven-colored locks had escaped the chic chignon they had been fixed in before the party. They now fell down in her back in a tangled, wild mess.

“Are you sure you’re ready to have this conversation with him?” Sabina asked as she walked up behind Oceane.

Oceane turned around, her face crumpling. “No. I love him almost as much as I love us. I don’t want to do this without him.”

“But you can’t do it with him either,” Sabina sighed. Her best friend’s love life was so tragic right now. Oceane miserably nodded her head in agreement and wiped the wet mascara out from underneath her eyes. She went to wipe the residue on her gown, but thankfully Sabina grabbed her hand. “Don’t ruin the dress. It really is perfect on you.”

“Yeah, I thought so too,” Oceane replied. Sabina snatched one of Nik’s discarded shirts off of one of the decorative tables and handed it to Oceane. Oceane made a heart with her hands before cleaning them off with the shirt, and wiping her face with it as well. She tossed it to the floor and sniffled. “I was raised to go for what I want and not to live with ‘what ifs’ and after overhearing that conversation between his parents, I know breaking up with Nik is the right thing to do. I was so stupid to think I could have it all, truly I was. I just thought that everyone had come around to the fact we love each other and had accepted that. But like the pure hate in his mother’s voice was just…”

Oceane’s dark eyes narrowed.

“It was just awful. Like I’ll admit my past is not clean, but really. Her precious son met me at a bar, where he spent the night kissing and fingering his slag girlfriend until I almost got raped. Like Nik used to be called the ‘Party Prince.’ He’s not perfect, like actually,” Oceane paused. “But he’s perfect for me.” Her shoulders slumped.

Sabina wrapped her arms around Oceane, and Oceane buried her face into her friend’s shoulder. “I’m just not perfect for him,” she mumbled.

Nik was basically his parents’ spare heir, but he was their favorite child and the expectations they had placed on him were ridiculous in both Oceane’s and Sabina’s opinion. Nik was incredibly smart and had graduated with honors from Yale University in the United States, towards the top of his class. He was being groomed to take over his family’s private banking and asset management group, the LGT Group. It was the largest family-owned private wealth and asset manager in all of Europe. His uncle was currently the CEO and President, and those were the roles Nik were expected to step into once Prince Henrik retired. Nik currently worked as a hedge fund manager for the bank.

In a perfect world, Nik’s family wanted him to marry a nice girl, who would be a dutiful wife and raise children. She would be a mother and wife first, a princess of Liechtenstein second. The only job she would have would be helping with one of the royal family’s non-profit organizations and making appearances with her husband at political and social events. That was not the life Oceane wanted whatsoever, and it had never dawned on her that those would be the expectations placed on her shoulders. She truly saw herself as a girl in love with a boy, who had been over the moon when the boy had gotten down on one knee and popped the question.


“Oceane. Are you in here?”

Nik stepped the foyer area of his living area inside the castle and headed through the living room area, and into the bedroom. One look at his messy bed gave him his answer, but when Oceane and Sabina stepped out of the master bathroom, he had confirmation. His fiancee looked wrecked and her partner-in-crime looked solemn. When Sabina walked past him without sarcastically murmuring ‘your oh-so royal highness’ (Sabina’s tongue-in-cheek way of addressing Nik when he entered a room; his family hated it, he secretly loved it), Nik knew something was horribly wrong. Nik waited until Sabina had let herself out before opening his arms to Oceane. She stepped in them and Nik pulled her close. “What’s wrong?”

Oceane bit down hard on her bottom lip, not wanting to cry in front of him. It was one thing for Sabina to see her at her weakest. It was another thing entirely for Nik to see her in that state. She hated being vulnerable for any reason. It wasn’t going to work this time and after clinging to Nik for a few precious seconds, the Parisian pulled back and motioned for Nik to sit down with her. They took a seat on the bed, and Oceane looked down at her hands. Nik didn’t prompt her to speak. A sense of dread had overcome him, and he had a feeling he knew where this conversation was going. It wasn't like things had been great between them recently.

“You already know what's wrong.”

Nik raked a hand down his face and looked over at the woman he considered to be his best friend. Oceane (and Sabina by extension) was the only person in his life he was afraid to lose.

“I don't see why we have to keep having this conversation,” Nik finally replied, but his voice was gentle. He knew he had to tread lightly at the moment. “How many times do I have to tell you that I don't care what my family expects of me?”

Oceane had recently developed a complex about herself for reasons Nik did not know or understand. She had gone from a confidant, slightly immature and petty but vibrate woman who enjoyed living and loving and laughing, to someone who was too quiet, too tense, and always upset about something. He wasn't a fan at all of Oceane’s recent attitude.

“It doesn't matter how many times you tell me, Nik. Nothing is going to change. I can't be the woman they want for you. And I can't live the life that would be expected of me.”

“When have I asked you to change, though? That's why none of this makes sense to me. I have never asked you to be anything other than you. I also don't know why you have this idea of the life we are going to ultimately have. I enjoy my position at the bank but I also like vacations, not having full-time responsibilities, and spending time with my future wife.”

“And your sister-wife.” Oceane was referring to Sabina because the two of them were never separated. Sabina had been on every vacation, nearly every date, and with Oceane and Nik for everything else in between. Nik was not naive enough to think he was marrying just one of them.

“Sabby is basically a wife at this point,” Nik agreed, exasperation and frustration in his voice. “That's why I'm confused. I haven't decided if I want to run the business or not, and if I do go that direction, it will be years from now. Henrk is not retiring anytime soon, and we both agree we have zero desire to start a family until we are in our late thirties. Oceane, we click on every level. I even support the fact you want to pursue your own career.”

Oceane finally looked at Nik. “But you don't want me to go to New York in order to do that. That's not supportive.”

Nik closed his eyes for a moment so he wouldn't react to the bitter tone of her voice. “Oceane, you have the freedom to do whatever it is you wish to do. But we are engaged and I do expect compromise. There are several schools and organizations you can attend and work for here in Europe.”

“But none of those schools are run by Keilli Chaos’ husband and she is iconic. We HAVE to go to New York.” Nik rolled his eyes. He couldn't help it. Oceane caught it and pursed her full lips. “I mean, all this is kind of your fault. Like, you made us watch wrestling with you.”

Nik couldn't argue with that. Growing up, he hadn't really known professional wrestling existed. He had only seen amateur wrestling at the Olympics. But at Yale, his roommate had been a huge fan and every Monday both of them had sat down to watch it. Nik had been into it and that passion hadn't died. He had taken Oceane and Sabina to a show in Paris a year or so ago, and the girls had been hooked. The three of them never missed any live shows that their schedules allowed them to see.

“You also let Sabby suplex you off a freaking yacht into the Mediterranean this past summer so it's not like you haven't encouraged this.” Oceane smiled through her tears. “But realistically I can't do what I want to do, and be your princess too. Your family won’t allow it and we won't be able to do this in peace if I stay in Europe. The paparazzi will be watching everything we do and we will never get a fair chance. They scrutinize you enough because of me and I don't want to embarrass you or your family anymore than I already have.”

Oceane bit her lip again and looked down at the massive custom-made, Harry Winston heart-shaped diamond ring Nik had designed for her.

“Don't you dare take off that ring,” Nik quietly said, and this time his voice sounded as firm as a king’s would. Oceane froze. “That ring represents the last six years of my life and what I hoped my future would be; of everything we have shared together. If you want to move to New York and pursue your dreams, who am I stop you? But let it serve as a reminder to you that you made a decision for me as well, and it's one that I do not agree with. I love you and I want to be with you, and quite frankly I do not give a fuck about what other people think. But if you're content with throwing this away, then go to New York, Oceane. Be successful and be the best. I will be your biggest fan.”

Oceane was speechless. Before either of them could say anything else, the grandfather clock inside the living room struck midnight and outside the castle, an incredible fireworks display started going off. Nik gently took Oceane’s face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. It took a moment for the young socialite to process what was happening, but once she realized Nik was kissing her goodbye, she put everything she had into kissing him back. A fresh set of tears were falling down her face, and after pulling away, Nik brushed them off her cheeks.

“Je t’aime, Oceane. Tu es ma joie de vivre.”

Nik got up and placed a kiss on top of her head. Without looking back at her, he left the room. Oceane looked down at the ring once again as the door shut. Oceane loved it when Nik spoke in French to her. It was not his native language, German was. But he was fluent in several, and she enjoyed listening to him speak in her native language the best. Oceane knew would never forgot his words to her, no matter where the next chapter of her life took her too.

I love you, Ocean. You are the joy of my life.