THE QUEEN’S FORBIDDEN ROMANCE

**Chapter 3: A Text She Should Never Have Sent**

Lila stared at her phone like it had just grown teeth and bitten her.

Her heart was beating so fast she felt dizzy. She had actually sent it. The message. The dirty, shameful, completely crazy message.

“Oh my God,” she whispered to the empty room. “What is wrong with me?”

She paced back and forth, barefoot on the cold marble floor. Her nightdress kept slipping off one shoulder, but she didn’t care. She was too busy having a full-blown panic attack.

She had just texted a man. Not just any man. Michael Zenith. The dangerously handsome banker who looked at her like he wanted to eat her alive. And she had told him her p***y was wet.

Lila covered her face with both hands. “I’m going to hell. Straight to hell. Do not pass go. Do not collect two hundred dollars.”

She needed to talk to someone. Anyone. But she couldn’t tell the maids. She couldn’t tell her husband (not that he would care). The only people she could trust were her two best friends from back home — Sophia and Elena.

They had grown up together. They knew all her secrets. And they were the only ones who could make her laugh even when she wanted to cry.

Lila locked her bedroom door, climbed into bed, and opened the secret video call app she used only with them. She hit the group call button.

It rang twice before both faces popped up on her screen.

Sophia had her hair in a messy bun and was eating ice cream straight from the tub. Elena was lying on her stomach in bed, wearing a face mask that made her look like a green alien.

“Hey queen!” Sophia said with her mouth full. “Why are you calling so late? Did the king finally grow a pair and—”

Lila didn’t let her finish. “I did something insane.”

Both girls stopped what they were doing. Elena sat up so fast her face mask cracked.

“Define insane,” Elena said slowly.

Lila took a deep breath. “I sent a text to Michael Zenith. The banker.”

Sophia’s spoon froze halfway to her mouth. “The hot one with the arms?”

Mmmhmmmm “Yes.”

“What did you say?” Elena asked, eyes wide.

Lila closed her eyes. “I told him… I told him I was lonely and horny and that my p***y was all wet.”

There was a full three seconds of silence.

Then both girls exploded.

Sophia dropped her ice cream. It landed on her lap with a wet splat. Elena screamed so loud Lila had to turn the volume down.

“YOU WHAT?!” Sophia yelled, laughing so hard she was crying. “Lila! You horny little royal slut!”

Elena was wheezing. “Our queen finally snapped! I’m so proud of you!”

Lila groaned and buried her face in a pillow. “This is not funny! I’m having a heart attack!”

“It’s a little funny,” Sophia said, still giggling. “I mean, come on. Two years of no d**k and you just… sent a full horny paragraph to a random banker? Iconic behavior.”

“He’s not random!” Lila protested. “He’s the one who handles my family’s money. And he’s… really hot. Like stupidly hot. And he looks at me like I’m actually a person.”

Elena wiped tears from her eyes. “Okay okay, tell us exactly what he replied.”

Lila hesitated, then read the message out loud in a tiny voice.

When she finished, Sophia actually fell off her chair. Elena was screaming into her pillow.

“‘That p***y needs to be sucked… nibbled… slurped…’” Sophia repeated between laughs. “Holy s**t, Lila. He went full porn star on you!”

“I know!” Lila whined. “And then he said he wants to choke me while he f***s me from behind and make me call him Daddy!”

Elena was crying with laughter now. “Your royal highness is about to get absolutely destroyed and I am here for it.”

Lila couldn’t help it. She started laughing too. The kind of laugh that comes from deep in your belly when you’ve been holding everything in for too long.

“I’m scared,” she admitted once they all calmed down. “What if someone finds out? What if the king finds out? What if Michael thinks I’m desperate?”

Sophia’s face softened. “Lila… babe. You *are* desperate. And that’s okay. You’ve been married to a man who treats you like a decorative vase for two years. You deserve to feel wanted. You deserve to get your back blown out by someone who actually looks at you.”

Elena nodded. “Exactly. And from the sound of that message, Michael is very ready to handle the job. Multiple times.”

Lila bit her lip. “He told me to come to his penthouse tonight. At ten. No panties.”

Both friends screamed again.

“GO!” Sophia shouted. “Put on the sluttiest dress you own and go get that d**k!”

“What if it’s a mistake?” Lila asked quietly.

Elena looked at her through the screen with serious eyes. “The only mistake is staying in that cold palace one more night pretending you’re fine. You’re not fine, Lila. You’re lonely and touch-starved and horny as hell. Go get railed by the hot banker. You can cry about it tomorrow if you want.”

Sophia grinned. “And if he’s bad in bed, at least you’ll have a funny story to tell us.”

Lila laughed again. “You guys are terrible influences.”

“We’re the best influences,” Elena corrected. “Now go shave everything, put on perfume, and text us when you get there so we know you’re safe. And if he makes you come more than twice, we expect a full report.”

Lila felt something warm spread through her chest. These two always knew how to make her feel less alone.

“Okay,” she whispered. “I’m going.”

After the call ended, Lila sat in the dark for a moment, smiling like an i***t. Her friends were right. She was tired of being the sad, untouched queen. Tonight, she was going to be brave.

She stood up, walked to her closet, and pulled out a simple black dress that hugged her body. No bra. No panties. Just like Michael asked.

Her hands were shaking as she got dressed, but it wasn’t from fear anymore. It was from excitement.

She looked at herself in the mirror one last time. Her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes were bright. She looked alive.

“Wish me luck,” she whispered to her reflection.

Then she grabbed her phone, slipped out of her room like a thief, and headed for the secret side exit of the palace.

Her heart was racing,her body was burning.

And for the first time in two years, Queen Lila felt like she was finally doing something just for herself.

She had no idea that one reckless decision was about to change her entire life forever.