66AlexHer voice came through the line, dripping with feigned sweetness. “Good morning to you too, Alex.” “I don’t have time for your games,” I said, cutting her off. “If you’ve got something to say, say it.” “Oh, I have plenty to say,” she replied, her voice turning icy. “But maybe I should just say it in person. Would that get your attention?” “What part of ‘I’m not interested’ don’t you understand?” I snapped. “You’ll want to hear this,” she said smugly. “Trust me.” “Trust you?” I laughed bitterly. “That’s rich.” “Suit yourself,” she said, her tone maddeningly calm. “But when this all blows up in your face, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I hesitated, her words gnawing at the edges of my resolve. “What are you talking about?” “I’m talking about your father,” she said, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “And the little deal he made with the Nightshade family. You might want to reconsider ignoring me, Alex. This concerns you more than you think.” My bloo
67LiamThe brisk chill of the Norwegian winter filtered into my room, even though the thick curtains were drawn tight against the windows. I leaned back on the enormous bed, its ornate posts stretching toward the high ceiling of my room in the royal palace. Weeks had passed since the summit, but the ache in my side was a persistent reminder of the bullet I’d taken for Alex. Mom, ever the image of a queen, had ensured I was taken care of in the most extravagant way possible. Two nurses hovered around me daily, tending to my wound as if I were made of glass. This morning was no exception. They flitted about, adjusting bandages, checking my vitals, and murmuring politely before finally leaving me in peace. The door clicked shut behind them, and I exhaled deeply, letting the silence wrap around me. But the peace didn’t last long. “Honestly, Liam, I don’t know what you were thinking,” my mother said as she swept into the room, her elegant heels clicking against the marble floor. She
68LiamThe door creaked open again, and I groaned, bracing myself for Anders to come sauntering back in with another cutting remark. But when I looked up, my breath caught in my throat. Standing in the doorway, his once-proud shoulders slightly hunched, was my father. The room felt like it had dropped several degrees. I stared at him, my mind racing. It had been—what? Ten years since I’d last seen him? Since he’d walked out of the palace, abandoning everything? Abandoning us. “Liam,” he said, his voice rougher than I remembered, like gravel scraping against metal. Sophia looked between us, her hazel eyes wide. She opened her mouth to say something but seemed to think better of it. She squeezed my hand once before standing. “I’ll... give you two some privacy,” she murmured, her gaze lingering on me before she slipped out the door. The silence that followed was deafening. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to find my voice. “What are you doing here?” I asked, my tone colder t
69LiamVictor’s arrival felt like the spark that would ignite an explosion, and it did not take long for the firestorm to begin. The icy tension in the room grew thicker as my mother’s face turned from shock to pure rage. Anders was no better, his jaw clenched so tightly it seemed his teeth might crack. Meanwhile, Victor—my father—stood there with the same calm defiance, as though he had already prepared for this battle long before stepping into the palace. “Guards!” my mother barked, her voice cutting through the heavy silence like a whip. “Remove this man from my sight immediately!” Victor didn’t flinch. He stood tall, his dark eyes unwavering. “I wouldn’t do that, Lila,” he said quietly. “Not unless you want your son to hate you even more than he already does.” I stiffened at his words, though I couldn’t deny the truth in them. Anders stepped forward, his voice laced with venom. “You have no right to speak to her like that, FATHER,” he spat, the title dripping with sarcas
70I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the muted news on my TV. I could see the headlines scrolling across the screen, and every word felt like a dagger. “Presidential Family Scandal Continues to Erupt.” My father’s name blared in bold text, paired with phrases like “Nightshade Deal Allegations” and “Unrest in the Administration.”It was all falling apart, piece by piece, and I was at the center of it. Or maybe, as I was starting to suspect, Charlotte was the one pulling the strings. The bitch. The thought made my blood boil. It was her. It had to be. Everything—the pressure from my father, the growing media frenzy—it all pointed back to her manipulations. And yet, my father didn’t see it. No, to him, I was the problem. “Alex!” his voice bellowed from down the hall, loud and impatient. I groaned, tossing a pillow at the wall in frustration. I knew exactly what he wanted, and I wasn’t in the mood to hear it. But avoiding him wasn’t an option. Not in this house. Draggin
Alex The weight of the news was suffocating, but I couldn’t stay in that room any longer. My father’s silence had spoken volumes, and I needed to breathe. I needed to think. “Elena,” I said, my voice strained. “Let’s get out of here.” She hesitated, glancing between me and my father. “Alex, are you sure? I mean, with everything going on…” “I need air,” I said firmly, grabbing my coat. “I can’t stay here.” Elena nodded reluctantly, grabbing her bag. The tension in the room crackled as we left without another word. My father didn’t even try to stop us. The moment we stepped outside, the cold air hit me like a slap, but it wasn’t enough to clear my head. The city felt louder than usual—cars honking, people shouting, the buzz of life moving on while my own felt like it was imploding. Elena walked beside me, her arms crossed tightly against the chill. “Where are we going?” “Anywhere but here,” I muttered. We ended up at a small restaurant tucked away on a quiet street. It
72AlexI stood frozen for a second, staring at the black SUV and the woman sitting inside like she owned the world. Her dark red lips curved into a smirk, her posture relaxed yet commanding.“Get in,” Charlotte repeated, her voice sharp, her perfectly manicured nails tapping impatiently on the car door.I scoffed, stepping back. “Not a chance.”“Alex,” Elena hissed beside me, tugging at my sleeve as she glanced nervously at the horde of journalists swarming us like locusts. “We need to go. Now.”“We’ll find another way,” I muttered stubbornly, gripping her hand tighter and pushing through the crowd. But it was pointless. The reporters were relentless, their microphones thrust so close I thought they’d hit me in the face.“Alex, do you deny the allegations?”“Is Charlotte blackmailing you?”“Will the Nightshade family take control of your father’s empire?”The barrage of questions pounded against my ears, drowning everything else out. Cameras flashed wildly, blinding me with every ste
73AlexThe car eased to a stop in front of the Nightshade estate, the grandeur of the mansion casting long shadows in the fading light. Its sharp angles and towering spires looked more like a fortress than a home. The weight of what we’d just walked into settled heavily on my shoulders.I turned sharply to Charlotte, my voice laced with venom. “You had no right to drag us here.”She arched a brow, completely unfazed. “You’re welcome, by the way. But if you’re done whining, we should get inside. We don’t have time for this tantrum.”Elena shifted nervously beside me, gripping my arm as though she could anchor me to sanity. Her voice was soft but strained. “Alex, we don’t have to stay. We can leave right now.”I shot Charlotte a glare, silently daring her to stop us. “She’s right. Open the damn door.”Charlotte’s smirk faltered just a little as her gaze narrowed on me. “Suit yourself. You can walk back through the reporters, with cameras in your face and stories spinning faster than yo
83AlexDuring the day, even the maids couldn’t stop whispering about Liam Brighmore’s engagement to his best friend, Sophia. Their voices floated through the corridors, stinging my ears every time I overheard their chatter. I clenched my jaw, trying to block out their words, but they echoed in my mind nonetheless. Marrying her? Liam? The same Liam who used to tell me I was the love of his life? The same Liam who swore he’d stand by me when we exposed our relationship? I rubbed my temples, pacing my room as the weight of his betrayal pressed down on me. “It doesn’t make sense,” I muttered to myself. “He’s gay. He told me... he told me he loved me.” Lie. All of it. Lies. The realization hit like a punch to the gut. Liam had lied about everything. About us. About the future he told me he dreamed of. And now, he was engaged to her? My throat tightened as I thought of Sophia, with her perfect smile and flawless reputation. The world adored her. Of course, they did. She was everyth
Alex The next day, I was brooding in my room when there was a soft knock at the door. I stiffened, knowing it could only be one person. After our last argument, I wasn’t exactly thrilled to face her.“Come in,” I called out flatly, my voice still tinged with bitterness—not just from last night, but from our previous clash.Elena poked her head in, her brow furrowed with concern. She hesitated at the doorway, as if gauging whether I’d throw her out. “Alex? Can I talk to you for a minute?”I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms defensively. “What is it, Elena? Come to tell me again how I should marry Charlotte and save the family's reputation?”Her expression faltered, a flash of guilt crossing her face before she closed the door and stepped inside. “Alex, I didn’t come to argue. I heard about the news... about Liam Brighmore’s engagement.” She studied me carefully, her voice soft. “How are you holding up?”I scoffed, shaking my head as I turned away. “Why do you care? I’m sure yo
81Alex "You've got to be kidding me," I mumbled under my breath, still staring at the screen.Liam Brighmore. The words on the screen felt like a slap to my face. Prince Liam Brighmore... marrying Sophia Belleville in three days. I sat frozen, staring at the screen, my mind struggling to wrap around what I was seeing. This wasn’t just news—it was a punch to my gut.Liam? Marrying her? My fingers trembled as I gripped the remote tighter, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. His smiling face, so composed, so damn perfect, was plastered all over the screen. The same Liam who had once begged me to be with him, the same Liam who’d whispered sweet promises into my ear like he was the only one who could make me feel alive. And now? Now he was getting married."Unbelievable," I whispered, my voice raw with disbelief. How? How could he do this? How could he go from swearing he was in love with me to... this? It was as if everything he'd said to me had been a lie.A tight knot formed in my ches
80AlexWeeks had passed since I walked out on Charlotte and Damon, and now the weight of the situation was beginning to settle heavily on my chest. The tension in our family had only grown, each day making me feel like a bad son. The guilt gnawed at me like an insistent pest, threatening to swallow me whole. I could barely sleep without the nagging thought that I had somehow failed them all. But I couldn’t undo what I had done, no matter how much it haunted me.I was walking through the hallway of the mansion when I heard my father's voice booming from the study. His words were sharp, and the anger behind them was unmistakable. I paused for a moment, feeling the tension build, knowing I had to face him."You've put me in a hell of a position, Alex!" My father's voice rang out, his tone like a whip, crackling with fury. "I had everything under control until you decided to act like a damn child!"I could feel my heart race in my chest as I approached the door, the air in the house thic
79LiamThe silence stretched so long it felt like it could suffocate me. I turned to my mother, my jaw tight as I tried to keep my frustration from boiling over.“Mother,” I said sharply, my voice trembling with the effort to stay calm, “how could you plan a wedding without even asking me? Without—without us?”She raised a perfectly arched brow, clearly unimpressed with my outburst. “Liam, don’t be dramatic. The two of you have been together for months. The entire kingdom expects this. It’s what’s best for all of us.”I scoffed, pushing my plate aside with a loud scrape. “Best for all of us? I haven’t even proposed to her! I haven’t given her a ring, a proper engagement—nothing! And now you’re telling me we’re to marry next week? How does that make sense to you?”Sophia flinched at my words. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, and for a split second, I saw it—the fear she wasn’t showing to anyone else. Her hands were clasped so tightly in her lap her knuckles had turned whi
78LiamWeeks had passed, and I could feel myself getting better. The wound had healed completely, though the emotional scars from everything that had happened were far from fading. But now, there was something else weighing on me—something even more pressing and annoying.My mother had been relentless in her insistence that I marry Sophia. We’d been pretending to be a couple for months now, all so I could keep my secret—my real identity hidden from the world. She had warned me about the consequences if I didn’t comply, but I had begged her, and as always, she couldn’t refuse me. So here I was, stuck in a game I didn’t want to play.Today, we were all gathered around the grand dining table in the palace. My mother, ever the queen, was seated at the head. Anders, my wicked brother, sat beside his equally wicked wife—Evelyn. She had a name that seemed to fit her too perfectly, like the kind of name you’d give to someone who knew how to make your life miserable with just a smile. And the
77 Alex Turning to Damon and Charlotte, I took a deep breath, trying to steady my voice. "I'm not going to marry her. I don't care what you say or what happens to my family's reputation. This isn't my problem, and I'm not going to fix it." Damon's expression hardened, his eyes narrowing. "You don't have a choice, Alex. This is the only way to save your family." "Then let them burn," I spat, my voice dripping with venom. "I'm done with this. I'm done with all of it." I turned and headed for the door, my heart pounding in my chest. I could hear Charlotte's voice behind me, her tone shrill and demanding. "Alex! Where do you think you're going? You can't just leave!" I didn't turn around, my pace quickening as I made my way towards the exit. But just as I reached for the door, I heard her voice again, this time laced with a hint of desperation. "Alex, wait! You can't leave without a car. How do you plan to get home?" I paused, my hand on the doorknob, and turned to face her. Her e
76Alex The tension in the room was palpable. The fire crackled and popped, casting flickering shadows on the stone walls. But the warmth it offered couldn’t soothe the chill running through me. Damon Nightshade, as smug and composed as ever, sat in his chair, his dark eyes gleaming with quiet amusement.Beside him, Charlotte leaned back in her seat, a glass of red wine in hand, her smile far too pleased. I stood there, arms crossed, trying to keep my emotions in check. I had been dragged here under duress, but there was no way in hell I was going to make it easy for Damon or Charlotte.Damon leaned forward slightly, his gaze never leaving mine. “Alex, I know this isn’t easy for you. But sometimes, life forces you to make hard decisions.”“Hard decisions?” I scoffed, my voice filled with disbelief. “What the hell are you talking about? You think I’m just going to roll over and play your game?”He didn’t flinch, his lips curling into a smile. “I don’t think you have much of a choice,
75AlexThe fire crackled softly, its warmth doing nothing to ease the icy tension in the room. Damon Nightshade leaned back in one of the leather chairs, exuding a relaxed authority that made my skin crawl. He studied me like I was some pawn on a chessboard, waiting for me to make a move he could exploit. “Have a seat,” Damon said, gesturing to the chairs opposite him. His voice was smooth, calm, but it carried an undertone of command that left no room for argument.I stayed standing, crossing my arms. “We’re not here to make ourselves comfortable.”Damon tilted his head, a faint, amused smile on his lips. “Suit yourself. Though, I find negotiations go smoother when everyone’s relaxed. Charlotte, what will you have to drink?”Charlotte, who had made herself at home on the chair beside him, smiled like she belonged there. “A glass of red wine, Damon. Something bold.”“Of course,” Damon said, nodding toward one of the silent attendants who stood in the shadows near the door. The man d