CHAPTER 79

ALEXANDER

I couldn't seem to get my father’s words out of my head as I jogged down the stairs from the manor’s upper rooms.

‘You've changed son, ever since you married that little wife of yours.’

Could it be? Had Darlene really?

I'd always known being with her made me want to be a better person, but having my father confirm it gave me mixed feelings I didn't know how to unpack yet.

I sighed, gritting my teeth and nodding my head slightly as one of the bright-faced manor maids curtseyed past, her tarp-covered pixie-length hair bobbing dramatically.

My eyes blurred for a moment as tears of frustration sprung to my eyelids before I swallowed past the bile, the rustic red wallpaper jeering me out of my musings right before I felt my chest slap heavily against what must have been a tree trunk.

“Dammit Xander, what the fuck’s wrong with you? Watch where you're going!” Fredrick’s frenzied voice screeched and I reared back to frown at him, catching the crazed look of rage in his eyes before t