Chapter 20
Alexander's POV
Mrs. Bella Smith's birthday banquet, such a trivial matter, wouldn't have caught my attention at all. But that woman who claims to be pregnant with my child has fled to the Smith family. So here I was. Inside the grand ballroom, Elizabeth stood on the dais, announcing she was pregnant with Aiden's child. Her face was a carefully constructed mask of hurt and vulnerability, an expression calibrated to elicit sympathy from every soul in the room. I watched from the periphery of the crowd, a spectator to this meticulously staged drama, and found myself unable to distinguish the truth from the performance.
It was then that Bianca collapsed. Her trajectory was unmistakable, a deliberate, theatrical fall aimed directly at Elizabeth.
Aiden lunged forward, a primal instinct to protect Bianca overriding all else, but he was a fraction too late. Elizabeth, without a moment's hesitation, sidestepped with a chilling grace, leaving an empty space where she had stood.
Bianca hit the marble floor with a sickening thud that echoed through the sudden silence, a sound that promised bruises and fractures.
"Elizabeth!" Aiden's voice was a raw, uncontrolled roar. He swung his hand, his fury uncoiling.
My brow furrowed. I moved before the thought fully formed, crossing the distance in a few swift strides. My arm wrapped around Elizabeth's waist, pulling her back against my chest, shielding her from the blow.
The woman in my arms tilted her head up, her eyes wide with a lingering terror, resembling a startled doe. Then, just as quickly, she pushed me away.
I froze for a moment.
"Bianca!" Aiden shouted heart-wrenchingly, picked Bianca up, and rushed out of the banquet hall, completely ignoring what kind of occasion it was.
Mrs. Bella Smith stood frozen, her gaze fixed on Aiden's retreating form. Her first reaction was to clutch Elizabeth's hand, her grip desperate.
"Elizabeth, don't you worry. Grandma will stand by you. There's nothing between Aiden and that woman, you mustn't overthink this."
But anyone with eyes could see who truly held Aiden's concern. Elizabeth, who had just declared herself the mother of his heir, was instantly transformed into the evening's most pitiful joke.
She lowered her head, her voice a fragile whisper. "Grandma, I'm not feeling well. I think I'd like to go home."
Every eye in the room was fixed on her, a sea of pity and morbid curiosity.
No one recognized me. I slipped out of the crowd unnoticed, my steps silently shadowing hers.
The party continued within, but the corridors outside were deserted. Elizabeth's pace quickened, her hurried walk dissolving into a near-panicked jog.
"Elizabeth," I said, my voice cutting through the quiet.
Her body went rigid. A faint tremor ran through her, a clear signal of fear.
"What are you hiding from?" A cold smile touched my lips, but I smoothed my expression back to neutrality as I stepped in front of her, blocking her path.
I cupped her chin, tilting her exquisitely made-up face toward me. It was a striking face, made luminous by a pair of almond-shaped eyes that were so bright, they demanded a second look.
Elizabeth's hands came up to grip my wrist, her struggle to break free immediate. "Mr. Windsor, I appreciate you helping me back there, but trying to lock me up afterward… that was wrong."
She pushed my hand away and immediately took two steps back, deliberately creating a chasm of space between us.
For some reason, the family doctor's words echoed in my mind, "Elizabeth's health is fragile. She requires careful attention. In the few days she had hidden with the Smiths, the pallor of her complexion had not improved."
Her guarded eyes, filled with defensiveness, stirred an unfamiliar irritation within me. I bent down, and in one fluid motion, hoisted her over my shoulder.
"Mr. Windsor! What are you doing? Put me down!"
Her fists beat against my back, but the frantic drumming had all the force of a gentle rain, more a nuisance than a genuine struggle. I deposited her into the backseat of the car I'd had waiting and gave the driver a single destination: the hospital.
During the drive, she shrank against the far side of the leather seat, her gaze fixed on me as if I were some kind of monster.
I felt an unexpected urge to laugh but suppressed it, instead letting a low threat rumble from my chest. "Behave."
When the car stopped, she lowered her head in what seemed like resignation. I grasped her wrist and pulled her from the vehicle, leading her step by step into the sterile white halls of the hospital.
It was only when I pushed her into a private office and she saw the man standing inside that she reacted. Her eyes locked onto Finn, her lips parting slightly, a cocktail of shock and a desperate urge to flee warring in her expression.
I glanced at Finn. "Is this her?"
Seeing Elizabeth, Finn looked as though he'd been thrown a lifeline. He nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes! That's the young lady, I'd never mistake her! Her name is Elizabeth, that's her!"
Elizabeth's expression was a fascinating spectacle. She turned her head slowly to look at me, a storm of emotions churning behind her eyes. Then, she took a deliberate step closer, her voice softening into a plea. "Mr. Windsor."
I gestured for Finn to leave us. The door clicked shut, leaving us alone in the quiet room.
She reached out, her fingers lightly brushing my arm. "Mr. Windsor, I wasn't lying before. The baby I'm carrying… it really is a Windsor. For the sake of this child, can you promise not to hurt me?"
She seemed genuinely terrified, her voice impossibly soft, laced with a tremor that was undeniably real.
At this moment, I suddenly understood why I had deliberately hidden my identity in front of her, and even made a special effort to attend Mrs. Bella Smith's birthday banquet. These were all troublesome things that weren't worth wasting my time on.
It was curiosity. I was curious about her.
I wanted to know why she was doing all of this.
"If it is a Windsor child," I began, my voice even, "you could have simply announced that at the party. Had you done so, no one would have dared to harm you. Why didn't you?"
A flicker of confusion crossed her features, as if she couldn't comprehend my question. She shook her head. "I've already been hurt. I can't just let that go."
The child was her shield, her guaranteed entry into the protection of the Windsor family, yet she had forsaken the simplest path. Looking at her, I understood the unspoken weight of her words. To be wronged and not retaliate was a deeper wound than the initial injury itself.
"Go get checked first," I looked at her, my tone softening without me even realizing it.
A look of terror immediately appeared on Elizabeth's face. I reached out as if possessed and ruffled her hair, asking, "Do you have a psychological shadow from the check-up?"
It made sense. After all, Aiden had almost harmed her back then, and his excuse was taking her for a physical examination.
She shook her head sharply, her gaze locking with mine. "Mr. Windsor, will you send me to Alexander?"
I didn't answer. Seeing her again, I had no intention of ever letting her go.
The ease with which she had slipped through my fingers last time was an oversight born of underestimation. I had not believed anyone would dare to play such games with me. Elizabeth was the first.
"Lie down over there," I instructed, gesturing toward the examination bed as I signaled for my assistant to enter.
Elizabeth hesitated for a few seconds, visibly weighing her options, before she complied, moving with a quiet obedience to lie down on the bed.
"Mr. Windsor, why are you doing this? Are you and Alexander close?"
Her mind, I imagined, must be a whirlwind of questions about me. Her fear seemed to have receded slightly. I had intended to leave, but I turned back, closing the distance between us again.
I stood over her, a vantage point that offered an unobstructed view. The gown she wore was designed to accentuate her figure, and as she lay back, the curves of her body were thrown into stark, elegant relief. That, combined with her face… Elizabeth was leagues ahead of that Bianca woman.
I couldn't fathom how she had ever been the one to lose.
"You're not afraid of me anymore?" I ignored her question, meeting her almond-shaped eyes instead.
A faint, unreadable smile played on her lips.
"I am," she answered, and it was the truth.
A cold laugh escaped me. I purposefully hardened my expression, leaning down slowly until my face was only inches from hers. "If you're afraid," I murmured, "then you'll learn to be still."