**3rd Person POV**
“Stop wasting your time, Prince. Our marriage is over,” he had been trying to woo Gabriella back but in spite of his best efforts, it was not working. She may have taken her kind features from her father but it was fair to say that she had learnt to be tough from her stepmother.
“It is not over until I say it is. I will tell the Council of…”
“You can report me to whoever but you have shown me a side of you that you hid so well while we were dating and I cannot unsee it now,” responded Gabriella who had now lost her appetite. She had been very happy when she had seen that Ashton had been leaving earlier.
“And I have sworn to you that I am a changed man,” promised Ashton but Gabriella turned her face away and said nothing. Agatha was proud of her daughter but she was not proud of the fact that the reason she had moved on so quickly had something to do with the werewolf seated across from her daughter, Prince Harlin.
“You can say nothing to change my mind,” said Gabriella.
“Just remember that you are still married, Gabby. I will mercilessly kill any man that tries to seduce you,” he responded with a venomous tone, eyeing Prince Harlin who sat at the table.
“Is that a threat?” quipped Gabriella. The table turned dead quiet. It was as though no one but them existed in the room.
“It is a statement of…”
“Enough! How rude Prince Ashton, I would have thought your parents taught you some manners. How dare you embarrass my guests in my very presence?” demanded King Armand. It was seldom that King Armand got angry but when he did it was quite brutal and at this point, his anger had been stirred up.
“I did not return for sentimental talk. You are my wife Gabriella and I will have you back one way or another,” said Ashton, completely ignoring King Armand.
“I have been courteous enough. I will have my guards personally remove you from my palace if you continue this nonsense,” threatened King Armand.
“I want to propose a deal to Prince Harlin,” said Prince Ashton. He had been waiting for this day. The day he would reveal his ultimate trump card—that he had Irvette in his possession. This was not however how he had envisioned this day to come. He had expected things to go differently. For instance, he did not wish to be the one asking for something, he had wanted it to be them. He had tried many years ago to bargain with Irvette for something of importance then. However, Lady Tristan was one cold-hearted woman.
He remembered vividly that she had first demanded to see Irvette before she could do anything about what he had asked. He had taken her to see Irvette in the cell where he had placed her. When she saw Irvette, she had the sickest smile he had ever seen. The smile on her face still gives him nightmares to this day. He had not known anyone other than himself who found so much in enjoying others' suffering.
He had been very shocked because he had expected pity from the old woman but she had smiled, then she had thrown her head back in laughter. When she had recovered from her long laugh, Lady Tristan had said, “What a beautiful sight! Who knew you would fall victim to kidnapping too, huh?”
Ashton had been thoroughly shocked that day. He understood the ugly history between the two but he believed that for Emily to even accept being Harlin's godmother, the two families had repaired the burnt bridge between them.
“My son. Tell me about my son. Is he alive? Is he well?” asked Irvette who did not seem the least surprised about Lady Tristan’s actions.
“When I discovered my great-grandchildren were gone, I asked myself many times—Are they alive? Are they well? Are they being tortured? Will I ever see them again?” Lady Tristan's facial expression had turned deadly at this point.
Irvette had a look of horror on her face.
“I just want to know if Harlin is alive. Please tell me,” the imprisoned queen had begged. Lady Tristan however had no such intentions.
“Why? So you can decide if life is worth living? If you'll be compensated for all this suffering?”
“Please, please. I only need to know just that,” Irvette pleaded with tears streaming down her cheeks.
“I believe Regina asked herself that question many times—Are my twins alive? Do you know now how that must feel?” demanded Lady Tristan.
“I was not in control of my senses. George scammed us all, he was drugging my mind using…”
“You are telling me that you had no moment of clarity? That it never occurred to you that what you were doing was planning evil?” asked Lady Tristan.
Irvette was quiet; it was clear that she did not know how to respond to this question.
“They may have bought that silly story you told them but I do not care about your stories one bit; I do not believe any of it for even a second,” spat Lady Tristan bitterly.
Ashton knew he should have taken Lady Tristan away since it was clear she had no intention of striking a bargain with him in exchange for Irvette's release. Listening to Lady Tristan express her bitterness, he had begun to think that perhaps keeping Irvette as a prisoner was useless. However, he understood the value of patience and had watched from afar the friendship that had developed between the twins and Harlin; that was how he knew that investing in Irvette as a prisoner was not a waste.
As he had stood there observing the conversation between the two of them, he began to wonder why Lady Tristan had insisted on coming all the way to see Irvette.