Chapter 1273 After All the Storms

Chapter 1273 After All the Storms

"Got it."

Alexander held her hand tightly, his gaze fixed on her face — and inside, he was quietly falling apart.

She was too calm.

Was she really not going to tell him what she'd been through? Was she really going to let him go on not knowing how useless he'd been?

She wasn't going to lay into him, curse him out, make him face just how badly he'd failed as her husband?

What else could he do?

What would it even take to ease her pain — even a little?

Alexander sank to his knees in front of her and pulled her into his arms. "Victoria, I'm sorry. You went through so much, and I couldn't do a damn thing to stop it. I'm so sorry."

"Alexander, this wasn't your fault."

She simply held him, her fingers drifting softly through his hair as she murmured the words.

Who could have seen any of it coming?

All they'd ever wanted was a simple, quiet life together. No one could have predicted that those people would turn out to be so vile — wolves dressed in human skin.

She had blamed him. Of course she had. But that was the past now, and the past was over.

All she wanted was to be with him — forever, without another separation for as long as she lived.

She loved him. But she also needed protection.

She wasn't the same Victoria anymore — the one who had once believed she could do just fine on her own.

She no longer believed that being alone meant being free. And she was no longer the girl who, at the first warm breeze of possibility, would dream of living some brilliant, dazzling life.

She...

She needed a man.

That man was Alexander — a force to be reckoned with in the business world, but at home, hers and hers alone.

The next morning, breakfast was just as quiet. They were nearly halfway through the meal, and still no one had broken the silence.

Under the table, Victoria gave Alexander's sleeve a small, discreet tug. He set down his spoon, exhaled a long breath, and finally looked up at the elders across from him.

"I support her decision to have a child," he said, his voice measured. "But from here on out, we need to work closely with her doctors to take care of Victoria. There's no room for any mistakes."

"Of course," Arabella spoke up immediately.

She hadn't expected Victoria to bring Alexander around this quickly.

"You don't even need to say that," Eloise added, just as fast. "This whole family will watch over Victoria with everything we've got. We won't let anything happen to her."

Alexander had finally come around — and knowing that he cared for Victoria moved them all. But clearly he'd underestimated just how deeply the family had come to love her. Victoria had long since become one of their own.

He listened to them without a word, his head bowed.

Yeah. It stung.

How could they possibly know what Victoria had been through? How could they understand just how much she had suffered?

After breakfast, Alexander went to the office — but the images wouldn't leave him alone. Her lying there, barely holding on, her eyes struggling to stay open.

What had she been thinking in that moment?

Had she been waiting for him to come for her?

She had waited so long. So long. And he still hadn't found her in time.

He'd dropped Victoria off at her office first, then driven to the Harrington Group headquarters.

An important meeting that morning. Everyone was waiting for him to speak. But his mind was somewhere else entirely.

"Mr. Harrington? Mr. Harrington?"

Shoure called his name several times before he finally looked up. When he spoke, it was only to say: "Let's wrap it up here for today."

The room exchanged uncertain glances. No one quite knew what had gotten into him.

Shoure followed him out. "Is everything okay?"

"No. What is the state of the Montgomery Group now?"

That was the only question Alexander asked.

"On paper, it is nothing but an empty shell. Yet two days ago, Arthur bought Ruby a luxury sports car worth ten million. He must have other sources of income."

At this, Alexander came to an abrupt halt. He turned to look at Shoure, his voice dropping to something cold and deliberate.

"The Montgomery Group should have collapsed long ago, should it not?"