Alexander didn't look at Elizabeth as he responded aloofly, "You heard it."
Elizabeth fiddled with her dirty hem, her voice very soft as she remarked doubtfully, "Mr. Windsor. This joke is not funny at all."
Alexander sneered and asked sternly, "Isn't marrying me your constant scheme?"
Alexander's sharp gaze cut across Elizabeth's thin face like a knife. When their eyes met, Elizabeth shuddered and turned her head away, but Alexander forcefully grabbed her chin , compelling her look at him.
Only then did Elizabeth notice the strong, striking contours of Alexander's face beneath the sunglasses, a look that could only be described as divinely favored. The stubble on his chin exuded an unparalleled masculine aura.
His suit was exquisitely tailored, clearly a luxury item.
Elizabeth could sense that Alexander held a very prestigious status.
In contrast, she was dressed in old, tattered clothes, looking filthy and unkempt, having not bathed for days.
Were they really going to register for marriage?
Elizabeth lowered her eyes and said softly, "Mr. Windsor, do you think that after two years in prison without seeing a man, I would just throw myself at any low-quality man I've never met?"
Alexander couldn't help but glance at her again.
Elizabeth was young but very articulate and exceptionally calm. Alexander's disdain for her grew even more. He questioned angrily, "Are you deliberately trying to provoke me to get my attention?"
Without waiting for Elizabeth to respond, Alexander ordered the driver, "To City Hall!"
"Let me out! I don't even know you!" Elizabeth demanded, terrified, tried to open the door and get out.
Alexander twisted her arm, forcing her back onto the seat, his sinister gaze fixed on her. His voice was chillingly cold as he said, "Listen to me; if you want to die, I'll fulfill your wish right now!"
Elizabeth's eyes welled up with tears, her voice trembling as she spoke, "I don't want to die."
"To City Hall!" Alexander ordered again.
"Mr. Windsor, are we going to City Hall like this?" Alexander's assistant, Gavin Brown, asked from the front passenger seat.
Alexander was puzzled by what Gavin meant.
Gavin glanced at Elizabeth and said bluntly, "Mrs. Windsor, her clothes are tattered and filthy."
"Back to The Windsor Manor!" Alexander ordered again.
"Yes, Mr. Windsor!" the driver responded, then started the engine.
An hour and a half later, the car stopped.
Elizabeth got out and saw the grand estate on the hillside-The Windsor Manor.
Compared to the hillside estate she had seen three days ago, it was worlds apart.
The Windsor Manor looked like a palace while the estate from three days ago looked like a dilapidated prison.
The man who took her virginity must have been a death row inmate, right?
Lost in thought, Elizabeth's wrist was already grasped by Alexander.
She was quite petite compared to him. As he took large strides, Elizabeth, led by him, had to jog to keep up, looking very much like a stray dog he had picked up.
The servants in the estate bowed and greeted Alexander, "Mr. Windsor, you're back."
Alexander led Elizabeth past the main house to a row of low houses in the backyard and threw her to a few maids. He instructed them, "Find her some clean clothes and let her take a bath!"
"Yes, Mr. Windsor," the maids answered in unison and took Elizabeth to the bathroom.
Elizabeth felt an urgent need to escape.
She couldn't allow herself to fall into the hands of a man like Alexander, who hated her enough to want to kill her yet still wanted to marry her, after her release from prison.
Lost in her thoughts, Elizabeth didn't notice that the maids had already undone most of her clothes.
The maids collectively gasped.
One of the maids questioned, "The bruises on her neck look like hickeys?"
Another added, "And here, all over."
Elizabeth snapped back to reality and bit her lip in panic. She claimed, "I'm not used to others bathing me. Please leave, I'll do it myself."
One of the maids asked her, "Are you the one Mr. Windsor picked up..."
Elizabeth quickly interrupted, "A maid."
"Then bathe yourself!" the maids remarked as they turned and left with a cold attitude.
As they walked out, one of the maids sneered, "I thought she was Mr. Windsor's lover. Turns out she's just a maid. She looks like a slutty woman. Why should we bathe her?"
Looking up, they saw Alexander standing outside the bathroom door, and the maid immediately fell silent in fear.
Inside the bathroom, Elizabeth blushed as she looked at herself in the mirror. That night, she didn't have a chance to look in the mirror, but she knew that there must have been many marks on her body.
Maybe that man was experiencing a final burst of energy before his death.
Her most precious virginity, given to a man she had never seen, would remain a mystery for the rest of her life.
Elizabeth closed her eyes, and tears slid down her cheeks to her neck.
"You really are a filthy woman!" Alexander's harsh voice said.
Elizabeth opened her eyes in panic.
Alexander was looking at the marks on her neck with disgust.
Elizabeth hurriedly grabbed her clothes to cover herself, tears of shame and anger falling. She snapped at him, "I was kidnapped by you right after getting out of prison. I don't know you. No matter how dirty I am, it has nothing to do with you, right? Please leave!"
Alexander's disdainful gaze fell on Elizabeth's expression, but he couldn't see any flaws in her acting.
Elizabeth was truly a master con artist.
"After you finish bathing, we'll go register for marriage. Three months later, I'll divorce you and give you some money. By then, you won't be able to stay by my side for even a second longer!" With that, he closed the door and left.
In the yard, because Alexander was there, the servants didn't dare to breathe loudly.
Everyone here had witnessed how ruthless and domineering the newly appointed head of the Windsor family, Alexander, was four days ago.
Alexander was the fourth child of the Windsor family's eldest son. born to his father and a mistress, unlike his three brothers were born of the same mother. Although the Windsor family boasted a prestigious legacy spanning a century, an illegitimate child like Alexander had no claim to inherit the Windsor family's wealth.
Even distant relatives of the Windsor family had more eligibility in inheritance than he did.
In his teens, Alexander was exiled abroad and forbidden to return. Eventually, he fought his way back on his own, only to find his mother, Esme Garcia, had been framed and imprisoned.
From that moment on, Alexander began to plan meticulously in secret. Finally, three days ago, he faked his death to confuse and counterattack his enemies. As a result, he successfully took control of the entire Windsor family, eliminating his opponents in the process.
Now, the Windsor family was under Alexander's command.
Reflecting on the past, Alexander's eyes turned cold.
Esme had not willingly become a mistress; it was Alexander's father's wife who had resorted to underhanded means to keep her husband, using Esme as a pawn in her schemes.
By the time Esme found out his father was already married, she was nine months pregnant.
To give Alexander a complete family, Esme endured endless scorn and was later framed and imprisoned in the prime of her life. After Alexander finally took control of the Windsor family and got Esme out of prison, she only had three months left to live.
Esme had only one wish, that he would marry her friend from prison, Elizabeth.
Seeing that Esme was about to pass away, Alexander had no choice but to agree to her wish.
The night before he decided to get Elizabeth out of prison, he had her investigated.
He found out that Elizabeth's approach to Esme in prison was far from being a coincidence.
"Something's wrong, Mr. Windsor," a servant's panicked cry interrupted Alexander's thoughts.
Alexander's eyes narrowed in annoyance as he asked, "What's wrong?"
"That lady jumped out the window and ran away," the servant said, trembling with fear.