Chapter 32
Elizabeth's POV
My heart tightened, my gaze instinctively flitting away from his.
In Alex's mind, I should be some kind of secret lover of Alexander. But now, he actually asked such a question directly, like a straightforward probe.
Alex took the mouse, his fingers moving with practiced ease as he clicked open several files on the screen, his attention immediately absorbed by the critical documents within.
I didn't stop him.
When Aiden and I were together, letting an outsider see this information would have been unthinkable. Now, it all felt meaningless to me.
Or perhaps, if the man before me could leverage this data to create trouble for Aiden, I might even feel a sliver of vindictive satisfaction.
"There are other ways you can stay by my side," Alex said, his eyes never leaving the monitor. His tone was flat but carried an undeniable weight of authority, as if the possibility of my refusal hadn't even crossed his mind.
I pressed my lips together, making sure he wouldn't continue that dangerous topic about my identity, before cautiously asking, "What do you mean?"
"Work for me. In return, I can grant you a certain degree of freedom. And on this matter, I could even lend you a hand."
"Really?" I was immediately tempted.
Alex did not look like a man who made idle jokes. He possessed an innate air of command that compelled belief, an almost gravitational pull of certainty. I decided, in that moment, to trust him.
"Can I leave now, then?" I ventured, testing the new boundaries. "There's somewhere I have to be, immediately."
Alex rose from the chair, his tall frame casting a long shadow. He glanced down at me, his response concise and final. "I'll drive you."
A sense of unreality clung to me even after I was seated in his car. This man, who radiated an icy, formidable aura, was now acting as my chauffeur? It was a jarring juxtaposition of power and service.
"Address."
"Number Three, Rainbow District," I supplied quickly.
Alex cast a brief, assessing look at me before keying the address into the navigation system.
The drive was steeped in a tense, oppressive silence that made it difficult to breathe. The moment the car glided to a halt, I threw the door open and practically bolted from the vehicle, my feet pounding against the pavement as I rushed toward the familiar villa.
After my parents' unexpected deaths, I had locked this place up, terrified that returning to a house so saturated with memories would break me. I never imagined that my own cowardice would become a weapon for Aiden to use against me, a knife to be plunged into my back when I least expected it.
Alex followed at a measured pace behind me. The instant I pushed the door open, the sight that greeted me was a scene of pure chaos.
The dust cloths had been violently torn from the furniture and lay in crumpled heaps on the floor. The once-neatly arranged furnishings were overturned and smashed, the entire living room transformed into what looked like a derelict dumpsite.
I froze in the doorway, a white-hot rage igniting in my chest. My hands clenched into tight fists, my knuckles bloodless, as I stared at the violation before me.
That bastard, Aiden. It wasn't enough for him to take what he wanted; he had to destroy everything else, too.
Ignoring everything else, I broke into a run, taking the stairs two at a time, needing to see for myself, to get a final confirmation. But when I saw my parents' room, ransacked with the same vicious abandon, the last of my restraint shattered.
"It's too late. It's all too late," I murmured, the words laced with a despair so profound it felt like a physical weight.
Sometime during my frantic search, Alex had appeared at my side. I whipped my head around to face him, the need for vengeance eclipsing every other thought. All that remained was the primal fury of seeing something precious desecrated, a gnawing, helpless anger.
Yet, the man's expression remained as placid as the surface of a deep, dark lake, as if the wreckage around us was of no consequence to him. He simply watched me, his gaze steady, offering no opinion, no judgment.
"Mr. Windsor, if I work for you, you'll help me, right?" I forced the words out, fighting the urge to scream them, needing his final confirmation.
On my own, I stood no chance of getting back at Aiden anytime soon. But Alex was different.
Even if he was just from a branch of the Windsor family, he still carried the name. The entire Smith family's power was negligible in the face of the Windsors. If I could secure his help, any price would be worth paying.
"Of course," Alex replied, his deep-set eyes unreadable. "But that will depend on your capabilities."
"I will do everything in my power to accomplish any task you give me."
Though I had no idea what he wanted from me, if it was a matter of competence, I was confident I would not disappoint him.
Just then, my phone buzzed. Aiden again. This time, I answered without hesitation, tapping the speakerphone icon.
"You made it home?" His voice, smug and triumphant, crackled through the speaker.
My eyes landed on the pried-open, empty safe across the room. A cold sneer twisted my lips. "Yes, Aiden. It's only now that I'm realizing just how monumentally stupid I was to ever tell you everything."
The security codes to the house, the combination to this very safe that held my parents' most important keepsakes—I had given them all to him during the height of my blind devotion. If I could live my life over, I wouldn't waste a single word on him.
A grating laugh echoed from the other end of the line. "I had no idea your family was hiding so many valuables. But I'll tell you what, you're too late. I just offloaded all of it."
His casual, dismissive sentence was a spark to gasoline. I trembled with fury, yet I forced myself to search his words for any sign of a lie, any crack in his story. Could it all be true?
"Aiden, so you're finally admitting you cheated on me with Bianca? Done with the charade?" I compelled myself to remain calm, my tone dripping with sarcasm. Now that the pretense was shattered, there was no point in maintaining false civility.
Aiden seemed to pause for a moment, as if surprised by why I could so calmly expose him.
"Looks like you knew for a while."
A bitter laugh escaped me. "Your acting is so clumsy, who could you possibly fool besides yourself?"
After learning the truth, every one of Aiden's performances in front of me had been like watching a pathetic clown. He inspired nothing in me now but hatred and a visceral revulsion. He was so incredibly full of himself.
A few pointed words were all it took to dismantle his façade.
His laughter ceased, his voice turning grim. "You're right. The only one I've ever loved is Bianca. So, want to guess what I did with the money from your parents' little treasures?"
"I'll just tell you. I used it to fund my engagement party with Bianca. Elizabeth, your family is finished. Stop acting like some high-and-mighty princess. Our engagement is off. I'm going to marry the woman I truly love."
The woman he truly loved. Bianca.
I was too disgusted to form a reply. I just ended the call.
He had said all of that to provoke me. But strangely, now that I was actually confronting him, the initial, overwhelming rage at seeing my home destroyed had subsided, replaced by a cold, clear-headed resolve to make him pay. His final words were less infuriating than they were nauseating.
Then, a quiet voice sounded from beside me. "You still love him?"
"What?" I turned to Alex, incredulous, utterly failing to see how he could have possibly drawn that conclusion from my reaction. Did I look like someone heartbroken over a lost love? Wasn't it obvious I looked like someone who was about to be sick?
"Don't be ridiculous," I snapped, unwilling to even entertain such an absurd debate. I turned away and began searching for cleaning supplies, determined to reclaim this space with my own two hands.
This house held the entirety of my childhood; I couldn't bear to let it remain in this state of violation.
I had intended to ask Alex to leave, but to my surprise, he followed me and began to help.