Chapter 223

Ella POV

By the time we got to the apartment, I was conflicted. I felt like I had made some kind of mistake in the way I handled Amanda, but it was too late to take it back.

Whatever happened next was out of my hands.

It wasn’t as though Alexander and I had a chance to plan how to handle it. The king had given us no opportunity to prepare or even properly react. We had to act immediately, and now, I could only hope that I hadn’t made things worse.

Alexander was quiet, lost in thought. I didn’t push him to talk. He had plenty to process too. There was still so much for us to consider.

For now, the headlines were all about Archer, which gave us a little breathing room. After all, it was his sister who had been arrested. It didn’t exactly help his newly announced campaign.

As Alexander walked toward the kitchen, the ding of his phone cut through the silence. He paused, checking the message. A deep frown settled over his face.

"What is it?" I asked, bracing myself for more bad news.

"It’s a picture," he said softly. "Of Sabrina and her daughter."

I stepped to his side, and Alexander lowered his phone for me to see.

My eyes narrowed as he slowly cycled through a few images. Sabrina and her daughter were sitting at a café. The little girl had Alexander’s bright eyes and pale hair.

She looked so much like him.

Seeing her again, it was even clearer.

Alexander inhaled sharply as he flipped to the next photo.

And then I saw her.

"Diana," I said angrily.

She was standing at the table, obviously speaking to Sabrina.

I turned to Alexander, my pulse pounding. "What does this mean?"

But the pained expression on his face melted away my anger.

This was difficult for him. I couldn’t forget that.

"It makes sense," Alexander said. "Diana's her aunt. If Sabrina was in trouble, she has no other family to turn to."

There was an unmistakable sorrow in his tone, so I tried to be gentle as I asked, "What do you mean, no other family?"

"Her parents died when we were kids," he explained. "I’m not even sure if Diana is actually her blood aunt or if she was just very close friends with Sabrina's parents. It was a subject she never liked to talk about, and I never pressed her on it. But she has no one else. If it's true that her husband turned his back on her, then she has nowhere else to go."

"And Diana is taking advantage of that," I said, realization sinking in.

Alexander nodded. I expected anger, but instead, he just looked... sad. It wasn’t a reaction I had anticipated, and not one I had ever really seen from him before.

I reached out and placed my hand over his arm, gently pressing his phone down. He looked at me, his gaze momentarily foggy before his eyes cleared and focused on mine.

"We can deal with this tomorrow," I said softly.

"Right," he agreed with a small nod. "Of course, you're right. It's just..."

"It's a lot," I finished for him, hoping he understood that I meant it with empathy.

Alexander exhaled, then nodded. "I'm going to take a shower," he murmured.

"Okay," I agreed. "I’ll arrange for dinner."

"Thank you," he said, bending down to kiss me lightly.

I returned the kiss, then watched him walk away.

I couldn’t begin to imagine what he was feeling right now. It seemed so likely that the little girl in the picture was his daughter.

That had to be devastating—to learn he had a child he knew nothing about. And now, before he even had the chance to meet her, she could be used against him.

I didn’t know what kind of person Sabrina was, but if she was capable of using her own child as a weapon against Alexander, she was dirt in my eyes.

Yet, he didn’t seem to feel that way. Instead of anger, he pitied her.

There had to be something I didn’t understand, but it was too sensitive a topic to push with him right now.

Sinking onto the couch, I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to Elizabeth to check in.

A second later, she called.

I answered right away. "Hey."

"Hey," Elizabeth replied weakly.

"How are you holding up?" I asked.

"I'm at Damien’s," she said. "I couldn’t listen to all that yelling anymore."

"It's still bad. I was hoping she might calm down."

"No such luck," Elizabeth said with a sigh. "But before I left, I did get a chance to talk to my father. I wanted to give you a brief update."

"I appreciate that," I said. "As long as your father won’t be upset about you sharing."

"I don’t think he will," she admitted. "But frankly, at this point, I don’t care. I don’t know what the hell is going on with him."

There was frustration in her voice, and I didn’t blame her. The King’s behavior had been strange, and it was becoming more obvious that Diana was behind much of the chaos.

She was manipulating everything—Sabrina, Amanda, even the King himself. A true puppet master.

"There’s a lot to handle. I’m sure it’s just stress," I said, hoping to reassure her.

"He says he’s getting useful information from Amanda, but that he has to double-check everything, given her state of mind."

I made a sound to show I was listening but didn’t speak.

"He… he said that when it’s all said and done, he’ll probably banish her. It’s a lighter sentence than she deserves, but given the circumstances…"

"She’s pregnant," I said quietly.

"Yeah," Elizabeth whispered. "It’s so sad."

"It is," I agreed.

Everything about this situation was sad. Right now, it was hard to feel anything else. My mind felt like it was shutting down, rejecting the sheer chaos of the day. A deep exhaustion settled over me.

"Thank you for letting me know," I said softly. "We’ll talk again soon."

"Yeah," Elizabeth replied. "Take care."

Alexander POV

I tried to call Diana four times.

The final time, it went straight to voicemail.

I had the urge to throw my phone across the room, but it wouldn't do any good. I wasn’t even angry—just distraught. Conflicted.

I knew what I had to do.

I just didn’t know if I had the strength to do it.

Diana wouldn't speak to me, which left me with only one option.

I scrolled through my contacts, staring at her name for what felt like forever. My thumb hovered over the call button as doubt clawed at me.

Finally, I turned the shower on—letting the water run cold just to muffle the sound of my voice—then hit the button.

I didn't expect an answer.

I thought I'd leave a voicemail, buy myself a little more time to prepare. The phone rang for several long seconds before a hesitant, familiar voice answered.

"It's been a long time," Sabrina said.

My chest tightened painfully.

"We need to talk," I replied, my voice tight.

There was a pause—just long enough to make me wonder if she would hang up.

"We really do," she finally said, her voice soft. "Should I come by the office?"

"I think that would be easiest."

She actually laughed—bitter, nervous. "Easiest, sure. Tomorrow?"

"I'll let the secretary know to expect you."

"Okay."

The line went dead.

Just like that, it was arranged.

Two minutes.

It had taken two minutes to set something in motion that could tear everything apart.

My heart was pounding as if I were heading into battle.

Was it guilt—hiding this from Ella?

Or was it the prospect of seeing Sabrina again?

I wasn’t sure which answer would be worse.