Chapter 0121
Chapter 0121
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I didn’t know what David planned to do to Ella, but I knew wouldn’t have been good. He was obsessed with her power, her position. To him, Ella was just a pawn. And I had no doubt David wouldn’t hesitate to break his toys if it suited his twisted agenda.
David’s connections to the Rogues were relatively new, according to my sources. He must have thought manipulating Ella would be easy, and in his desperation after losing control of her, he began reaching out to less- than–reputable friends to help fix what he had screwed up.
But it clearly wasn’t working for him. He was too brash and arrogant to navigate the criminal underworld. If he kept pushing his luck, he was going to get himself killed messing with the wrong people.
It took a cold, calculating person to survive with one foot in civilized society and the other in the underworld. David lacked both the intelligence and the level–headedness to pull it off. That only made him more dangerous to Ella.
And then there was Amanda. She seemed to have an even darker side than David. She’d been laying low since the wedding, and I couldn’t blame her.
If I were in her position, I wouldn’t show my face in public either. But I didn’t trust that she was gone for good. My contacts were keeping a close eye on her, and the minute she made a move, I’d know.
Ella and I weren’t going to be lovers, and we certainly weren’t going to be anything more than that. But she had become important to me, and I would use every resource at my disposal to protect her from those who meant her harm.
In return, I had no doubt that Ella would hand me the kingdom, whether she realized it or not. There was something about her that people loved–the public was drawn to her, invested in her, and they took her words seriously.
Ella spoke well of me, and having her by my side softened all the rumors and suspicions that had always swirled around me. Whatever the truth about me was, it didn’t matter. What mattered was the persona I projected.
And Ella made that persona far more palatable.
Ella wanted to stick to our contract, and so that’s what I would do. The agreement was simple: I would help her, and she would help me.
Our partnership would only end after I became king. Until that moment, she was my top priority. Anyone who threatened her was a threat to me, and anyone who made her unhappy would answer to me.
The sound of a phone ringing cut through my thoughts. Ella’s eyes went wide and she rushed to retrieve her phone from my bedroom.
She came back a moment later with the phone to her ear. She had a slight blush on her face and a concerned expression.
“Alexander, my father would like you to bring me home. He wants to talk to both of us about what happened yesterday,” she said hesitantly.
“We’ll be there in an hour,” I said, loudly enough for the phone to pick up my voice.
Ella looked at me apologetically, then turned her attention back to the phone. I went into my room to get dressed and allow her some privacy to speak to her father.
I knew I was setting a dangerous precedent, blurring the lines between the reality of our situation and the farce we had agreed to carry out. But the truth was, I didn’t care, wanted to support Ella through this difficult time,
+25 BONUS
Chapter 0121
and I knew that facing her parents would be easier if she wasn’t alone.
I enjoyed being around Ella. She made me feel lighter, in a way I hadn’t felt in years, and I wasn’t ready to let go of that feeling. Not yet. Holding on to it for as long as possible–however dangerous it might be–was worth the risk.
