Alexander POV
I stood at the entrance to the holding cell, my fists clenched as I glared at the woman who had been a thorn in my side for far too long. Bianca sat on the narrow cot, looking pitiful, her once–perfect makeup now smudged and her designer clothe wrinkled. She was nothing like the glamorous, powerful figure she portrayed to the world. Now, she was reduced to this….a lying, conniving woman who had no limits when it came to destruction.
Her eyes snapped up to mine, wide and red–rimmed from crying, but I felt no sympathy. None. I had no more room for pity, not for her. The sight of her made my stomach churn, a sickness I couldn’t shake. How had I ever been so blind to he
true nature
“Alexander!” she sobbed, reaching through the bars. “You’ve got to believe me. I didn’t do any of this! You know me….how could I ever..
“Shut up. My voice came out cold, sharp. I didn’t have time for her manipulations. “Don’t you dare say you didn’t do it.” I took a step closer, my knuckles white as I fought the urge to lash out. “You tried to burn my children alive, Bianca. You had Christiana kidnapped. All because you couldn’t handle the fact that it’s over. You couldn’t stand that I chose my family over you.”
She wailed, shaking her head violently. “No! No, Alexander, I didn’t! It wasn’t me! I’m being framed! You have to believe me! Please!” Her hands trembled, her fingers gripping the bars as if they were her lifeline
“Framed!” I scoffed, the bitter taste of disgust coating my tongue “You think I’m that stupid? I have proof, Bianca. Your fingerprints are all over this. The men you hired have already confessed. Marco told Christiana everything. how you orchestrated the whole kidnapping. And now we know about the fire, too.”
Her face twisted into something ugly, her mask slipping further with each word I hurled at her. But instead of backing down she doubled down on the lie
“Marco’s lying she shrieked. “He’s lying to save his own skin! I didn’t do it! I would never hurt you, Alexander. You know that I love you! I’ve always loved you!”
I laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Love? This is how you show love? By trying to destroy everything that matters to me? By putting my children’s lives at risk? You don’t know what love is.”
Tears streamed down her face, her sobs growing louder, more desperate. But I didn’t care. I didn’t care about the tears, the pleading, the pitiful act. It was all part of her game, one she had been playing for years. But not anymore.
“You’re going to rot in here,” I said, my voice low, venomous. ” make sure of it. You’ll never see the outside of this cell again. You’ll never get the chance to hurt anyone else. Not Christiana. Not my kids. No one.”
Her face crumpled, but then her eyes flashed with a new kind of fury. “You think you’ve won?” she hissed, standing up, her fingers still clutching the bars. “You think you can just lock me away and forget about me? I have the best lawyers in the country, Alexander Williams Alistair. I’ll get out of here. And when I do, you’ll regret this. I’ll make sure of it–HI ruin you.”
I stepped closer, inches from her now, staring her down with nothing but contempt. “You’ve already ruined yourself, Bianca. You were always your own worst enemy. And now, the only place you belong is behind these bars. You’ll never hurt anyone again
She screamed, her voice echoing off the walls, but I turned and walked away. The sound of her cries grew fainter with every step I took, umil it was just noise, fading into the background of everything I was about to put behind me.
I stood outside Christiana’s hotel suite, heart pounding harder dan I cared to admit. My chest was tight with guilt, a weight 1 hadn’t been able to shake since I’d found out the truth. It wasn’t just that Bianca had done all of this it was why she had done it. And I knew deep down, no matter how much I tried to oid it, that this was all my fault.
1/3
18:18 Fri, Oct 18
Chapter 97
I knocked, my hand hovering for a moment as the door opened. Christiana stood there, her expression unreadable. She looked tired, more fragile than I’d ever seen her, but strong, as if she had been holding herself together for everyone else’s
sake.
“Alex,” she said flatly, stepping aside just enough for me to enter.
I swallowed hard, stepping inside but feeling like an intruder in every sense of the word. The suite was quiet, the kids and the nanny nowhere to be seen. I couldn’t help but think that was intentional.
She crossed her arms, waiting
I took a deep breath. “Christiana.. I came to apologize. For everything.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Apologize? Now?”
I nodded, the words spilling out faster than I could control. “I know it was Bianca. I know she’s the reason for all of this the fire, the kidnapping. I know she did it because of me. Because I left her. Because I came back into your life and…”
She cut me off, her voice icy. “Exactly. Because of you,”
I froze, not expecting the venom in her voice. I had come here to admit my fault, but I hadn’t expected her anger to hit me like a slap in the face.
“If you hadn’t dragged yourself and your mess into our lives,” she continued, her voice rising, “none of this would’ve happened. I wouldn’t have been kidnapped. Our children wouldn’t have been in danger. We wouldn’t have had to move from one hotel to the next, living like fugitives because of you and your inability to leave the past behind.” “Christiana, please,” I started, my voice breaking. “I didn’t know Bianca would do this. I never thought she was capable of…
“Of what?” she snapped, stepping closer, her eyes blazing. “Of nearly killing me and our children? Of setting a fire that could’ve burned us alive? Of hiring men to kidnap me? That woman was obsessed with you, Alex. And you… you brought her into our world”
Her words were like daggers, each one piercing deeper than the last. I raised my hands defensively, trying to find the right thing to say, but my mind was spinning. “I didn’t know, Christiana. I swear, if I had known”
“But you didn’t,” she interrupted again, her voice cold, cutting, And now, look where we are. My children.. our children were in danger because of you. And you want to stand here and apologize like that’s supposed to fix everything?”
I took a step closer, desperate to make her understand. “I’m not trying to fix anything…I just wanted to apologize, I know I’ve messed up. I know I shouldn’t have let Bianca into my life, let alone ours. But I didn’t think.. I didn’t think she’d go this far.”
“You didn’t think,” she repeated bitterly, her lips pressed into a thin line. “That’s the problem, Alex. You never think. You act, and then you come in after the damage is done, apologizing, expecting forgiveness.”
Fopened my mouth to defend myself, but nothing came out. She was right. In every single way, she was right.
She shook her head, turning toward the door. “You need to leave
-right”
liana, wait, I pleaded, moving toward her, my hands trembling. “Please, don’t push me away. I’m trying to make
She looked at me, her eyes full of pain and anger, and something else..something I hadn’t seen before. It was like she couldn’t stand to look at me anymore.
I don’t want you around us right now, Alex,” she said firmly. “If you hadn’t tried to force your way back into our lives, Bianca wouldn’t have done any of this. I need you to leave. I need to protect my children, and right now, that means keeping them ar away from you
Va
@K 65%
o her life, into our lives. But I couldn’t walk away, not like
or discussion. Her face was stone, her voice unyielding. “I’m
She walked to the door, opened it, and gestured for me to
fed straight ahead, her jaw set. I had lost her.
hoed in my chest.
