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Chapter Thirty Four

Author: Joystickz
last update publish date: 2026-07-22 02:27:55

XANDER

By the time I reached my chambers, the sky outside had turned the color of a bruise. Elma sat by the fire, the herb book open on her lap, though her eyes weren't moving across the page.

She looked up the second I entered. Then looked away just as fast.

"You don't have to do that," I said.

"Do what?"

"Look away from me."

"I wasn't sure I was allowed to look at you at all, not after everything that happened last night."

I crossed the room and sat across from her. "Elma. I need you to tell
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  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Seventy-four

    ElmaI carried the secret for three days before it began to feel less like something I owned and more like something that owned me, pressing outward from beneath my ribs every time Xander looked at me a moment too long, every time he asked why I'd left my food untouched or noticed the particular pallor that came and went across my face without warning."You're hiding something," he said on the third evening, setting down his cup with the deliberate care of a man choosing not to raise his voice. "I've watched you hide things before, Elma. I know what it looks like now.""I'm not hiding anything.""You flinched when the kitchen brought up the stew tonight. You've flinched at that same dish three times this week.""I don't care for the spices they've been using lately.""Elma."I set down my own cup, unable to hold the lie steady any longer under the particular weight of his patience, the way he simply waited, unwilling to press further but equally unwilling to let the subject drop entir

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Seventy-three

    Elma"You're carrying a child," the healer said. "Perhaps two months along, by my estimate, though I'll want to confirm that further as the weeks pass."The words landed somewhere far away from me, as though they belonged to someone else's conversation entirely, someone else's body, someone else's terrifying, impossible new truth."That isn't possible," I said, though even as the words left me, I already knew how foolish they sounded."It's entirely possible, Lady Elma. And by every measure I can find, it's already happening."I pressed both hands against my stomach, feeling nothing different beneath my palms, no proof at all beyond his careful, certain words, and yet something in me believed him instantly and completely, the way I had believed the ache in my ribs before the bruises even fully bloomed."Does anyone else know?""No one. I wouldn't share this without your permission, not even with the King."Something in my chest loosened slightly at that, gratitude threading through th

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Seventy-two

    ElmaThe dizziness came without warning, three days after the healer finally allowed me back on my feet, arriving in the middle of counting bandages in the infirmary storeroom, the shelves tilting gently sideways before righting themselves again.I gripped the edge of the shelf until the room settled, breathing carefully through the nausea rolling low in my stomach."Lady Elma?"One of the younger healers had appeared in the doorway, concern already written plainly across her face."I'm fine," I said. "Only tired.""You've looked pale all morning.""I haven't been sleeping well."That much, at least, was true. Between the lingering ache in my ribs and the memory of hooded figures pressing close in the dark, sleep had become something I fought for rather than something that simply arrived.I finished counting the bandages, though my hands trembled slightly through the task, and made my way toward the small kitchen the infirmary staff used for their own meals, hoping food might settle w

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Seventy-one

    XanderMarcus arrived before I had finished my breakfast, a folded report already in his hand, his expression carrying the particular tightness he wore whenever he suspected the news he carried would please me and trouble me in equal measure."My King. We have something on last night's attack.""Tell me.""A witness came forward this morning. A stable hand who claims he saw Lord Victor near the old storage buildings shortly before the hour Elma was taken."I set down my cup slowly. "Victor.""The same lord who proposed isolating her before the council weeks ago."I thought back to that meeting, to the way Victor had spoken of Elma as though she were livestock to be managed rather than a woman deserving of basic decency, the same coldness in his voice that so many of the elders carried and rarely bothered to disguise."What else?""A torn piece of his personal seal was found near the path leading toward the servants' gate. And one of the guards on duty last night reported smelling a pa

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Seventy

    CamilaThe news of Ivy's disappearance reached me before I'd even finished dressing, delivered in a hurried whisper by one of my remaining maids, her hands trembling as she relayed it."She's gone, my Lady. Vanished sometime in the night. The guards are already asking questions."I kept my face perfectly still, the way I had trained myself to do for centuries, though inside something sharp and cold had begun climbing up through my chest."Questions about what?""About her, my Lady. And about who recommended her for the position."Of course they were. Of course that fool girl had left something behind, some scrap of carelessness that would eventually lead them straight back to my door if I didn't move quickly enough to redirect it elsewhere first.I dismissed the maid and sat alone for exactly as long as it took to steady my breathing.Derrick arrived within the hour, summoned through the passage only he and I knew still existed beneath the old records wing."You've heard," I said."I'

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Sixty-nine

    I woke to sunlight cutting thin lines across the infirmary ceiling, and for one merciful moment I forgot everything that had happened, the hands, the boots, the cold press of the blade against my throat.Then my ribs reminded me, sharp and immediate, and I remembered all of it at once."You're awake."Xander sat in the chair beside the bed, exactly where I had last seen him, though something in the set of his shoulders told me he hadn't slept, hadn't moved much at all through the night."How long have you been sitting there?""Long enough."I tried to sit up and regretted it instantly, the pain flaring hot along my side, my breath catching before I could stop it."Don't," he said, already reaching to steady me. "The healer said you need to stay still for at least another day.""I have patients.""Elma.""The northern settlement sent word about a lingering cough among three of the children. I told the healer I'd look at it myself this morning.""You will not."I stared at him, waiting

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Four

    Elma"Treason!""Stone her!""Tear her apart!"My head throbbed with a blinding pain. I blinked, my vision swimming as the blurry shapes around me sharpened into terrifying focus. I was lying on the floor of a steel cage."What... what am I doing here?" "Please.""She's finally awake," a deep, c

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Three

    ElmaThe rough bark of the boundary tree scraped against my bare back as the two guards violently hurled me onto the wet, muddy ground."Stay on that side of the line, Elma," the taller one spat, tossing my torn shoes into the dirt beside my head. "If you cross back onto Silver Moon territory, we w

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter Two

    Elma“Wait, Liam, what are you”The door slammed shut, cutting off my words.A mistake.Panic and a sickening wave of betrayal forced me into motion. I scrambled off the bed, my hands shaking so violently I could barely pull the torn fabric of my dress over my curves. I didn't bother with my shoes.

  • His Rejected Plus-Sized Secret Heir    Chapter One

    ElmaThe drums were vibrating right through the soles of my shoes.The Moon Festival was always beautiful, but tonight felt different. It was supposed to be a celebration. Tonight, the entire pack gathered to watch Liam take his rightful place as Alpha. For the first time in years, the harvest was

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