Numb

"How are you feeling, my wife?" Vaeldric's voice broke the silence.

My parents had gone home for a while to deal with matters that couldn't be postponed. The same went for Abella, who had stayed awake all night waiting for me to wake up. Mr. Sergio was gone as well, running back and forth to make sure everything was still functioning as it should.

That left only Vaeldric and me in the room. Then again, who would ever suspect that Valerion's most patriotic and seemingly perfect man could hurt his own wife? No one.

Everyone believed I would be safe as long as Vaeldric was by my side. The truth was, I would rather be alone. Or at least have another attendant stay with me instead of him.

"Are you feeling any better?" Vaeldric asked again.

What a ridiculous question. How could he possibly ask me that? My husband had betrayed me. I had lost the child I had waited six years for.

And now I was trapped in the same room as the person I hated most. Even the spacious VVIP suite of the Royal Hospital of Valerion suddenly felt suffocating.

What I needed most was for Vaeldric to leave. But strangely enough, I was too exhausted to hate him. Answering him felt like more effort than he deserved. Everything had happened too fast.

Most of all, I had lost the only thing that might have made me stay and keep trying to repair my marriage. My baby.

What made it worse was that Vaeldric seemed completely oblivious to the depth of my loss. Either he was exceptionally good at hiding it, or he simply didn't feel the same grief. To him, I was little more than a trophy, whether I gave him an heir or not.

After all, the union between the Ashborne and Vermont families had already become one of the most significant political alliances in Valerion.

Since our marriage, almost no one dared challenge either family. Crossing the Vermont family meant risking access to information, education, and economic influence. Crossing the Ashbornes meant facing the kingdom's most powerful military force.

It was no wonder our marriage had become a symbol of power. Every faction in Valerion wanted our support. Even the Royal Family.

The perfect fairy-tale marriage. At least, that's what everyone believed. Reality was far less beautiful.

"Do you need anything?" Vaeldric asked once more.

"I need you to get out of my sight." I didn't even look at him. The memory of him kissing Lysara was still burned into my mind. Oddly enough, it no longer hurt. It disgusted me.

"Very well," he said quietly. "I'll leave you alone for a while and ask Brita to keep you company."

I didn't answer. Silence was the only response he got from me. A few moments later, the door closed behind him. I let out a slow breath.

Even now, I still hadn't been given the chance to see my baby's body. The doctors wouldn't allow me to leave my bed. My Caesarean wound needed time to recover.

To distract myself, I reached for my phone. Damn. The first headline I saw made my stomach turn. The news was everywhere.

GENERAL VAELDRIC: A ROLE MODEL FOR MODERN SOLDIERS

GENERAL VAELDRIC SUCCESSFULLY LEADS NORTHERN MILITARY FORCES THROUGH DOMESTIC CONFLICT

Of course. Please, continue praising that seemingly perfect man. You have no idea who he really is.

Truthfully, neither did I until last night. Then more headlines appeared.

IS GENERAL VAELDRIC HAVING AN AFFAIR?

GENERAL VAELDRIC LOSES HIS CHILD WHILE PROTECTING HIS MISTRESS?

WHO IS THE WOMAN BEHIND LADY SERAPHINA'S MISCARRIAGE?

AFTER SIX YEARS OF WAITING, LADY SERAPHINA LOSES HER BABY BECAUSE OF ANOTHER WOMAN

I stared at the screen. The media moved fast. Far too fast. Where had they gotten all this information? And how was it so accurate?

Could it be that those rumors about Vaeldric and Lysara being spotted together at a hotel had actually been true?

You journalists really were impressive. Even I, his wife, had believed every excuse he gave me. Somehow, the journalists hadn't.

A knock sounded at the door. Before I could respond, Brita stepped inside. Sadness was written all over her face. She had served me since I was still unmarried. When I moved into the Ashborne residence, she came with me.

"My Lady, forgive me, but would you be willing to receive a visitor?"

"Who is it?"

"Lord Cyran, My Lady. I happened to run into him near the elevators."

Cyran. An old friend I hadn't seen in years. Before I could answer, a tall man dressed in formal royal attire stepped into the room with a smile that looked slightly forced.

I raised an eyebrow. "Judging by your clothes, you've come here not as my friend but as a representative of the Royal Family, Cyran."

My lips curved into a faint smile. "Is my family drama truly that interesting? Interesting enough to make the news and attract a royal envoy?"

"It's good to see you again, Lady Ashborne." His smile turned bitter. "It's been years since I've heard that sarcasm from you."

He pulled a chair closer and sat beside my bed. "Honestly, I'm relieved to hear it again."

Even after all this time, seeing Cyran felt strangely comforting. Like finding a lost piece of my old life.

Only now did I realize how many things I had left behind after becoming Lady Ashborne. Including Cyran.

Now he served as the Crown Prince's right hand and most trusted intelligence officer. An impressive achievement for someone our age. If the military had Vaeldric, intelligence had Cyran. There was very little happening in Valerion that Cyran didn't already know about.

"You're receiving visitors, my wife?" Vaeldric's voice cut through the room.

He entered without invitation, instantly ruining the brief comfort Cyran's presence had brought me.

"Perhaps this isn't the right time for visitors," he said. "You should focus on your recovery first, my wife."

For some reason, all the grace and restraint my family had spent years teaching me vanished in an instant. I was simply too disgusted by the way Vaeldric acted as though everything was normal after the chain of disasters his affair had set into motion.

I looked at him for the first time since he entered.

"That's a rather amusing thing to hear from the man responsible for putting me in this bed."