บททั้งหมดของ THE ALPHA KING'S FAKE BRIDE : บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

VALARIE The night air was so refreshing and calming.We walked back from the terrace in silence, the soft rustle of my dress the only sound between us. The stars were scattered like fireflies across the sky, and the path back to the main palace was dimly lit with warm lanterns. I didn’t want to speak, not yet. I didn’t want to break whatever this feeling was, this strange quietness that nestled between us like a heartbeat we were both trying to ignore.Dinner had shifted something. I wasn’t sure what exactly. But the way he looked at me… the way he didn’t try to fix me or press me for truths I wasn’t ready to say, it made something inside me ache and tremble at the same time.As we stepped into the hallway leading to my chamber, I paused at the threshold. He did too.“Thank you,” I said, softly.Tristan tilted his head. “For what?”“For seeing me… when I didn’t think anyone would.”He didn’t respond right away. His eyes flickered from my face to my lips, then back again. The air bet

CARLI stood on the balcony outside my room, coffee getting cold in my hand, the steam long forgotten as I stared at the path leading to the Vanessa’s chamber .A servant had casually mentioned the night before that Lady Vanessa hadn’t shown up for breakfast two mornings in a row. I acted indifferent, even made a sarcastic comment about royalty sleeping in late but that simple detail stuck with me. It gnawed at me through the silence of the night until I found myself unable to sleep. I had paced, sat, read half a book without understanding a word, and now… here I was.Waiting.Watching.And then, I saw him.Tristan.Walking out of Valerie’s room.My hand tightened around the handle of the mug.His shirt was unbuttoned slightly, the collar open in that casual way that made him look like he hadn’t planned it but knew exactly what it did to a woman’s imagination. His coat hung over one arm. His expression was unreadable, composed as ever, but something in his posture was different, less

CARLI wasn’t in the mood for company, especially not my mother’s. But when she stepped into my chamber unannounced, dressed in her usual elegant silks and her perfume clouding the air, I knew there was no escaping her.She had that look again. The one that always meant trouble.“Carl,” she said sharply , like her tongue could slice through wood . “We need to talk.”I sighed and leaned back in the chair, folding my arms. “Is this about Tristan?”“No,” she replied sharply , closing the door behind her. “This is about you.”She walked across the room and sat down opposite me, her gaze steady, her posture perfect. Even when she was angry, my mother never lost her composure. That was the dangerous part.“I’ve been watching you,” she said, fingers tapping lightly against her thigh. “You’ve let this little marriage between your brother and that girl distract you.”“Her name is Vanessa .”“And she’s irrelevant,” she snapped, her voice sharp. “Unless you make her useful.”I narrowed my eyes.

VALARIE The palace was unusually quiet at night, its silence was felt over every hallway and corridor. I wandered through its grand stillness barefoot, wrapped in nothing but a light robe over my silk nightgown, unsure where I was going or what I was looking for. Sleep had evaded me for hours, and the walls of my room felt far too close, too filled with thoughts I wasn’t ready to confront.My heart was a constant thrum in my chest, restless, aching, confused. Especially after what happened during dinner, with Tristan sitting so close, asking quiet questions, stealing glances when he thought I wasn’t looking.I ended up in the old music room. I didn’t even realize I was heading there until my hand was on the knob and I pushed the door open. A small lamp near the window was still burning, casting a soft glow on the piano and the bookshelves lining the walls. It felt untouched by time, like a piece of the world where no one pretended.I walked over to the piano, lifting the cover from

LADY BIANCA The cries echoed faintly through the cold stone halls of the palace.I stood at the top of the stairs, my hand resting on the railing, eyes cast downward. Servants rushed about like panicked mice, some weeping, others whispering. I did not move. I had learned long ago that grief should never be displayed publicly, not when there were eyes watching, and certainly not when there was an empire on the line.Alpha Theo was dead.A man I had once admired, then feared, then loathed. He was gone. Just like that.I turned from the scene below and walked back into my private quarters, the doors closing softly behind me. I poured myself a glass of wine, letting the silence settle, wrapping it around me like armor.Carl would need to act quickly.I sipped slowly, thoughtfully. Tristan would naturally be seen as the heir. The chosen one. The beloved grandson of the late Alpha. But I hadn’t raised my son to stand in another man’s shadow. Carl had the charm, the intelligence, and more