Chapter 141

Maeve’s POV

I was numb and confused. I stayed in bed long after Xaden had left for the morning. I stared down at my phone. I wasn’t sure what I was waiting for. Maybe Xaden to call me and tell me that everything was going to be okay. Or maybe I was waiting for the doctor to call again and tell me there was some kind of mistake.

I put my hand on my belly, my fingers trembling wildly. I’m not sure how those test results could come back negative. I hadn’t been with anyone else other than Xaden. Tears filled my eyes, burning, before they were released and slipped down my cheeks. I sniffled and wiped at my eyes. The look on Xaden’s face when the doctor told him that he wasn’t the father will forever be engraved in my head.

He was furious… and yet so hurt at the same time. I wondered if he truly believed that he wasn’t the father of this baby. there was no other option… he needed to know that. He needed to trust me.

But how could I prove that those test results weren’t the truth? Why would the doctor lie about such a thing?

I wrapped my arms around my body and buried my face in my lap, throwing my phone at the end of my bed. If I had to look at it any further, I would get sick. I was already feeling unwell after this morning, I’m not sure how much more of this I could take.

There was a light knock on the door. I lifted my gaze and straightened myself, wiping down my moist cheeks.

“Come on,” I said weakly.

The door creaked open, and Maggie poked her head in. Her eyes were shining with concern as she stared around my face.

“You’ve been in here for hours,” she told me. “You should come downstairs and get something to eat.”

“I’m not very hungry, Maggie,” I told her softly, avoiding her gaze.

“But your baby is,” she reminded me. “Think about your son. You need to keep up your strength for him.”

She was right; I was acting selfish and not caring about my son enough. I needed to eat and keep up my strength for his sake. Taking a deep breath, I nodded and tried to get out of bed. My whole body felt weak, and my heart felt like it was about to explode in my chest. Maggie looked at me with such pity in her eyes and it made me feel even worse than I already did.

“Would it help if I said that Princess Charlotte is downstairs?” She asked, pinching her brows together.

“What?” I gasped.

Why would Char be there to see me? She had to have heard about the test results. Was she coming to see me because she wanted to give me a piece of her mind and tell me off? I’m sure she was going to accuse me of weaseling my way into her family and pretending to be Xaden’s mate.

“Come on,” Maggie said, reaching her hand out to grab mine.

I stared at it for a brief moment before I took another deep breath and nodded. I needed to be brave; if I wanted to prove myself, I couldn’t sit here and feel sorry for myself. I wasn’t going to act like a victim because then they might think there’s truth in these results. I needed to figure out what went wrong and why it was happening.

I took Maggie’s hand and let her guide me out of the room. I didn’t bother getting dressed. I still wore my nighttime ware, and my hair was a complete mess. Maggie didn’t seem to mind though and when I reached the living room, I was honestly just expecting the worst.

But I wasn’t expecting Charlotte to jump to her feet and rush towards me with tears in her eyes. I paused, expecting her to throw punches at me or something, but none of that happened. Instead, she wrapped her arms around me and held me close, sobbing into my shoulder. Her entire body shook, and I was honestly taken by surprise. I didn’t text this and I wasn’t sure what to do in this situation.

“Charlotte?” I asked, patting her back lightly.

“I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. “I can’t imagine what you must be going through right now.”

“I don’t understand,” I said softly. “Why are you here?”

She pulled away from me a stared at me through her tear-filled eyes.

“How could I not come here?” She asked, shaking her head. “You are my friend; Maeve and you are obviously hurting. How could you not be after those terrible test results?”

I blinked at her, confused.

“You aren’t angry with me?” I asked her.

She narrowed her eyes and stepped back, studying me for a moment.

“Should I be?” She asked. “The results were wrong… weren’t they?”

I bit my lip and nodded without hesitation.

“Yes, of course they were, but—”

“But nothing,” she said, holding up her hand to stop me. “They were wrong and now you look guilty. Father is going to get exactly what he wants and it’s not fair. I know you have a good heart, and you’d never lie to my brother.”

I nodded as tears filled my eyes; I thought I had cried all that I could earlier, but I was proved wrong.

“Please, don’t let this come between you two. I know you would never step out of my brother. That baby is his… that’s my nephew and that’s a hill that I will probably die on!”

I smiled; the first smile all day.

“You believe me?” I asked her.

She smiled and wrapped me in her arms.

“Of course I do. And so does my brother. Just hold onto him a little longer,” she whispered.

I nodded and hugged her back.

We spent the rest of the afternoon munching on food and talking. I was truly lucky to have Char in my life. After she left, I sat in the living room, waiting for to return home.

He got back later than usual. I knew he had the auction today, but it was supposed to start at 4 this afternoon and last until 6. It was now 9 pm…

He walked into the living room and put his coat on the rack. He didn’t look at me, but he looked exhausted with dark circles under his eyes.

“Hey,” I said to him.

He glanced at me and gave me a small smile and a head nod. My stomach tightened.

“You are back later than usual,” I told him, glancing at the time. It was just after dinner. I supposed it was better than him not returning at all, but I still didn’t like the fact that he didn’t call to tell me he was going to be late. I wanted to have dinner with him and discuss the results from this morning. I got a hint of another scent on him and immediately knew that he was with Mia.

My stomach twisted.

Had he told her about this? Was that why we were late? Because he was spending time with her and talking to her about our personal business?

“Sorry,” he murmured. “I had some business to take care of today.”

I nodded, trying not to get too lost in my thoughts.

“You could have called,” I told him.

“I told you I was busy,” he said, his eyes narrowed and his aura dark, sending a chill down my spine. I was silenced but his harsh tone. “As the prince, I can’t be expected to be here all the time. I have important duties to attend to.”

I nodded, not sure what more to say without making him angry.

“Xaden—”

“I’m going to bed,” he said sharply, cutting off my words. “I have to be up early tomorrow.”

“Are you going to see her tomorrow?” I asked before I could stop myself.

He paused at the doorway and without looking at me, he answered, “Princess Mia? Yes, it’s my duty to escort her. We’ve already discussed this Maeve.”

“I know, but—”

“I’ll talk to you later. I need to get some sleep.”

He left without another word, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

When I went to bed a few minutes later, I was incredibly disappointed and gutted to find that he wasn’t in our room. Walked around the hallway for a moment, picking up his scent outside of one of the guest rooms. I pushed the door open slightly and saw him sleeping on the bed…. I slowly shut the door and walked back to my room feeling more hurt than ever before.

…….

Third Person POV

The phone rang and Alpha Kenneth grinned when he saw the caller.

“Good work,” Kenneth said as soon as he answered the phone. “Your payment will be in your account by the end of the day tomorrow.”

“I’m not happy about this, Alpha. I didn’t want to forge fake results and lie to them like this,” the voice said, sounding tired. “I could lose my license.”

“I won’t let that happen,” Kenneth assured the doctor. “As long as Maeve and Xaden, along with the royal family, think that Maeve lied and isn’t pregnant with Xaden’s baby… your job will remain safe.”

“I hope you know what you are doing, Alpha,” the doctor said sighing.

“Trust me,” Kenneth said with a grin. “Everything is going according to my plan.”