Chapter 153

Xaden’s POV

My plan was to return home and speak with Maeve, but by the time I left the palace, it was late. I knew she would be sleeping, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to sleep beside her tonight without waking her. Instead of going home, I decided to just take a walk around the kingdom and think about what I was going to say to her when she woke up in the morning. I had been acting like a complete asshole these last couple of weeks and I needed to make it up to her.

There was a good chance that I could lose her if I didn’t do something quick. I had been spending way too much time with Mia and I knew Maeve had been feeling uncomfortable because of it. I never wanted to make her feel like that again.

As the sun started to rise, I decided to go to the florist shop, which I knew opened very early in the morning, and buy a large bouquet of flowers. I knew I couldn’t buy her forgiveness, but all women loved flowers.

The doorbells chimed as I opened the door to the florist, The smell of fresh flowers in the morning was calming and the way they bloomed under the fluorescent lighting made the entire place light up even more than it was.

Kristine, the owner of the shop, was behind the counter putting together some bouquets. She was a middle-aged woman who worked here for a very long time. She planted most of her flowers behind the shop and sold my mother most of the seeds she used in her own garden for the palace. Kristine was a good friend of my mother’s and flowers were one of the things that they bonded over the most.

When Kristine saw me entering her flower shop, she gave me a slow smile as she stopped what she was doing.

“Prince Xaden,” Kristine said as he walked around the counter to give me a quick hug. “What are you doing here? Especially this early.”

“I need some flowers,” I told her. “The nicest bouquet that you have.”

“What’s the occasion?” She asked, raising her brows.

“My mate,” I told her. “I knew my mother already spilled the beans to her closest friends about me finding my mate, so I wasn’t worried about Kristine knowing.”

Her face lip up.

“I heard you found your mate,” she breathed. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” I replied. “I kind of messed up though and I need some flowers to apologize.”

“Well, if she’s your true mate, then there’s nothing you can do that she won’t forgive,” Kristine assured me.

“I’m not so sure about that,” I told her, feeling unsure of myself for the first time in my life.

She frowned at my words and studied my face for a moment.

“Want to talk about it?”

I shook my head.

“Not really,” I admitted. “But I need something to tell her how sorry I am and that I’m not going anywhere.”

“And something to tell her that you love her?” Kristine chuckled.

My cheeks burned with heat as my eyes grew large.

“Love?” I asked, a nervous chuckle bubbling out of me. “W…we haven’t exactly gotten to that part yet.”

Kristine raised her brows.

“Oh, I’m sorry. From how your mother talks about your relationship, I just kind of assumed—” her voice trailed off as she got lost in thought. “I guess it doesn’t matter. So, you need a bouquet that tells her that you care about her, you aren’t going anywhere, and that you are sorry.”

It wasn’t a question, just an observation, but I nodded anyway.

“Yes, exactly,” I told her.

“Let me see what I can do,” she said as she walked around her counter. “A way to the woman’s heart is by flowers. The type of flowers you choose means everything. Some people might think just a pretty flower would do, but each flower says something different and if you get the wrong ones, she could get the wrong message.” She told me as she plucked some gorgeous-looking flowers from different bouquets and bunches around her space behind the counter.

She paused for a moment and looked around her store. Once she saw what she was looking for, she smiled and walked across the store to another bunch, plucking more flowers from its vines. She came back around and held up her finger.

“Hold on one second,” she said as she rushed out the back door.

I sighed and leaned against the counter. I hoped that this worked… I needed Maeve to forgive me. The thought of ever being without her left me feeling sick to my stomach.

When Kristine returned, she had some more flowers in her hands, and she added them to her forming bouquet. Soon, the bouquet was huge and gorgeous. It was easily the prettiest bunch of colors I had ever seen. There were a lot of red and pink, along with some white which tied together all the colors perfectly. She wrapped them in a purple glossy paper which complimented the bright colors perfectly.

“How does this look?” She asked, holding them up for me.

I smiled at her.

“They are perfect,” I breathed. I took out my wallet and slid my credit card across the counter for her. “Just charge them on this card.”

She nodded and took the card, swiping it through her machine. A moment later, she was handing me the card back along with the receipt to sign. After I signed the paper, I thanked her again and quickly left the florist.

By the time I returned to my mansion, it was mid-morning. Maggie was already awake and preparing breakfast when I entered the kitchen. When she saw the bouquet, her face lit up.

“Oh, it’s beautiful,” he breathed.

I nodded and smiled at the flowers.

“Yeah, Kristine did a great job. I’ve been acting like an ass lately and I wanted to make things up to Maeve. I’m planning on spending the entire day with her and taking her out tonight,” I told her.

“She’s going to love that,” Maggie breathed.

“I’m assuming she’s still asleep,” I said as I started towards the stairs. “I’ll go wake her.”

“She’s not in her room,” Maggie said, her brows pinched together. “I honestly assumed she was with you.”

I paused and turned to look at her.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“I went to wake her this morning,” she explained. “I was worried about her last night because she returned home upset. She said she needed some space and went to bed early. I woke up this morning and went to her room to check on her, but she wasn’t there. I assumed you returned home at some point, and she left with you.”

“No, I hadn’t been home until just now,” I said, my brows pinching together as worry started to consume me. “Are you sure she’s not here?”

She nodded, her worry reflecting mine.

“I’m positive” she replied. “I’ve been awake for hours.”

I turned away from her quickly and ran out of the kitchen and up the staircase until I reached the second floor. I took a whiff of the air, trying to get her scent, but it only lingered. I didn’t need to go into the bedroom to know that Maeve wasn’t there, and she hadn’t been for quite a while. At least until last night.

I walked into the bedroom and looked around; the bed was neatly made as if she had barely slept in it. I glanced around the room briefly and saw that most of her stuff was still there. In fact, it didn’t look as if she took anything. I went into the closet and glanced at the ground where I saw her suitcase still buried in the back.

So, she hadn’t packed up and left.

She must be planning on returning. As I walked out of the closet, I went into the bathroom and glanced around. There was no sign of her ever entering the bathroom last night; not even her scent could be picked up.

It wasn’t like her to just leave without saying anything to Maggie… she knew that Maggie worried and she also knew that I didn’t like it when she left without any of the guards. When I left the bathroom, I saw that Maggie was standing at the doorway, a worried expression on her face as she glanced around the room.

“It’s strange that she left,” Maggie said, wrapping her arms around her body.

“She didn’t say anything to you about leaving?” I asked, hoping for some clarity on where she could have gone and why she left.

Maggie shook her head as tears filled her eyes.

“No…” she said hoarsely. “That’s why I thought she was with you. Did I mess up again?”

I was quiet, not really sure what to think of any of this. I turned towards the bed and walked closer to it; I paused when I saw a piece of paper on the nightstand, but on top of the piece of paper was her necklace. It was the only thing she had of her birth mother… why would she leave that if she was planning on taking off?

That was further proof that she wasn’t planning on leaving so suddenly like this.

My brows furrowed when the words “Test Results” caught my eyes on the paper.

I grabbed the paper and brought it to my eyes.

“What’s that?” Maggie asked.

My breath hitched as I continued to read the paper, suddenly, it was as if Maggie wasn’t in the room with me. I was alone and my entire world was coming down around me.

If these results were true, the way I treated Maeve this past week or two had been horrible and for absolutely no reason. I shouldn’t have trusted that doctor without taking another test sooner… when did she get these results? Why didn’t she tell me about them??

“Prince Xaden?” Maggie asked, stepping up behind me. “What is that?”

I turned to look at her and raised the paper for her viewing.

“They are the paternity test results,” I told her. “The baby is mine.”