Chapter 79 Elsa, You Dont Have a Choice
Elsa had spent a day and two nights in detention, then another full day running from one place to another.
She was worried about her mother's health, heartbroken over a little girl with leukemia, and terrified about the criminal case hanging over her.
By the time Alexander appeared, she was physically and emotionally exhausted.
Anger was the only thing keeping her on her feet.
She rushed toward him and raised her hand to slap him.
Alexander caught her wrist.
Her hand was ice-cold.
He frowned, closed his hand around hers, and pulled her through the door by force.
Elsa had already lost control of her emotions.
She tore herself free, grabbed the first thing within reach, and threw it at him.
Alexander tilted his head and avoided it, then stepped forward and restrained her.
Holding both wrists, he said coldly, "If you came here only to vent your emotions instead of solving the problem, you can leave."
Ignoring the pain in her wrists, Elsa struggled loose and seized the front of his suit jacket.
"Daniel's family are ordinary, decent people. Dolly has leukemia and she's only nine years old. You can even exploit them? Are you human?"
Alexander allowed her to hold his jacket.
His voice was unhurried.
"It was his choice."
Elsa stared at the man in front of her and felt as though every bit of strength and every possible weapon had been taken from her.
Her eyes turned red. Her lips trembled.
"Alexander, I will make you pay for this."
She released him and turned to leave.
Alexander caught her wrist again.
He looked directly into her eyes, still completely calm.
"You have evidence that I cheated. I have evidence that you committed a crime. Even if you publicly reveal Serena and Ethan's identities, at most it causes me temporary trouble. I won't lose much."
His voice did not rise.
"But if you're convicted, your parents, your brother, your career, your future - all of it disappears."
Elsa jerked her hand away and shouted, "Living like this is worse than death. That's what hurts them most. Don't use my family to threaten me."
Alexander watched her anger in silence.
Then he said, "Elsa, your parents are getting older. Your mother's health is poor. Noah has his entrance exams next year. If you go to prison, your parents and your underage brother lose their main support. You're Noah's immediate family. A criminal conviction can directly affect his future."
Elsa lost control again.
"You have no right to talk about my family. Shut up!"
Alexander did not stop.
"For the last six months in Taren, you did almost nothing but work and study. You fought to rebuild the career you had given up. If you go to prison, your future - perhaps the rest of your life - is destroyed. Are you really willing to accept that?"
Elsa staggered backward.
At last, tears broke free.
Every sentence landed exactly where it could hurt her most.
Dizziness swept through her. Her legs gave way and she collapsed to the floor.
Alexander stood over her, looking down at her exhausted, pale face.
He did not help her up.
He did not comfort her.
At that moment, they did not look like husband and wife.
They looked like two parties sitting across a negotiation table.
Alexander's expression was emotionless.
"Elsa, we're adults. Every choice has a cost."
He continued, "If you're determined to abandon your parents and your underage brother just to fight with me, if you're willing to trade ten years in prison for freedom afterward, then I'll let you."
Elsa forced herself up from the floor.
She swayed as she walked back to him and raised her face.
They looked at each other.
Her lips trembled. She stared at him as though he were a stranger she had never known.
"Alexander... are you a devil?"
Even if he did not love her, they had known each other for more than twenty years.
Yet he was forcing her into a corner without leaving even the smallest way out.
Alexander stood before her, controlled and immaculate.
"Elsa, you were married to me for three years. I don't believe I ever treated you badly enough to justify this performance."
The words ignited her again.
She grabbed his shirt collar.
"You cheated first. Then you set me up. For the woman you love, you forced me to compromise again and again. You even let Noah get hurt. And you call that not treating me badly?"
Alexander answered as if it were obvious.
"None of this would have happened if you hadn't insisted on divorcing me."
Elsa laughed from sheer fury.
"So I deserved to be betrayed by my husband? I deserve everything that's happened to me?"
Impatience entered Alexander's voice.
"It wasn't a betrayal. Serena is part of my past. You're my wife. You should accept that."
Elsa hit his chest with both fists.
"Why should I accept it?"
Alexander caught her around the waist with one arm and held the back of her head with the other, forcing her to look at him.
"Elsa, you were the one who wanted to marry me. Since you chose me, you have to accept all of me."
She struggled against him.
"If I'd known you had someone you loved, I would have died before marrying you."
Alexander tightened his arms, refusing to let her escape.
His voice was cold and final.
"Elsa, you don't have a choice. Either accept everything and come back to me, or go to prison and think about it there."
Elsa struck him again and again.
"Alexander, you're a bastard!"
Unable to break free, she sank her teeth into his shoulder.
Pain shot through him.
His arms tightened reflexively, but he still did not let go.
He allowed her to bite him until her anger began to burn itself out.
Slowly, the room became quiet.
Alexander loosened his hold slightly.
Elsa's body began to slide downward.
He caught her before she reached the floor.
"Elsa?"
There was no response.
Only then did Alexander realize she had fainted.
He lifted her into his arms, carried her to the bedroom, and immediately made a call.
The Horton family's doctor arrived soon afterward.
The examination showed that Elsa had fainted from low blood sugar combined with extreme emotional stress.
The doctor gave her glucose before leaving.
Alexander switched off every light in the apartment except a single strip beside the bed.
In the dim room, Elsa's face looked unnaturally white.
Alexander leaned against the headboard and stayed beside her.
His fingers brushed the loose strands of hair away from her forehead before he drew her gently into his arms.
Only six months away from him, and she had become so thin that he could feel every bone.
He held her closer.
"Mrs. Horton. Welcome home."