Chapter 27 The Woman I Wanted to Marry Was Serena
Elsa's hands stopped when Alexander asked the question.
After a brief silence, she answered with unnatural calm.
"I want to let the three of you be a family."
Alexander stared at her for several seconds. "Elsa, if that's what you insist on believing, I can't stop you. But remember one thing. Whether we divorce isn't your decision alone."
Elsa gave a quiet, unreadable hum and helped him remove his suit jacket.
She still owed Alexander one billion.
As he had said many times, he was a businessman. He never accepted a losing deal.
If she couldn't repay him, he would never let her walk away so easily.
The room felt suffocating.
Alexander sat on the edge of the bed, his face grim, his eyes lowered. Elsa couldn't tell what he was thinking.
When she saw the whip marks crossing his back, she frowned despite herself.
The first time Alexander had been whipped because of her was when he insisted on honoring their engagement and marrying her.
The Horton elders had despised the daughter of a bankrupt family. They believed Elsa could bring Alexander no advantage, would lower his status, and would become a burden.
Everything they had feared had, in one form or another, come true during the three years of their marriage.
But looking back now, Elsa wondered whether Alexander's decision to marry her had contained an element of rebellion.
His grandfather had rejected Serena because her family background wasn't good enough.
So Alexander had gone ahead and married a bankrupt heiress instead, as though defying the old man on principle.
The more Elsa thought about it, the worse she felt.
Without noticing, she pressed too hard while applying medicine to his wounds.
Alexander sucked in a sharp breath.
Elsa immediately realized what she'd done and eased her hand.
A knock came at the door.
The butler entered. "Young Master, Young Madam, neither of you had dinner. Madam asked the kitchen to prepare this soup. Please drink it while it's warm."
Elsa put away the medical supplies. She had no appetite. "I've already eaten."
She had studied neuroscience, and even though the herbs in the soup had been simmered with chicken and masked with seasoning, she could still smell the medicinal ingredients.
The butler stepped closer. "It's Madam's kindness. Please have at least a little."
A servant carried two covered bowls into the room.
Alexander took one and finished it without complaint.
Then he picked up the second and held it out to Elsa. "Mom made sure it was prepared. Drink some."
The butler showed no sign of leaving.
After hesitating, Elsa took several symbolic sips.
Apparently satisfied, the butler left with the servant.
Elsa helped Alexander change into sleep clothes, then went into the bathroom herself.
Several minutes later, she stumbled out wrapped in a towel.
She reached the bed and grabbed Alexander's arm, fighting the strange heat spreading through her body.
"Get up. Take me to the hospital."
If she was right, the soup had contained something far more stimulating than ordinary medicinal herbs.
Before she could finish, Alexander pulled her into his arms.
By the time Elsa reacted, he had pressed her back onto the bed.
His skin was burning hot.
Elsa struggled to breathe. Her vision had begun to blur. "Calm down. There was something in that soup."
Alexander braced himself above her. Desire had reddened his eyes, and his gaze was frighteningly intense.
"Elsa. Stop avoiding me."
The warm bedroom light softened the edges of everything around them.
Elsa's damp hair spread over the pillow. Whatever had been added to the soup had left her dizzy, flushed, and unable to think clearly.
Alexander's gaze moved slowly over her face before dropping to the damp curve of her collarbone.
The restraint in his eyes began to disappear.
He lowered his head and kissed her.
The kiss shifted between gentle and demanding, as though he were waiting for her to respond.
Elsa pressed both hands against his chest, but her strength was fading.
Between the drugged haze and his closeness, coherent thought slipped away.
Alexander had been holding himself back for more than two months.
That night, restraint finally broke.
When Elsa woke again, morning had already arrived.
Her entire body ached.
Remembering the night before made her heart tighten.
Alexander had used no protection.
She needed emergency contraception immediately.
He had reunited with Serena. There was already a child between them.
Even if Elsa couldn't get a divorce yet, she refused to risk becoming pregnant with Alexander's child now.
She washed quickly, got dressed, and went downstairs.
Violet rushed over the moment she appeared. "Elsa, finally! Grandpa and Dad called Alexander into the study again."
Elsa glanced at Eleanor. "What happened?"
For a moment, she almost asked what had been put in last night's soup.
Then she swallowed the question.
Eleanor had always loved her and clearly didn't want Elsa and Alexander to divorce.
Most likely, she had hoped pregnancy would stabilize their crumbling marriage.
Eleanor paced anxiously. "Your third uncle came early this morning looking serious. I don't know what he told Grandpa and your father-in-law, but afterward they had the butler call Alexander down. They've been in the study almost an hour. He was whipped only last night. I'm worried."
Elsa hesitated, then tried to reassure them. "Mom, Violet, don't worry yet. I'll go see what's happening."
Alexander's back was already injured, and after what happened last night, she had no idea what condition the wounds were in.
If he were whipped again, he might genuinely end up in the hospital.
Caring too much about a man had never brought her anything good.
But Eleanor had treated Elsa with genuine kindness for years, and Violet had always protected her without hesitation.
Elsa couldn't stand watching them panic.
Two servants stopped her in the corridor outside Old Mr. Horton's study.
"Young Madam, Old Mr. Horton ordered that no one be allowed through."
Elsa's expression cooled. "If anything happens, I'll take responsibility."
They still refused to move.
Her voice sharpened. "My status in this family may be low, but I'm still your employer. I can have both of you dismissed with one sentence."
The servants exchanged a look and reluctantly stepped aside.
Elsa quietly approached the study.
She had no habit of eavesdropping. She only wanted to make sure Alexander wasn't being beaten again.
The door was thick and soundproof. She couldn't hear anything.
After a moment's hesitation, she pushed it open a crack.
The instant the gap appeared, Alexander's furious voice came through.
"The woman I wanted to marry was Serena, not Elsa!"
His voice shook with years of buried anger.
"If you hadn't interfered back then, Serena and I would have been together long ago. You destroyed Serena with your own hands. You destroyed my happiness!"