My Husband Chose Her Over Me Novel – Chapter 13
“Are you certain you want to do this?” Marcus asks, his voice low beside me. The worry in his eyes makes me want to turn back, to flee to somewhere that doesn’t feel like quicksand beneath my feet.
“Yes,” I say, my fingers tightening around the royal decree I’d brought with me—proof of my identity that still feels like someone else’s story.
Marcus touches my elbow gently. “I’ll wait here.”
Marcus was among those the King had assigned to go with me to my father’s place in the North. He will be the one to take me to my real father, King Dorian.
The garden path seems longer today, winding through clusters of lilacs that once brought me comfort. Now their scent is cloying, suffocating. I push open the door without knocking—a small act of defiance against the man who raised me on falsehoods.
Lord Edwin Dani sits in his favorite armchair by the window, a book open in his lap. The sunlight catches the silver in his hair, making him look frailer than I remembered. When he looks up, I see no surprise in his eyes.
“Father,” I called out, venturing fully in, annoyance sipping into my veins at the thought of been lied to for 23 years.
“I see you’ve learned the truth,” he says, closing his book with careful precision.
My laugh comes out harsh and brittle. “The truth? Which version would that be? The one where I’m your daughter, or the one where I’m the heir to the throne of Verdana?”
He gestures to the chair across from him. I remain standing.
“Elara—”
“Don’t.” The word slices between us. “23 years, Father—or should I even call you that? 23 years of lies.”
His weathered face crumples slightly at the edges. “I earned the right to be called your father in every way that matters. Blood isn’t everything.”
“Isn’t it?” I thrust the royal decree toward him. “According to this, my blood is the only thing that’s ever mattered about me. The only reason I was sent to Verloren like a lamb to slaughter, to be treated like a nobody.”
He rises slowly, his knees creaking with the effort. “Is that what you think? That I sacrificed you?”
“What else would you call it?” My voice breaks, and I hate myself for it. “You let me marry into a family that treated me like I was nothing. You knew what they would do—”
“I didn’t!” For the first time, emotion cracks through his composed facade. “I didn’t know how they would treat you. The alliance was necessary, but—”
“Necessary for whom?” The words taste like acid. “For Verdana? For King Dorian—my real father?”
Dani crosses the room to a cabinet inlaid with mother-of-pearl. His hands tremble slightly as he unlocks it with a small key he keeps on a chain around his neck.
“Your father—King Dorian—had his reasons for keeping your identity secret. Reasons beyond politics.”
“What possible reason could justify lying to me my entire life?”
Edwin removes a small wooden box from the cabinet. “To keep you alive.”
The blunt answer steals my retort. I sink into the chair I’d refused earlier, suddenly uncertain in my righteousness.
“What do you mean?” I ask, my voice smaller now.
“Your mother—the queen—didn’t die of fever as everyone believes.” Edwin’s eyes are fixed on the box in his hands. “She was assassinated. And they would have killed you too, had they known who you were.”
The room seems to tilt sideways. “Assassinated? By whom?”
“The same people who’ve been trying to destabilize Verdana for decades. The same people who would rejoice to see you dead now.” He places the box on the table between us. “Your father entrusted you to me—his most loyal friend—to raise as my own. To keep you safe until the time was right.”
I stare at the box, afraid to touch it. “And now? Is the time right now that I’ve thoroughly alienated my husband and his entire kingdom?”
A faint smile touches his lips. “The marriage to Prince Caden was your father’s idea. He believed that with you as Verloren’s future queen, both kingdoms would finally have the stability they need.”
“Then he miscalculated,” I say bitterly. “I’ve asked for a divorce.”
Edwin’s eyebrows shoot up. “You what?”
“I refuse to be married to a man who can’t see me as anything but a political convenience.” The words come out in a rush. “Even before I knew who I really was, I deserved better than that.”
“And does Prince Caden know who you really are now?”
My silence is answer enough.
He sighs heavily. “Open the box, Elara.”
My hands move almost against my will. Inside lies a delicate silver circlet—unmistakably royal in its craftsmanship, yet subtle enough not to draw immediate attention.
“Your mother wore this the day you were born,” he says softly. “She made me promise that when the time came, you would have it returned to you.”
I lift it with trembling fingers. It’s lighter than it looks, the metal cool against my skin.
“Why tell me this now?” I whisper, unable to tear my eyes from the circlet. “Why not before my wedding? Before I felt so… alone?”
“Because now you’re ready to know.” Dani leans forward, clasping my free hand. “And because now, your father wishes to see you.”
My head snaps up. “He’s here? In Verloren?”
“No. But I can take you to him—if you’ll do one thing for me first.”
My chest tightens with suspicion. “What thing?”
Dani’s eyes are imploring. “Do not leave Caden. He needs you.”
The request lands like a slap and I jerk my hand away.