Elizabeth froze mid-fold, glancing up at the man standing by the door, her face instantly drained of color.
“Didn’t…
didn’t you say you were showering in the guest room?
Why’re you back so fast?”
“I forgot my towel,” Alexander replied flatly, his voice calm and steady.
His gaze drifted over to the clothes messily laid on the bed and the nearby DVD, his brow twitching subtly.
Elizabeth scrambled to block his view, blurting, “Honey, that’s not mine!
Emily sent it—said it’s a wedding gift.”
Then, without hesitation, she shoved the clothes into the box and slammed the lid shut.
“I’ll get your towel!” she added quickly, snatching up the box with her as she hurried off.
Alexander stared at the now-empty bed.
An all-too-clear image flashed through his mind, and his lips pressed into a thin line.
Just then, Elizabeth reappeared with a towel in hand.
“Here you go, honey.”
He took it, turned toward the door, but just before stepping out, his steps paused.
“Nice gift,” he said without looking back and walked off to the guest room.
Thinking back to what she’d said tonight in the booth, a barely-there smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
In the bedroom, Elizabeth stood frozen, staring at the closed door, lost in thought for a long moment.
What did he mean by “nice gift”?!
She grabbed her phone.
The call had been cut.
She tried again.
“Phone’s off.”
She gave up trying to curse Emily into next week, sighed, and headed off to the bathroom with her pajamas in hand.
Next morning.
The alarm blared.
Elizabeth groggily sat up and instantly regretted moving.
Her whole body felt like it had been knocked apart and put back together wrong.
Grabbing a pillow, she flung it across the room and dropped back onto the bed.
Through gritted teeth, she muttered, “This is ridiculous.
I’m moving back to my own room.
At this rate, I’m gonna die here.”
She was already feeling a thousand levels of regret.
She’d totally misjudged him.
Here she thought he was this aloof, refined gentleman.
Turns out, he was just an insatiable wolf in sheep’s clothing.
If she’d known, she wouldn’t have tried to “reassure” him that way.
Elizabeth let out a dramatic sigh, only to hear a deep voice from overhead: “You’re moving back?”
She whipped around, eyes wide.
“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”
Alexander, buttoning his shirt, replied coldly, “Woke up late.”
Wow, the confidence.
“Babe, seriously, don’t you think you should slow down? This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
If you keep this up, you’ll burn out.”
His hands paused mid-button, then he leaned in until she was pinned beneath him, his dark eyes gleaming.
“Burn out?
You sure it’s not you?”
Seeing that look in his eyes, Elizabeth panicked and quickly backtracked.
“Okay, okay, I take it back.
You’re fine.
I’m the one burned out.
Totally me.”
Alexander took in her flustered face, the corners of his mouth twitching just slightly.
At this moment, he really liked her.
He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the forehead.
“Since you’re so weak…
want me to carry you to get ready?”
“No thanks, I got it.”
She shoved him off and climbed out of bed, but the moment her feet hit the floor, her knees buckled.
Almost fell flat on her face.
Good thing Alexander was fast and caught her.
“Knew it.
You’re the one falling apart.”
Before she could say anything else, he scooped her up and carried her straight into the bathroom.
Even stuck around to help her wash up.
Elizabeth sat on the counter, staring at him through narrowed eyes, her brow twitching.Why did it feel like Alexander had done a complete 180 overnight?
Elizabeth zoned out for a second, only to realize he had already helped her brush her teeth and wash her face.
By the time he carried her back to the walk-in closet, she finally snapped out of it.
“Babe, I can handle this on my own.”
Even though they’d already seen everything there was to see, she still felt a bit shy in broad daylight.
Catching sight of her flushed cheeks, Alexander curled his lips into a small smile.
His tone was calm: “Okay.” Then he turned and stepped out of the closet.
Elizabeth got dressed and came out to find Alexander leaning against the wall, lost in thought.
“What are you doing, babe?”
Her sudden voice pulled him back to reality.
He blinked and answered quickly, “Waiting for you so we can have breakfast together.”
“Let’s go then.”
They headed downstairs together.
Jordan smiled warmly at the way they were acting.
“Sir, Madam, good morning.”
“Morning, Jordan.”
After breakfast, they left the house together.
Peter was already waiting by the roadside.
From a distance, he waved and greeted her.
“Morning, Madam.”
He had figured something out—the key to success was siding with the Madam.
She responded with a smile and got into the car.
On the way to the campus, a thought hit Elizabeth.
“Babe, that post on the school forum where Victoria got exposed—was that your doing?”
Before Alexander could respond, Peter quickly chimed in from the driver’s seat.
“Yup.
Right after you went into school yesterday, we were on our way back to the office when Mr.
Blake received a photo and nearly…” His voice trailed off awkwardly.
“What photo?” Elizabeth turned to look at Alexander.
“You and Michael Reed,” he said.
That was all it took for Elizabeth to connect the dots.
“So someone sent it to you too?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you believe me?”
There was a brief pause.
Alexander didn’t speak, his expression still.
He had been pissed when he got the photo.
On top of that, while heading back in the car, he’d seen the message where she wanted to introduce him to her friends.
That had honestly stunned him.
His mind flashed back to what she’d said the other day in that lounge:
“I may not have a boyfriend, but I do have a husband.”
That’s why he changed course and went back to the office.
Elizabeth caught the shift in his expression.
Deep down, she knew—his first reaction was still suspicion, and that stung a little.
But she quickly rationalized it away, blaming herself for avoiding too much in the past.
“Thanks for exposing Victoria on the forum,” she said softly.
Honestly, she could’ve handled it herself.
No one knew how good she was with computers.
Alexander turned slightly to glance at her, his eyes lingering.
“Next time something happens, call me.”
“I know.
If I ever run into something I can’t fix, I’ll definitely ask you for help.”
“Okay.”
Just then, they arrived at Halden University.
Elizabeth glanced out the window.
“Babe, I’m here.”
She leaned over for a quick kiss and then hopped out of the car.
Waving as the car pulled away, she turned around—only to see Michael Reed standing not far off.
Her brow furrowed instantly.
She turned straight for the teaching building, ignoring him.
Michael wasn’t having it.
His face tightened and he stepped right in front of her, blocking her path.
“Elizabeth, why haven’t you answered my calls?
And the stuff on the forum—you seriously don’t plan on clearing things up?”