In Xattlewood, Julian was watching his daughter, Emma, at the park as she rode her bicycle, giggling and happy to et her friends. He was sitting on a bench, a smile on his face.
He glanced at the other kids. They were with their parents, a complete family. He stared at Emma but she didn’t seem to be bothered that her mother wasn’t by her side. Usually, they would both take her to play at the park when she was a lot younger than she was now.
Emma turned to look at him with a big smile stretched on her lips. Then she waved. Julian returned it before she turned to face her friends once again.
Looking at her reminded him of his wife, and his smile faltered.
"Julian!" He nearly jumped out of his seat when he felt a hand slapping on his shoulder. But imdiately relaxed when he recognized the voice that ca after. "Why do you look so deep in thought? Are you thinking about Anastasia? What? Do you miss her?"
"What do you think you’re doing jumping on like that?" Julian questioned Alex.
"Don’t evade the question now, brother," said Alex, relaxing on the bench with his arms over his head and his eyes closed. "You miss her don’t you?" He asked.
"I don’t miss Anastasia, what are you even thinking about?" Julian questioned him back, slightly agitated now.
Since Xavier found out Anastasia was alive, she had returned to Radiantia, taking a few days to spend ti with him before leaving again. He told himself he was happy for her—she was back where she belonged, with her husband.
But missing her? That was out of the question.
"She’s a married woman," he added.
Alex turned to glance at him.
"I hear you loud and clear," he replied, exhaling deeply as he leaned back against the bench. "If there’s one person I’m relieved to be rid of these past few days, it’s Tracie. Finally, so peace—feels like a weight’s been lifted off my neck."
The image of Tracie’s face appeared in Julian’s mind and his mood instantly went sour. He didn’t despise her, but she was always hanging around because she thought he was going to harm Anastasia in one way or the other. After all, he still hadn’t revealed the main reason he’d helped escape from Xander’s clutches.
Not having her around made him breathe fresh air. She was a nace.
"But you know, she kind of reminds of Isabella," Alex added. Isabella was Julian’s dead wife. "She was just as tough as her, fighting like a mother hen ready to protect her chicks."
"Don’t compare Tracie and Isabella together. Tracie is a loose screw compared to Isabella," Julian replied.
Isabella was barely ntioned in a conversation with Alex, but whenever she was, Julian would regret ever having that conversation in the first place because she was all he could think of.
After he and Isabella had married, she found out about this source of inco and wasn’t comfortable with it. Instead of leaving him like every other woman should have done in her position, she decided to try to convince him to quit. Julian had to give it several thoughts and tried considering it since he loved the woman, and truly, he wanted to stop.
He wanted to quit living the life of misery he thought he enjoyed by selling won.
The day he was going to et Xander to inform him he was going to quit, he received a phone call that his wife had gotten into a car accident. The truck that crushed her car made sure not to leave anything behind.
Julian was suspicious at first, wondering if the accident was real or planned, only for him to find out that the truck driver had been heavily drunk.
Julian was devastated, and after that, he wasn’t sure of the right decisions to make anymore. To top it all off, Isabella had been pregnant with their second child when she died. That day, he lost two people all at once.
She’d wanted him to quit so that they could live a peaceful life, but she’d died. Every day, Julian lived with the guilt that maybe it was his fault she was dead. This was why when he saw Anastasia, he suddenly felt like helping for the first ti. He felt the urge to try to do the right thing once again. And he did.
"You look deep in thoughts once again," Alex comnted.
"I was thinking about Isabella," he replied genuinely and Alex humd in understanding.
"You’re still thinking her death was planned?" He asked. "Who could have done such a thing? I an, there’s a chance but there’s no clue or evidence to start investigating from anywhere that can help us find anything out."
"You’re right," he replied.
**
Samantha, Xander, together with Julian, and Anastasia arrived in Regalith to take a look at the property and have so talk with the king and queen. Anastasia wasn’t there to have any talk with the king and queen. All she wanted to do was have a chance with Desmond and try speaking with Izara once again.
However, Anastasia couldn’t take her eyes off Xander and Samantha. They seed oddly closer with each other although there was still that tension lingering between them.
Anastasia shared a look with Julian and the latter seed to have noticed it too.
"This place is looking beautiful day by day," Xander comnted.
"It wouldn’t be long before the project is complete," Samantha added.
They saw the king and queen walking towards them with big smiles on their lips as if they were excited to have them around.
"Please co to the palace. My servants have prepared so snacks for our lovely guests," the king said with a generous smile.
Everyone followed them back to the palace. They weren’t scared if they were going to be poisoned because the royal family wouldn’t dare do that, at least not yet.
However, sothing flashing caught Anastasia’s attention. She looked up at a building. It wasn’t too far off, but she recognized the person.
It was Xavier, and he was with a weapon.
Anastasia’s heart plumted when she realized the sniper in Xavier’s hands was aid directly at Xander. He was going to shoot him.
At first, she was stunned—why was Xavier in Regalith at all? And more importantly, why was he trying to kill his own brother? This wasn’t part of the plan. Eliminating Xander wasn’t supposed to happen—at least, not yet.
Anastasia held her breath, waiting for the inevitable gunshot—but it never ca. Xavier kept the sniper trained on Xander as he walked into the palace, yet his finger never pulled the trigger.
Then, as if sensing her gaze, he looked directly at her. Their eyes t, and to her utter confusion, he smiled. It wasn’t a warm or reassuring smile—it was tight, controlled, masking sothing far darker beneath the surface.
And in that mont, Anastasia knew—Xavier was furious. But at what, she couldn’t yet tell.
Anastasia followed them towards the dining room where several foods had been laid out for them.
"Please take a seat," said the king. Everyone took a seat. He noticed no one made any attempt to touch the food. "And please, don’t worry, I didn’t poison the food if that’s what you’re thinking," he said.
Everyone around the table stared at him but not a soul believed him.
"We would like so food testers to co and taste it since it’s not poisonous," Xander said.
The king shared a look with his wife before she gave a subtle nod. She called out a servant who was standing nearby in case they needed anything, and ordered her to taste the food from each plate with a different spoon.
Anastasia didn’t care about the food tester at all. Both Desmond and Izara weren’t sitting at the table and she didn’t know where they could be. She needed to speak with both of them and now that they weren’t sitting on the table, she had no idea where she was going to find them.
She couldn’t leave the table and go searching for them—that would make the royal couple suspicious of her and that was the last thing she needed. She wondered if she should excuse herself to use the restroom and go searching for them from there.
So ti passed and the food tester didn’t have any reactions which gave them the go signal to go ahead and eat.
"I ca today to ask how you plan to announce the call for volunteers for our program," Xander said, his tone composed but expectant.
"The surrogacy program?" The king’s expression remained neutral, but Anastasia noticed the subtle tension in his jaw. "You don’t need to worry about that. I’ve already arranged for an event where it will be formally announced." Under the table, his fist clenched, a small but telling gesture.
Anastasia barely heard the rest of the conversation. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Izara descending the grand staircase. Her presence pulled Anastasia’s attention like a magnet.
She knew she needed to talk to her. Now.
Quickly, she straightened in her seat and spoke up. "Excuse , but where’s the restroom?"
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