Spoilt Princess Reincarnate As a Waitress Chapter 89: Shattered Bond

Alexia POV:

After freshening up, I walked back into the bedroom to find Aiden standing shirtless in the middle of the room, ruffling his hair in confusion. Realization dawned in his eyes, and he narrowed them at . "It’s not 11 a.m., is it?"

I grinned. "Nope. But hey, at least you’re awake now."

His jaw clenched, and I could practically see him debating between being annoyed and impressed. "You’re evil."

"Not my fault you sleep like a log," I said, walking past him.

His eyes followed as I grabbed my outfit for the day. "And next ti, maybe don’t grope your wife in your sleep," I teased, sending him a cheeky look.

To my satisfaction, his ears turned red.

Point: Alexia.

By the ti we made it downstairs, the house slled like heaven. A grand breakfast was spread across the dining table—pancakes, scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, coffee.

I happily took my seat, watching Aiden sip his coffee like so rich bachelor in a drama. So unfair. Why does he look effortlessly hot doing anything?

"Excited for school?" he asked, finally acknowledging my presence.

I stabbed a piece of pancake with my fork. "Mmm, excited isn’t the word I’d use."

He smirked. "Scared?"

"Pfft, please." I rolled my eyes. "Annoyed, maybe. I have to deal with classmates who either hate or think I used you to get into that school."

"Well," he mused, taking a sip of his coffee, "technically, you did."

I threw a piece of pancake at him. He dodged it effortlessly, the smirk never leaving his face. "Rude," I muttered.

We continued eating, the conversation surprisingly light, and for once, things felt...normal. Like we weren’t in a complicated marriage-of-convenience. Like we weren’t tangled in ssy emotions and hidden tensions.

But then—

Aiden’s phone rang.

I barely looked up, too focused on drowning my pancake in syrup. But the second he checked the caller ID, his entire deanor shifted.

His shoulders stiffened. His grip on his coffee cup tightened. The warmth in his face vanished, replaced with sothing unreadable.

Then he answered. "Liz?"

I stopped mid-bite.

The na alone sent an uncomfortable pang through my chest, but I ignored it. Not my business.

"What happened?" Aiden’s voice sharpened, urgent now.

I looked up just in ti to see his face harden. His jaw clenched. His whole body went rigid.

Then—without a word to —he jumped up from his chair, the sudden movent knocking the table slightly. His coffee spilled over the edge, but he didn’t care. He was already grabbing his keys, moving like a man with a mission.

I blinked. "What—"

"Liz is in the hospital," he said, voice tight.

The air in my lungs vanished.

Liz. Hospital.

And just like that, the normal morning we were having shattered.

"Is... is she okay?" I asked hesitantly.

"I don’t know," he said distractedly, already heading for the door. His entire focus was on her.

Her.

The woman he had loved. The woman he still might love.

And ? I was just an afterthought.

I forced myself to swallow the bitter feeling rising in my chest. "So what about ?"

Aiden hesitated for a fraction of a second, then barely spared a glance. "Tobias will take you to school."

And just like that, he was gone.

The silence that followed was deafening.

I sat frozen in my seat, my fork still hovering over my plate. The food in front of suddenly seed tasteless.

I hated this feeling.

This ridiculous feeling of being discarded.

It wasn’t jealousy. It couldn’t be. I knew he cared about Liz. I knew she ant sothing to him.

So why did it feel like soone had just sucker-punched ?

I should’ve been used to this. I should’ve known better.

This was the deal, wasn’t it? We were married, but not in the way that mattered.

So why did it feel like, in that mont, I didn’t matter at all?

I sat there, staring at the half-eaten pancakes on my plate, my appetite completely gone. The warmth of our earlier laughter had been replaced by an unsettling coldness in my chest. I hated this feeling—the stupid, pathetic ache that blood when he left without a second thought.

What did I expect?

That we could actually get close? That whatever this was between us could turn into sothing real?

God, I was stupid.

I stabbed my fork into the pancake, irrationally imagining it was Aiden’s face. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

How could I have let myself get so comfortable around him? How could I have even thought—for a second—that we were making progress? That there was sothing more than just this forced, ridiculous arrangent?

And worst of all—how could I have almost agreed to his proposition?

I burned with sha just rembering it.

Aiden had asked to sleep with him—no emotions, no complications, just raw attraction. And the stupidest part? I had wanted to.

I had almost given in.

Had almost let myself fall into sothing that was nothing more than lust on his end.

I clenched my fists on my lap. God, I was an idiot.

Hadn’t I learned my lesson already? Hadn’t I told myself that I wouldn’t get attached?

But no. The mont he touched , the mont his lips almost brushed mine, I had been this close to throwing every ounce of self-respect out the window.

How pathetic.

I shook my head, pushing my plate away. I wouldn’t let myself fall for this trap. Aiden wasn’t mine. He never was. And he never would be.

And the fact that he had run after her without even sparing a proper explanation only proved that.

Liz.

The na left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I knew that woman was up to sothing. Had to be. If she was really that sick, why call Aiden instead of a doctor? If it was an ergency, why not call an ambulance?

No, this was a ga.

And Aiden had played right into it.

I exhaled sharply, blinking away the sting of unwanted emotions. Whatever. Let them have their dramatic little reunion. I don’t care.

I refuse to care.

Tobias arrived not long after, punctual as ever, his expression neutral as he stepped out of the sleek black car.

"Ready?" he asked, opening the door for .

I gave a tight nod, climbing into the car, refusing to acknowledge the slight hollow feeling in my chest.

The ride was quiet, tension sitting between us like an unspoken truth.

I stared out of the window, watching the city blur past us, my mind racing with thoughts I didn’t want to have.

Finally, I broke the silence. "Do you know what happened to Liz?"

Tobias glanced at through the rearview mirror before shaking his head. "No idea. Boss just told to get you to campus."

I scoffed. "Figures."

Of course, Aiden hadn’t thought to tell anything. Just ran off to his precious Liz, leaving behind like an afterthought.

Tobias didn’t comnt, but I could feel his eyes flickering toward now and then, probably gauging my reaction.

I rolled my eyes. "What? Say whatever it is you’re thinking."

Tobias smirked slightly, keeping his eyes on the road. "I wasn’t thinking anything."

I folded my arms. "Liar."

He chuckled under his breath, but his amusent faded as he sighed. "Look, Alexia... you know how he feels about her."

Sothing sharp twisted in my chest, but I masked it with indifference. "I don’t care."

Tobias gave a knowing look. "Right."

I scowled at him. "I don’t."

He let it drop, but I knew he didn’t believe .

Hell, I didn’t even believe myself.

But what was the point of dwelling on it?

Aiden had made his choice.

And I would make mine.

I turned my gaze back to the window, steeling my resolve.

From now on, I’d stop being an idiot.

No more feelings. No more attachnt. No more almosts.

Aiden could have his Liz.

And I would remind myself that I didn’t want him anyway.

Even if it was the biggest lie I’d ever told myself.

Aiden’s POV:

The morning had been... pleasant. More than pleasant, actually. For once, Alexia and I had breakfast together without biting each other’s heads off. She had smiled—genuinely—and I had felt sothing dangerously close to contentnt settle in my chest.

But then my phone rang.

And the mont I saw Liz’s na flashing on the screen, the fragile peace I had been enjoying shattered.

I stepped away from the dining table, answering imdiately. "Liz?"

Her voice was weak—too weak.

"Aiden..." She exhaled shakily, and my stomach clenched. "I—I’m in the hospital."

I felt the blood drain from my face. "What? What happened?"

"I..." She paused, taking a breath. "I’m going in for surgery. It’s—it’s nothing major, just... I just wanted to see you before... and after."

Surgery.

Liz.

Hospital.

The words blurred together in my head, forming a tight knot of panic in my chest.

"I’m on my way," I said imdiately, not even thinking twice.

I barely registered Alexia’s presence as I shot up from my seat, grabbing my jacket. I could see the confusion in her eyes, the way her lips parted like she wanted to ask what was wrong. But I didn’t have ti. I didn’t even know what to tell her.

"Tobias will take you to school," was all I said before I rushed out.

I practically ran through the hospital doors, scanning the sterile white hallways until I spotted Liz’s room number. My heart was pounding—what kind of surgery? Was she okay? Why hadn’t she called sooner?

But as I reached the door, I wasn’t the only one there.

Mike.

He was leaning against the wall just outside Liz’s room, arms crossed over his chest, looking as pissed as ever. The mont he saw , he scoffed.

"Why are you here?" he asked, his voice laced with contempt. "Don’t you have a wife to attend to?"

I clenched my jaw. I knew exactly what he was trying to do—trying to make feel guilty, trying to rub it in that I had soone else now. But he also knew. All the Black brothers knew the truth about my marriage to Alexia. It was fake. Nothing more than a contract.

I shot him a glare. "Mind your fucking business, Mike. I’m here for Liz, not your jealous tantrum."

His jaw ticked. "Jealous? You wish. You don’t deserve to be here."

I stepped closer, lowering my voice. "And you do?"

His fists clenched at his sides, but before either of us could say anything more, the door opened slightly.

A nurse stepped out, giving us both a stern look before nodding inside. "She’s awake. But keep it brief—she needs to rest before the procedure."

I didn’t wait for Mike. I pushed past him and walked inside.

Liz was lying on the hospital bed, looking small and fragile in the sea of white sheets. She turned her head when she saw , a soft, tired smile appearing on her lips.

"Aiden..."

Sothing in my chest squeezed painfully.

"Hey," I said, forcing a smirk as I sat beside her. "You couldn’t think of a better excuse to see ?"

She chuckled weakly, but her eyes glistened with sothing I didn’t want to acknowledge.

I reached for her hand, gripping it gently. "You’re going to be fine, Liz."

She squeezed my hand back, but the way she looked at ... It felt like she was morizing my face. Like she was holding onto sothing that was already slipping away.

And for the first ti in a long ti... I was scared.