Muriel's POV
I found Alaric and his people at our detached villa on the outskirts of the city.
This was the gift he gave me when we married, the place that had been ours, but now it had been turned into their love nest. Everything inside had also been redecorated to suit Janice’s tastes; even the trees in the yard were trimmed into the shape of two people kissing.
When I walked in, they were having a barbecue in the courtyard, feeding each other pieces of meat mouth-to-mouth. Seeing me, Janice laughed and hooked her arm through Alaric’s.
“Oh, Muriel's here,” she said, smiling. “So you finally realized Alaric cares more about me? You couldn’t bear being ignored and came to beg for forgiveness?”
“Or are you here for this?” she added, flaunting the rosary wrapped around her wrist. “I heard you paid millions for this. It must be precious. But Alaric felt sorry for me after my nightmares, so he gave it to me to calm my nerves.”
“He even gave me this villa as compensation,” she bragged.
Alaric pinched her nose like she was a mischievous child. Then he turned to me and flatly said, “Muriel, watch your people. It’s one thing if they start a fight, but nearly injuring Janice? If it happens again, I’ll cut off their hands and feed them to the dogs.”
“As for the villa and the rosary, consider them as your apology to Janice. Don’t lose your mind,” he warned.
I couldn’t help but laugh. Once upon a time, he had pulled out all the stops to make me just like him, wild and ruthless. Every time I lost myself, he was pleased and excited. He even handed me the people who offended me so I could deal with them.
And now he hated it when I lost my mind?
I pulled a folder from my bag and slammed it into his face. “Alaric, open your bloody eyes.”
“That’s not a rosary,” I said. “It’s our dead child.”
When Alaric had been kidnapped by our rivals, I was eight months pregnant. Still, I stormed their base, pregnant and determined. But they tore my child out of me along with my womb and turned the remains into a rosary.
To get back, I faked my death to get close enough and slit that enemy’s throat. However, the rosary had already been sold or given away, and I never knew where they went.
Alaric froze, staring at the files for a long moment before looking at Janice. “Janice, I’ll find you a better rosary. This one—”
“No!” she shrieked. “You heard the seller. That child’s birth date and time are unique. That's why it can calm my mind and help me with pregnancy. There’s nothing better than this! You said I lost the baby and deserved compensation. Then I want this. I don’t want to be tormented by nightmares about that night anymore.”
“The doctor said I was hurt badly, that it might be hard for me to get pregnant again, and only this rosary can help me. Alaric, I really want our proof of love, our child.” She wiped her eyes, sounding wounded.
Successfully, her tears pushed Alaric to her side. He turned to me with a flat, cold look and said, “The child has been dead a long time. Bringing the rosary back won’t change anything. Instead of letting them rot in the ground, why not give them to Janice?”
“Alaric, don’t forget. That was your child, too,” I shot back. “Do you have any idea how much I spent trying to find him and give him a proper burial?”
Just to make me suffer, our enemy had never told me who they sold the rosary to. I had hunted for answers for years.
Alaric pinched the bridge of his nose, irritation in his voice. “Why cling to something dead? If you want another child, wait until Janice has one, and I’ll let her name you as the godmother.”
“Also, I’m the father. I have the right to decide who gets it,” he continued. “Besides, Janice’s miscarriages and nightmares are your doing. If your child’s remains can atone for her suffering, that’s merit in itself.”
