He Was Never The Villain
916 Words
Six months later.
I was in a small village, 1000 miles from the city. Alexander's father had kept his promise. He hid me. Protected me. Gave me a new name.
Lily. Not Amelia anymore. Amelia was dead. Sold, used, and thrown away.
My belly was huge now. Eight months pregnant. His son kicked every night, reminding me of the father he would never know.
I hated Alexander King. I told myself that every day. He tried to kill me. He called me a street rat. He was a monster.
So why did I cry for him every night?
Tonight, someone knocked on my small cottage door. I froze. No one knew I was here. Except...
I opened the door with a kitchen knife in my hand. Ready to fight.
It was him. Alexander King.
He looked terrible. Thinner. Dark circles under his eyes. His expensive suit was wrinkled. The ice king had melted.
"How did you find me?" I whispered, holding the knife between us.
"My father told me," he said. His voice was hoarse. Broken. "Before he... before he died last week."
My heart stopped. "His father... died?"
Alexander nodded. "Heart attack. He was protecting you. From me. From my mother." He laughed bitterly. "He was the only one who ever cared."
He stepped closer. I raised the knife higher. "Don't come near me. Don't come near my son."
"Our son," he corrected quietly. "Our son, Amelia."
He didn't call me 'wife'. He didn't call me 'little wife'. He said my name. Amelia. Like it was sacred.
"Why are you here?" I asked. "To finish the job? To kill me like your mother planned?"
Alexander flinched like I had slapped him. "No," he said. "God, no. I'm here to tell you the truth."
He pulled out a file from his jacket. He threw it at my feet. "Read it."
I didn't move. "I don't trust you."
"Please," he whispered. That one word broke me. Alexander King never begged. Never said please.
I slowly picked up the file with my free hand. I opened it.
It was full of papers. Medical reports. Police reports. Bank statements.
I read. And the world stopped spinning.
Alexander's mother... she wasn't trying to kill me. She was trying to save me. From him.
The reports said Alexander had a brain tumor. Inoperable. He had six months to live when he married me.
The will... his grandfather's will... it wasn't about an heir. It was about love. 'Alexander must find love and marry before he dies, or the fortune goes to charity. His mother cannot inherit because she tried to kill him as a child.'
He bought me for 10 crore not because he was cruel. But because he was dying. He needed to save his company's employees from his mother. He needed an heir to protect the King empire from her.
He was cold to me... to push me away. To make me hate him. So when he died, I wouldn't be sad. So I could take the money and be free.
"That night," he whispered, "when I came to your room... I couldn't stay away anymore. I was weak. I failed you."
He took a shaky step forward. "I locked you in because my mother told me she would kill you if you ran. I was protecting you. I told my father to take you because I knew I was dying. I wanted you to be safe. Away from me. Away from my curse."
Tears were streaming down my face. "The contract... the one crore..."
"I was going to leave you everything," he said. "The whole fortune. I changed the will. You and our son would have been safe forever. I just... I needed you to sign it so my mother couldn't challenge it. I was stupid. I scared you."
He fell to his knees in front of me. Alexander King. The devil of the city. On his knees. For me.
"I'm sorry," he sobbed. "I'm so sorry, Amelia. I never meant to hurt you. I love you. I loved you from the moment you told me to go to hell on our wedding day. I just didn't know how to be... human."
He looked up at me, his eyes begging. "The tumor... it's gone. It disappeared three months ago. The doctors call it a miracle. I call it you. You saved me, Amelia. Your fire. Your hate. Your love. You saved me."
He held out his hand. It was shaking. "Please. Come home. Not as my sold wife. As my wife. As the mother of my son. As my heart."
I dropped the knife. It clattered to the floor.
Six months of hate. Six months of pain. Six months of loving him even when I thought I hated him.
I looked down at this broken, powerful man who had given up everything for me. Who had pretended to be a villain to be my hero.
I put my hand in his.
"Take me home, Alexander," I whispered. "Take us home."
He stood up slowly, pulled me into his arms. His arms were warm now. So warm. And safe.
He kissed my forehead, then my lips. Soft. Gentle. Like I was something precious. Not something bought.
"I bought you for 10 crore," he whispered against my lips. "But you... you are priceless, Amelia King."
And for the first time since my father sold me, I felt free. Not because I was running away.
But because I was finally home.
- Writer
