“You shouldn’t say things like that,” Bella remarked, her voice steady but her chest tight. “People might think you’re against the Luna giving Alexander an heir. And besides… what makes you think it would bother me anyway? Alexander is like a brother to me. His child would be my niece or nephew no matter who their mother was.”
Her words came out a little too quickly, too rehearsed, as though she had been waiting for someone to raise the subject and was desperate to have an answer ready. Gerald, of course, caught that immediately. His smirk only deepened, his eyes gleaming with a knowing glint that unsettled her.
He took a step forward, lowering his voice just enough to make her feel cornered. “Is that all he really is to you, Bella?”
The question froze her in place. It wasn’t phrased as
