Fated to the cursed Alpha Prince

Chapter 4: "Wait."

"Ariel"

Roxanne muttered the name silently. She hoped she could calm down. She felt oddly drawn to that name and she felt oddly satisfied with the outcome of the situation. It made her lips curve into a smile and she turned to leave.

Again she was suddenly grabbed and she felt her hand being roughly pulled, she felt so scared, thinking that it was one of those who had earlier held her captive. She turned to see who it was and she was momentarily relieved to see it was nobody else but Lord Alex.

Realization dawned on her and her heart palpitated. She looked down, feeling scared, but for a totally different reason now. She wondered what Lord Alex would do to her now. How did he even find her in the first place?

"My lord, I...I can explain"

Lord Alex stopped dragging her and he turned to look at her. His golden-flecked eyes always managed to catch her by surprise and it was the most commanding part of him. Those eyes were glaring at her now.

"What can you possibly explain, Roxanne? You have already messed everything up, and you have managed to tarnish my reputation..."

He trailed off at that and he sighed. He let go of her hand. He was angry, Roxanne couldn't bring herself to look at him. She had been expecting this, but she was not expecting it this soon, she thought it might happen, but not this soon.

Lord Alex was one of the men that helped her a lot. Roxannne's mother had gotten pregnant for her father while he was a fugitive. She carried Roxanne in her womb while her lover went on the run from the authorities. When Roxanne was born, it was quite obvious whose daughter she was. Her hair color proved more than enough. Her mother was cast out of the town and while they were moving from town to town, she got pregnant with Roxanne's sister. For some reason, their mother abandoned them and fled with a new lover of hers, a duke of some sort.

Lord Alex took her off the streets when she was on the brink of death. Some men had violated her and somehow her six-year-old daughter had been kidn*pped. Roxanne was only ten then and even now that she was eighteen, she knew she would have died if not for Lord Alex. She knew very well that he had always been a good person to her, she felt like she had broken his trust with her recent actions. It made her heartbroken.

She wished things didn't turn out the way they did. She would have been long gone by now if not for that.

"I'm sorry my Lord, I didn't mean to lie to you. I just wanted to find my sister."

Roxanne felt no shame begging Lord Alex. She knew fully well that Lord Alex had always been there for her, especially when no one was, he was there to help her overcome all her fears. She gulped at the slight thought of him leaving her in the streets, where men could easily take advantage of her and bandits could easily destroy her. She hated feeling this helpless, but she didn't have any other choice but to accept the harsh reality. With a pained heart, she allowed the hot tears that freely paved their way down her cheeks to flow. She needed him to forgive her.

"I'm sorry Lord Alex. The only thing I can say is that I appreciate your every effort, the way you have always taken care of me when no one would. I don't want to taint your image any further, you've been more than a blessing to me, and I can't ruin what you have spent so many years building, so I'll be leaving".

The words broke her heart as she said them, before she turned to leave, she noticed how he released his earlier clenched fist, his gaze had softened.

"Wait"

He actually stopped her from leaving. Roxanne felt hope, she turned towards him in the hopes that he would accept her back because if the truth was being told, she didn't even know where to turn to or who to run to.

Lord Alex looked like he was doing the hardest thing he had ever done.

"I'm sorry to let you go..." He pursed his lips and he removed a pouch of coins from his pocket. He handed them to her.

"I can't risk my reputation," he continued.

Roxanne felt hurt by his words, but she understood his intentions, she knew he had already helped her more than she could ever ask for, so the only option left was to take the money and leave. To go far from this place.

She wondered where she would go. She was certain that she had traveled a great deal from her village to this hell hole of a town. She wondered where she would go so that no one would recognize her as a traitor's daughter. Maybe she would start from where her sister was abducted.

"Thank you very much for your help, Lord Alex, and for all your care. I'll be leaving now."

Roxanne wanted to cry but she had to withhold her tears. She used the opportunity to hug him tightly, feeling so many emotions churning within her.

She let go of him and then she turned to leave towards the less dense part of the forest. She would find a way out, she didn't trust that she wouldn't be killed if she stepped foot in the village again.

Lord Alex was silent for a while. He couldn't bring himself to utter a single word.

He was overwhelmed by emotions and he felt the need to go back to Roxanne and stop her from leaving. He knew very well that Roxanne had tried her best to see that he became better and that his business flourished. He knew that her leaving was wrong, at least not this way and in this manner, but yet if she was to live with him, it would only cause the downfall of all his various businesses, because no one would buy from him. He had too much to lose for him to be sentimental.

With a sigh, he turned to leave, only to hear the voice of Annabelle, his daughter. He noticed she was sobbing. Lord Alex immediately went to her and engulfed her in a tight hug, making her sob even louder. He hated this feeling.

He was selfishly thinking about him and his family. How would his family cope without anything to sustain them? That is what would happen if he had let Roxanne back in.

"How could you have just let her go, dad? You know she has been more than a friend, she's family. Her marketing ideas managed to grow your business and you let her go, just like that dad, you know what you did is not fair. It's not", Annabelle cried.

She was almost yelling at her father. She felt enraged by the sudden emotional pain. How could he just let her go? Lord Alex clenched his hand into a tight fist in hopes of suppressing the guilt he was feeling, but he couldn't help it.

Roxanne was sad about the turn of events. She remembered the time they had spent together and how Lord Alex had treated her even more than a daughter. She knew that she deserved what she got from Lord Alex, but she was also left without an option. She knew that no one else would accept her. She was the traitor's daughter after all.

She drew in a deep breath before she walked towards the door and she slid inside the room that she once shared with Annabelle when they came to this town. She already knew that since Lord Alex was there, he would be staying at his small house in this town. The Lord had a lot of thriving businesses. She also knew that Annabelle would probably carry her bag and Roxanne's bag of clothes on their way here. Annabelle had to be the sweetest person alive. She smiled when she remembered the times they spent together.

She knew it was not the time to be emotional, it was the time to leave, so with trembling hands, she searched for her bag and when she saw it, she picked it up.

She was about to leave, only to see Annabelle standing beside the door. She was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Please don't go." she cried. The tears slid out of Roxanne's eyes in full force and she embraced Annabelle in a hug.

"I have to, I'm a traitor's daughter."

Roxanne tried to swallow the lump in her throat but it was hard.

"I am the traitor's daughter." she repeated, but Lord Alex's voice cut her short at that moment.

"No, you are not."