Alice was gearing up for round two—mouth slick, eyes locked, tongue poised like a weapon—when a sharp voice cut through the tent flaps like a dagger.
"Alice! Alice! Come out!"
Both of them froze.
Alex.
Their heads snapped toward the sound, then slowly toward each other.
Alice's chest rose and fell fast, like a thief caught mid-heist.
'D-did he find out?!'
Panic hit like a bucket of cold water.
What if Alex knew? What if he heard something? Saw a shadow?
And then came the spiral.
Divorce.
Shame.
Seeing his face every time he came to visit their baby—awkward.
Her mother-in-law's smug face and poison-tipped words.
Her so-called friends pretending to be supportive while gossiping over tea.
And if the king found out?
Oh gods. Exile. Beheading. Trial by holy fire or something dramatic like that.
Ba-dum. Ba-dum. BA-DUM.
Her heartbeat was going feral.
But then, like a flip switched, she remembered Rae's words.
"No wonder your husband's with someone else."
