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“The Adelaar told me to remind anyone who complained that they should be thankful they are not intubated in a hospital bed. They did not lose a child today.”
I froze. It was as if ice were injected into my veins, and I looked all over his face to see if I had misheard, but his face was void of anything. “Child? What, child?”
“Miss Odette was pregnant. She lost the child due to last night’s events.”
My hand twitched with the urge to touch my stomach, but what would be the point? There was nothing there.
“Tell her...tell I am sorry for her loss.”
“Are you?”
“Excuse me?”
“Are you truly sorry, ma’am? Or is that why you did it. After what you endured.”
“Shut your mouth!” I slammed my arm on the vanity as I rose to my feet. “You will watch your tone with me, Iskandar!”
“My tone has never changed. However, you have not answered my question—”
“I have not answered because the question itself is repugnant!” I yelled, wanting to throw anything I could at his face. Why had Arthur liked a man like him? He could not help Gale; he was not family. But what made this, this robot worth trusting. “I did not poison her! I did not leak anything to anyone! I did nothing to that woman! How many times do I have to say it?”
“The only one who could have told the press about the Adelaar and Miss Odette’s wedding—”
“I did not. Yes, I knew. But I did not tell anyone! I would never betray Arthur! Never! Till the day I die, I will keep all of his memories and secrets. I said nothing to anyone who did not already know about Odette. That is the family. No one else alive other than you and Wolfgang knew. Everyone else was on that damn plane with him. They said nothing. I was too busy mourning,” I whispered, slowly sinking back down into my chair. “How did everything go so wrong, Iskandar? This wasn’t the plan. Arthur had such good plans for everyone. None of this would have happened if he was still here. No one would care what Gale and Odette did. He would have protected all of us.”
“Get some rest, ma’am,” was his reply before turning back to leave. However, he stopped and looked at me. “You said everyone who knew, outside of Wolfgang and myself, were either family or passed in the accident, correct?”
“Yes, why?” What did that have to do with her being poisoned?
“Nothing, ma’am. Please rest,” he said, leaving quickly.
He could not possibly think it was a member of the family. I shook my head clear, not wishing to think about it, but instead, thought about Odette losing a child. I knew what that felt like. I knew how heavy it was. Finally, we shared something similar. But I could never speak to her about it because I didn’t even want to speak to myself about it.
Why was Arthur in such a rush that day to return to the palace?
Why didn’t they do all the checks on the plane?
It was because of me.
Arthur was dead because of me.
Because I had called, crying because I had lost our child. He was trying to come back to me, and he died.
I had lost everything in one day.
“Stop crying,” I whispered to my reflection, but I couldn’t. I had tried. Every time I tried, I remembered it was my fault, and then I felt too weak to get out of bed. So I blamed Gale. I blamed Odette, the whole world. It was easier. It helped me get up in the morning.
So, I was going to keep telling myself that.
I did not want to believe what I was thinking.
But the more I thought about it, the more I had a feeling I was right.
However, I did not want to be right.
Pacing back and forth, I waited until they brought her into the security room. I thought over every last file I had looked through earlier, about everything Sophia had said to me. The layout of the palace and how things worked. It all pointed to one person.
“Sir, we brought her.”
