The Masked Vampire King's Accidental Bride
Chapter 292: Those innocent gazes wanted him to believe her.

Chapter 292: Those innocent gazes wanted him to believe her.

Everyone sat around the table with a serious expression on their face.

"James, you were saying something about your business trip. How did it go?" Marla asked with a soft smile on her face before she placed her hand on her husband’s, making him look down at her hand and nod.

"It was okay. It was just the initial meeting. They will talk about it in the headquarters once again, and if everything goes alright, we will expand our business there too," James said, his eyes neutral, and Marla hummed.

The vampire Kingdom’s people weren’t the only ones who heard and found about the presence of Galicia in the Sun City.

Marla’s loyal men saw the lady too, and from the moment she heard the news, the constant fear that her husband would go and look for that lady again, was scaring her.

"So, did you go anywhere else? I mean, to relax your mind and -"

"When the Kingdom is in such kind of situation, do you think I would go somewhere to relax my mind? Everyone is talking about the human rogues going around. Is it true? Even after sacrificing our daughter to the peace treaty, those rogues are trying to sow discord?" James asked, and Aditya, who was also at the table, quirked his brows at the information.

So the king of the hunter’s bloodline doesn’t even know what is going on in his name? He scoffed inwardly. How oblivious can a man be?

If he can’t even keep a tab on his family and what they are doing, what is the use of being one of the most intelligent people? Your empathy and too much trust in your family would bring you down anyway.

Was that the reason Elliana suffered so much in this home, and the king who should’ve meddled, never heard or did anything about it?

Now that he thought about it, his gaze shifted to Madeline on its own. The words Elliana had said...

’Well, it’s okay to have vampire friends, but meeting them alone? Dining with them? At night? Don’t you think something is fishy going on? Aren’t you supposed to hate vampires?’ Elliana’s words rang in his head.

Though he said to her that Madeline wasn’t like that and she was overthinking things, wasn’t this an opportunity to know the truth? Or he would turn up like King James in the end, won’t he?

"By the way, it’s been so long since I saw Elliana. I have decided to send an invitation to the youngest prince for the dinner. She is the daughter of this family and, naturally, she should’ve been called to the family house. Unfortunately, I was on the trip, but now that I am back, we can call them and -" James couldn’t complete his sentence when Madeline interrupted him.

"Why do we have to call that bitch? She is gone for good," Madeline raised her voice, looking at her dad, and Aditya’s brows raised again.

Bitch? Was this really how Madeline addressed Elliana when she was not in public? Was this what Elliana had always been talking about? About Madeline’s true face?

"Have you forgotten your manners? Honey, that’s not what Madeline meant," Marla quickly covered.

’Well, I certainly meant exactly that. That good-fo-nothing bitch, I still can’t forget how she dared stop my hand. If it had been in my hands, not only I would’ve slapped her, I would’ve thrown her down the building if my freedom wasn’t in question,’

Madeline gritted her teeth before raising her gaze and looking in front of her, her body freezing in place when her eyes met with Aditya’s cold ones.

Shit. How could she forget that today Aditya was dining with them? She was so used to running her mouth freely on the dining table in front of her mom that it slipped out of her head that today not only her father but her fiance was there too.

James placed his cutlery on the table, looking at Madeline, who immediately looked down.

"How is everything going inside the University, Madeline? I heard Elliana is studying there too. I hope you sisters are getting along well," James asked his daughter.

"Of course, everything is going alright, honey. She pampers her sister like always," Marla interrupted again, and James wiped his lips with a napkin.

"I didn’t know you changed your position from her mom to her lawyer now, Marla. You better keep your mouth shut if you don’t want our daughter to spend her night tied to the chains in the forest," James looked at Marla, and Madeline immediately froze in her place.

"Dad, what are you talking about? A night in the forest and tied to chains? How can you even think of this cruelty to your own daughter? I am sorry for saying that word and won’t -"

"Cruelty to my own daughter? I didn’t hear any complaints when Elliana was given the same punishments when she used such foul language in the palace. In fact, Marla had no problem doing it," James said.

Aaditya, who was eating in peace, not wanting to be involved in the family drama and thinking of talking to Madeline alone, looked up at the family members.

They did what? Did they tie the girl in the forest to chains at night? Have they lost their mind?

She was in prison for a year, which means she was probably even younger when this happened.

The more he was hearing, the more his hand tightened around his fork.

Those gazes. Those empty, tearful gazes that had once asked him to believe her, but what did he do? He had chosen Madeline because she was so cunning and had a compatible brain to be the wife of the next-in-line council head.

At the time, he was also under the delusion that all the words Elliana used to say were because she just wanted to sow discord between them. Her crush on him wasn’t hidden.

There were many times when she had tried to tell him the truth, but then, she stopped. She suddenly stopped and would just look at him with a smile.

That painful smile that always confused him.

Well, at least now he knows the meaning behind all those silent smiles. No one ever believed her, and that’s why she stopped talking about it to anyone and just everyone.

Was that the reason why, when she was being sent to prison, rather than being angry or sad, she looked relaxed?

At that time, Aditya was really in disbelief when he heard Elliana killed a girl, but when he remembered all the times Elliana used to look at him with such intense emotions and used to find ways to be close to him, and he believed it.

However, later he came to know that Elliana never killed that girl. It was an accident. The girl was planning things against him by adding drugs to his drink right before the first test to be eligible for the council head was being conducted.

Elliana just wanted to stop her and when they went to the rooftop, a fight broke out between Madeline and the girl, and Elliana accidentally pushed her from the rooftop, making her fall and die.

Elliana was in prison for a crime she didn’t even commit.

Now that he thinks about it. Was it really Elliana?

"James, how can you talk about it right now? It’s all in the past. She isn’t even here. Why are you ruining our image in front of the guest," Marla hushed her husband, and Aditya looked up from his plate, his expression neutral, but only he knew how much negativity he was brewing inside him.

Remembering how Elliana threatened him that she would plunge that pipette into his neck, Aditya couldn’t help but sigh.

Such an innocent girl was now resorting to such threats to protect herself, and why not? Was she ever treated right? By anyone?

He put his cutlery down, finally asking the question that he was especially here for.

"Madeline, what have you been doing with the vampires these days?" Aditya asked, and James looked at him before looking at Madeline.

"Vampires?" James asked, and even Marla was surprised to hear this allegation while Madeline paused, sweat beads immediately appearing on her forehead as she looked down at her plate, unsure of what to say.