Chapter 129: Secrets Revealed

Catherine couldn’t speak for a moment.

The lie Maximilian had told, the lie that the vow ribbon was meant for Charlotte, not her, hadn’t destroyed just one woman’s life. It had destroyed two. Catherine had always believed Maximilian loved Charlotte. Now it seemed the truth was stranger: he had never loved Charlotte, and Charlotte had never loved him.

But whatever had happened between them…

“That still didn’t give you the right to kill my son,” Catherine said at last. “Your father welcomed that lie and moved every piece on the board to make you queen.” Her voice trembled despite her effort to stay calm. “You lost nothing. I even saved your son, and you—”

“You saved Maximilian’s son!” Charlotte shouted back, her eyes unfocused and her nostrils flaring with fury.

“And?” Catherine asked coldly. “That’s why you killed—”

She stopped mid-sentence.

No. Something about this didn’t fit.

“You tried to kill me?” Catherine asked slowly. If Charlotte had been the one who attacked her the day she died, it couldn’t have been to protect whoever murdered her son.

“You wanted to avenge Crawley, didn’t you?” Catherine continued, her voice sharpening. “You sent him to murder my son, and when I killed him for that, you came after me. Only fair, right?”

“I told you I didn’t kill your son!” Charlotte shouted. Her finger shot toward Maximilian. “He did! Are you stupid? He knew I cheated on him, and he still let me remain queen. Why do you think that is?”

Maximilian stepped forward immediately. “Stop speaking nonsense,” he said coldly. Charlotte was stalling, twisting the story, trying to turn Catherine against him while she bought time.

“No. Let her speak,” Catherine said quietly, leaning closer.

Charlotte had a point.

Maximilian hadn’t looked surprised when Charlotte admitted she had cheated. He had already known. And yet she had remained his queen.

Why?

Charlotte laughed bitterly and glanced at Maximilian. “You can’t hide the truth forever,” she said. “It will come out eventually.”

Maximilian opened his mouth to stop her, but Catherine lifted a hand, silencing him before he could speak.

Charlotte’s eyes burned as she looked straight at Catherine. “Did you forget how relentlessly he pursued you?” she asked. “The moment his mother died, he came after you again. And that incident where your lady-in-waiting died—do you know who chased her until she jumped to her death?”

Her finger stabbed toward Maximilian.

“It was him.”

“No!” Maximilian said sharply, stepping forward.

But Catherine’s gaze never left Charlotte.

“He wanted to bring you back to Dravencourt,” Charlotte continued. “He told me himself once, drunk out of his mind. Since you didn’t have children, he said it would be easier to convince the court to bring you back as his queen.”

Her voice trembled with a mixture of anger and bitterness.

“The wars, the ambushes… and every time he heard you were pregnant, he tried to end it. So you would have nothing tying you to your husband. So he could take you back.”

Charlotte laughed harshly, the sound sharp and ugly in the quiet parking lot.

“He started a war for you. And he killed your children for you,” she said. “While you stupidly stayed beside the man you didn’t even love, hating the one man who loved you the most. At least I was with the man I loved.”

Catherine staggered back as if she had been struck.

“Catherine—” Maximilian stepped toward her, reaching for her arm.

She slapped his hand away.

Catherine had believed Maximilian hated her, that his pursuit in the past had been driven by pride, anger, or some cruel obsession. But if Charlotte was telling the truth… if the reason he had chased her, fought wars, destroyed everything…

Her breath caught painfully in her chest.

He did it all because he loved me?

It wasn’t his hatred that had ruined her life.

It was his love.

Maximilian’s voice broke. “I would have burned the world for you.”

“Did you think you could take me back from Dorian?” Catherine asked, her voice shaking as she looked at Maximilian. “Is Charlotte telling the truth? That ambush… were you trying to kidnap me, not kill me?”

Her throat tightened.

If that’s true… then why did he kill Beatrice?

Maximilian couldn’t answer immediately. The tightness that had started in his chest inside the café had grown unbearable, each breath coming slower, heavier than the last. He looked at her bracelet, which was glowing menacingly, once again revealing his incompetence.

“Don’t believe her, Catherine,” he said hoarsely. “I never intended to hurt you.”

“You never intended a lot of things,” Catherine whispered. She pressed her hand against her temple, her thoughts spinning violently. She no longer knew what was true and what was a lie.

“I was trying to protect you from Edward,” Maximilian said desperately. “Dorian’s first wife’s father. He wanted you dead because he believed Dorian might favor you and any sons you had. Catherine, you have to believe me.”

Tears filled her eyes.

How many predators had been circling her all along?

“Then tell me one thing,” she said weakly. “Who killed my son?”

Her voice carried a quiet resignation that made the air feel heavier. She couldn’t bear another lie. Not now.

Charlotte opened her mouth, ready to speak.

But before she could, Catherine’s vision darkened. The ground tilted beneath her feet, and she staggered as dizziness crashed over her.

A strong arm wrapped around her shoulders and caught her before she fell.

She blinked slowly, trying to clear the haze from her eyes.

“Alex?”

Her voice came out faint with confusion.

“What are you doing here?”

Alexander held her firmly with one arm. “I got a call.”

He ensured she was fine, and his expression darkened the moment his gaze landed on Charlotte. Without hesitation, he lunged toward her, fury flashing across his face.

“She’s here too?” he growled. “Her father killed me.”

Then he glanced back at Maximilian.

“Frater, did you avenge my death?”

Maximilian froze. “What?”

Catherine’s heart began pounding wildly in her chest.

Did I hear that correctly?

Alexander had called Maximilian brother… and he spoke of being killed. A cold realization slowly spread through her mind.

That crown prince… Maximilian’s brother she barely knew… who was killed by Elyndra…

“Alexander…” she said quietly, staring at him. “You were his brother in my previous life?”

How could that be?

Maximilian had once told her that her son had been taken in exchange for his brother’s life.

Alexander… the brother she loved the most… was that brother? Even her brother was Maximilian’s brother?

So, that was what they whispered to each other that day?

They knew… And they lied to me. Why? What do they have to hide?

Her mind spun as the weight of it crashed down on her.

What is happening?

Is there no one left I can trust?

If even Alexander had been lying to her… then who in this life had ever been on her side?

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