Chapter 210/The New Reality Has Begun

Chapter 210: 210/The New Reality Has Begun

Chapter 210

Stephanie’s POV

The raw, unfiltered audacity of the question struck me with such force I felt the very ground beneath my feet begin to tilt. My pupils dilated violently, darting back and forth between his dark grey eyes in a state of sheer, breathless panic.

In the deepest, darkest corners of my ruined soul in that fractured side of my heart I tried so desperately to bury something inside me screamed out a resounding *Yes!* It screamed that I craved this idea, that this was the only divine salvation that could spare me from the unbearable agony of choosing between them. It was the only outcome that would keep both men the two men whose obsessive, wild love was tearing my chest apart under the exact same roof with me.

But my exhausted, logical mind immediately slammed the thought back down, suffocating it with bleak, harsh reality. How could two ultra-aristocratic men, practically dripping with destructive pride, power, and generational dominance like Alexander and Cedric, ever accept such an utter disgrace? It was impossible. There was no universe in which they would ever agree to share a single woman.

I took a shaky step backward, my fingers trembling as I stared at Cedric. Secret desire clashed violently with sheer terror and helpless defeat in my eyes. "You... you are talking about a complete fantasy, Cedric!" I rasped, my voice cracking under the weight of my emotion. "It’s something completely impossible for a sane mind or your towering pride to ever accept!"

Cedric didn’t even blink.

His gaze remained locked on mine, heavy with the same unyielding defiance and dominant resolve. He drew a deep, burning breath into his lungs, then slowly turned his head to face Alexander.

Alexander stood completely frozen like a carved monument, his piercing blue eyes blazing with a lethal, murderous fire. The veins along his thick neck bulged dangerously against his pale skin.

Cedric dropped his shoulders, his voice settling into a steady, rough baritone that stunned me with its sudden, eerie composure. "The situation is surreal, Stephanie... but it is the absolute truth, and the only thing keeping every single one of us from completely falling apart. If this is the only way for my unborn children to remain by my side without you losing your wife, Alexander... then I am ready to accept these terms. I agree to it."

My eyes widened in catastrophic shock, my knees buckling so hard I nearly stumbled backward. I stared at him in utter disbelief. Did he just say he accepted the idea?! Was Cedric a man whose pride could shatter mountains actually willing to share me with his own brother?!

In that exact, volatile second, a dark, bitterly sarcastic laugh erupted from deep within Alexander’s chest, shaking the entire courtyard. He lunged forward like an impenetrable wall, his blood-stained hand clamping around Cedric’s jaw with brutal, terrifying force. He yanked Cedric’s face upward, towering over him as his roar shattered the heavy silence around us:

"Have you completely lost your fucking mind and your dignity, you bastard?! Has dirt rotted your brain so thoroughly that you’re talking about sharing my wife as if she’s some piece of property to be partitioned between us?! Over my dead body will I ever accept this cursed madness!"

Alexander shoved his brother back violently. Cedric stumbled back two steady paces, the unyielding defiance in his grey eyes remaining completely untouched. Alexander spun toward me, his intense glare trapping my every move with icy, suffocating authority, his voice dropping into a razor-sharp, breathless command:

"As for you, Stephanie... forget this damn absurdity right now! You are returning to the estate this second as my wife, and my wife alone. No one on this earth will ever share you with me as long as I am still breathing!"

I took a firm step back, shaking my head in fierce, unyielding refusal. "I will not go back like that, Alexander!" I yelled through the thick lump choking my throat. "I am not going to be just a dutiful wife who obeys your commands and smothers her own feelings, while I watch Cedric suffer right in front of me, devoured by the agonizing urge to throw myself into his arms! I will never accept my old life again!"

Cedric stepped toward us with deliberate, measured strides. He looked at Alexander, his grey eyes warring between cold ruthlessness and self-sacrificing resolve. He placed a heavy, firm hand on his brother’s shoulder, his voice dropping into a low, steady murmur.

"Listen to me, Alexander... use your head for once instead of your cursed fucking pride. Don’t you see that she is refusing to come back? Don’t you realize that she will walk away, lock the door behind her forever, and take my children with her?"

Cedric turned his gaze back to me, a dark, intense shimmer swirling in his grey eyes. He closed the remaining distance until his hot breath brushed against my pale skin, speaking in a rough, agonizingly honest rasp:

"I cannot stomach the thought of any other man on this earth touching you, Stephanie. The mere thought of someone else having access to your body makes my blood boil in my veins like pure venom.

But I will endure it. I will force myself to tolerate Alexander in every detail of your life, and I will swallow my damn pride... if this is the only way and the absolute last chance for you to stay with me and my children under one roof."

Cedric shifted his stare back to Alexander, his tone laced with a calm, dangerous challenge. "We either share her protection and her presence between us through this silent pact, or we lose her completely and she walks out of our lives tonight. The choice is yours, brother."

A terrifying, suffocating silence descended over the courtyard. Alexander’s breathing came in heavy, jagged gasps, his icy blue eyes darting back and forth between my tear-stained face and his brother’s unreadable expression.

He was waging a brutal, internal war against his towering, aristocratic pride weighing the catastrophic, permanent loss of my departure against a condition that thoroughly executed his manhood.

Slowly, the bulging veins along his throat began to recede. His blood-stained fist uncurled, his arm dropping to his side. He spoke in a low rasp that dripped with bitter surrender laced with a deadly promise:

"Fuck the both of you... fuck this absolute madness! I agree... but I am only doing this for Stephanie. Only because I cannot survive losing her."

In that precise, breathtaking moment, I felt as though I were floating through an ethereal dream I never wanted to wake up from.

My pupils dilated as I drew in a ragged, disbelieving breath, a dark, hidden ecstasy rushing through my veins like potent, aged wine. In a matter of seconds, I hadn’t just bypassed the terrifying threats of the blackmailing maid rendering the audio recordings, Vincenti’s looming schemes, and even Isabella’s knowledge of the secret into worthless dust that couldn’t touch me anymore... I had achieved something far more intoxicating.

I had just secured more than I had ever dared to crave in my wildest, most scandalous dreams.

I was getting Cedric with his obsessive devotion and captivating grey eyes, and Alexander with his vast power, dominance, and the thrill of my first love. I was keeping both men simultaneously with an absolute, unchallenged authority that I had personally forced upon them.

A subtle, triumphant smile threatened to break beneath the surface of my pale skin, and the crushing weight that had rested on my chest for months completely evaporated into thin air. For the first time in forever, my lungs drew in pure, unrestricted oxygen. No more suffocating pressure, no more trembling at the sound of the maid’s footsteps, and no more poisonous secrets threatening to collapse my world at any second. The nightmare was over; the new reality had officially begun.

I turned slowly, stepping up beside them toward the grand entrance of the estate with a newfound, unshakable confidence. The second our feet crossed the marble threshold into the vast foyer, our eyes collided with Grandfather Victor. He stood rigid, leaning heavily on his ebony cane, while Valentina stood right beside him with her arms crossed, her features taut and hyper-vigilant.

Grandfather took a heavy step forward, slamming his cane against the floor with a sharp, echoing crack that filled the hall. He glared at us, scrutinizing our disheveled, exhausted faces. "What the hell is going on between the three of you?! The screaming that shook the entire wing, and your hysterical sprint into the courtyard, Stephanie... I want a clear, immediate explanation for this madness right now!"

I froze beside Alexander, frantically trying to construct a believable lie, but Alexander stepped forward with his chest broad and regal. He met his grandfather’s stern gaze with an icy, tranquil expression, as if nothing out of the ordinary had transpired, his deep voice cutting through the room with absolute authority:

"There is nothing to worry about, Grandfather. It was merely a minor misunderstanding and a heated discussion between my wife and me brought on by the exhaustion of her pregnancy. We have resolved the matter completely, so there is no need to blow it out of proportion."

Before Grandfather or Valentina could utter another word or pry any further into the strange dynamic, Alexander wrapped his hand around mine in a warm, protective grip. He led me with calm, steady strides toward the grand staircase, guiding me up toward our private suite.

We stepped into the master bedroom, and Alexander pulled the door shut behind us. He let out a long, ragged exhale, unbuttoning his top collar while lingering tension still shadowed his features. But suddenly, before a single word could be spoken, the door swung open again with a quiet, deliberate click.

We both turned in unison to find Cedric stepping into the suite with slow, unhurried strides. He paid no mind to the sacred privacy of the room or the sudden flash of hostility on his brother’s face.

He walked directly toward me, locking those intense, dark grey eyes straight into mine, his voice dropping into a low, velvet rasp overflowing with raw emotion and tender desperation:

"I can’t let you slip away or sleep far from my sight ever again, Stephanie... You are never leaving my life or abandoning me again, because I am madly in love with you, and I simply cannot breathe without you."