#Chapter 36: Blame

Ella POV "You’ve certainly pulled it off," Alexander said with a look of amusement on his face. "The news has reached the far corners of the kingdom. It’s all anyone’s talking about." I was sitting on the bed in my room, video calling with Alexander. I felt strange, almost like I was dreaming. It was only this morning that I and the rest of the wedding guests had caught David and Amanda in the act. So much had happened since then. My parents were upset—more so than I had expected. After all, they had known that David was a bad match for me, and I had foolishly insisted on going forward with the wedding. I thought that they should have been relieved. But I knew that they were heartbroken on my behalf. They had no way of knowing that I had already grieved for my relationship with David. I smiled awkwardly into the phone. "Yes, it seems the plan worked perfectly," I said. "Now the truth is exposed." "You don't have to force yourself to smile," Alex