Mated To Alpha Gregory

Chapter 31; The Interrogation

Adams’ POV;

I was sitting quietly in Lilith’s room, praying for the goddess to bring her back to me. I was weakened by the fact that this was my fault.

I told the guards not to let anyone, no matter who it was, and that was why, when I heard a knock, I scrunched my face, wondering why the guards had disobeyed me.

“It’s you,” I said upon seeing Ronan after opening the door.

“Yes, Your Highness. I have come to inform you that Lady Crane is currently being held in the dungeon. In case you want to question her, right now.”

I clenched my dust tightly to my side, I didn’t want to just question her, although I never hit women, I was tempted to find this one and squeeze the life out of her neck.

“Did she say anything?”

He shook his head and I sank back into the chair. I wasn’t expecting him to say anything anyway. For some reason, I felt that Maya was going to keep denying it.

She had the most reasons to poison her, the first one being that she was jealous. She must’ve really wanted me that much to make her poison the Queen.

“What about the maid?” I questioned, remembering that when I had asked the guards when she was here, they had said that it wasn’t long after we left.

The maid was suspicious of running away and even more suspicious as she was the person closest to the Queen and the perfect person to poison her. Perhaps, through a glass of water or a small snack or anything.

Also, the fact that she hid her identity was also alarming. Why bother hiding your identity if you don’t have something to hide?

“We’ve not seen her yet. I think she’s left the mansion, but I did find something interesting,” he said, handing a tablet over to me.

My brows pulled together in concentration as I studied the information in front of me. My jaw clenched tightly, and I gripped the tablet tightly so that it looked as though it was going to shatter.

“What the hell is this?”

“That’s just how surprised I was as well.”

“A financial analyst. Why is a financial analyst working as a maid?”

“Beats me. I’ve been thinking the same too. The only conclusion I could reach was that she wasn’t hired to just poison the Queen,” our eyes met, and my heart clenched tightly.

I had been played. The real mission really wasn’t Lilith’s death, it must’ve been a way to distract me.

“Have you looked at the treasury? Is there something you’re not telling me?” He pressed and I closed my eyes.

“Your Highness, What’s going on? I tried to look through some things from the treasury…it appeared that you’ve been spending lots of time looking through some files related to…”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Ronan.”

“How much?” He whispered, and a loud sigh expelled from my lips.

“Everything.”

“What?”

“Everything, Ronan, Everything. I found out too late.”

Ronan looked as though all the energy had been sapped out of him.

“Ben?” He questioned slowly and I nodded. I was unsure, but I knew that it had to be my brother.

“I didn’t want to put the kingdom in turmoil, so I kept it to myself,” I said, even though that wasn’t the actual reason I didn’t tell Ronan. I had no idea what I didn’t want to tell him.

“We should detain him, your highness. By the time I thoroughly question him, he…”

I shook my head. “You’re forgetting the immunity he has.”

That was one reason why my brothers got away with so many things. They could never be arrested due to the fact that they were royalty. Plus, there was the fact that I didn’t have proof.

“I’ll find proof. All I have to do is find Sheila Troy and that’s all.”

I nodded, although I had the notion that we were never going to find her. This woman was smart, too smart to have deceived both Lilith and me.

“About Lady Crane,” he began, and I stood up.

“You don’t think she did it.” It was a statement rather than a question and he nodded.

I also didn’t think she was smart enough to pull off something like that, although one could never tell. She was a jealous woman and, given our past, I believe she must’ve either been indirectly involved or aware of what was going on.

“Let’s go see her.”

I walked briskly to the dungeon, my expression Stoic as I thought about Lilith. The doctor had made it clear that if she survived, it was going to be a miracle and that miracle was what I was counting on. He said that the poison had eaten deep into her, but something else he said gave me hope.

Apparently, with the amount of poison in her system, she was supposed to have died, but she was still alive. That gave me hope that she was going to pull through.

The dungeon was located at the far end of the property. We passed the cells of other prisoners and I heard them begging for mercy. I was dead to their pleas and the surrounding noise, as my only focus was to see Maya.

Ronan led me to her cell, and he pulled the gate open. As soon as she heard the rattling of the door lock and chains, her head that had been buried between her legs snapped up, and she instantly fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face.

“Your Highness, I didn’t do anything! I promise!”

I stared at her, my fists clenched to my side as I studied her face. Her eyes held pain and her lips quivered due to the tears.

“Why did you do it?”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

She shook her head rapidly. “I swear to you, I didn’t do anything! I would never do something like that!”

“Then, why did you go back to her room?”

“I just. I just thought what happened to her was horrible, and I went to say a few prayers. You have to forgive me,” she said in between tears.

“Save your crocodile tears! You must think you could get away with it because you’re a Crane,” I slammed my fist on the door, making her jump with fright.

“You colluded with my brother. Which of them?” I studied her face for anything that was going to give her guilt away.

She shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” She screamed now and I noted her agitation.

“Which of my brothers? Ben? What did he promise you? That you were going to be Queen?”

She gasped. She was a Crane after all, and like the rest of her family, she was also power-hungry and if my brother had promised to make her Queen, then it was possible for her to do anything.

“I would never murder someone! You of all people should know that,” she sniffed and wiped the tears off her face.

But she wasn’t done. “Yes, I love you and I want you all to myself, but I’m not so evil as to poison someone!”

“Did you also hire Sheila?”

“I don’t even know who that is! Why won’t you believe me?”

“You didn’t know her name? Did you hire the maid?”

She scoffed. “There’s no point saying anything when you won’t even believe me,” she folded her arms and sat down just as she had earlier.

“Send words to my father. I’m sure he’s not aware that his precious daughter is somewhere in a dark dungeon rotting away.”

“You think your father can help you out this time? You Cranes are funny. Since you keep denying it, I have no choice,” I turned to Ronan, who had been quiet since we got here.

“Make sure she remains here without food or water until she’s ready to talk.”

She burst out into laughter. “I have nothing else to say. But then, I’d love to know how everything unfolds. Oh, I wish the Queen a quick recovery, by the way.”

“Your Highness,” Ronan called from behind me and I turned to him.

“The other maid, Cara, she’s been found,” he whispered, and I nodded, giving Maya one last look before storming out of the cell.

“She was found unconscious at the edge of the town by the guards. She’s currently receiving treatment now, but is yet to wake up.”

I furrowed my brows. “What do you think happened?”

“I think they wanted her out of the way.”

“Let me know when she wakes up.”

He nodded, and I opened the door to the Queen’s room, letting out a loud exhalation.

If Nathaniel Crane got wind of the fact that his daughter was being held here, all hell was going to break loose.

Suddenly, something caught my eye and I rushed towards her, my face breaking into a smile as I confirmed that, indeed, her eyes had opened.

“Your Highness,” her voice was hoarse, but her smile lit up her face. I had no idea that her smile was this beautiful.