Chapter 11 Bullied by Ex Again

Regina’s POV
“Regina?!” he asked again just to be sure. And he took a few steps towards me with an astonished look on his face, “Fuck…it’s really you! Where the hell have you been?”
I stood on my stop stiffly.
I wasn’t ready to see him just yet.
I thought I would be surrounded by people I knew—Gray or at least my maid Maya—when Nigel and I met again. That way I would be perfectly safe, and Nigel wouldn’t dare to hurt me.
Yet here I was, cornered by him alone at the outside with no one to back me up.
“I asked you a question. Didn’t you hear me?”
Nigel started to get impatient and reached out to grab me. A chill was sent down my spine when his hand caught my wrist. And at that moment, all my miserable memories from the last one year flashed back to me.
“L…Let go…of me…please…”
I stuttered and tried to break free from him. But my body betrayed me. Every fiber of my body was shivering in fear. I couldn’t act normally around Nigel.
With Nigel, I was no longer the princes of Ever Moon Pack; I was his lowly wife whom he got to torture and boss around anytime he wanted.
Probably because my voice was too low, Nigel didn’t hear my begging at all.
He tightened his grip and snapped impatiently, “I’ve been looking for you all over the place! What happened to you after you entered Ever Moon Pack? Why didn’t you come home?”
It took me an eternity to pluck up my courage and answer that question:
“—Because…I—I didn’t want to.”
The look on Nigel’s face changed to rage abruptly, “What the fuck did you say? You are MY wife! You are my fucking property! If you don’t want to come back to me, where will you go?”
His words made me feel angry.
And anger conquered fear. I finally found the courage to confront him.
“Yes, I am your wife…but have you ever treated me as your wife?” I stared at him with welling tears in my eyes, “I was basically a slave in your house and you never took me out to meet any of your friends. I was trapped between the kitchen and laundry room!”
Nigel seemed seriously offended.
And he snarled, “Regina, are you fucking rebelling against me right now? Doing house chores was your duty as the mistress! If you don’t cook and wash those dirty clothes, who else will? Me? Or my poor mother?”
“I couldn’t argue with you on that but—”
I took a deep breath and tried to keep my voice steady before continuing:
“—What about what you said to Miss Angel? I heard everything on the tree. You promised to divorce me and marry her! You are even willing to—to have me dead just to be with her! If she is the one, why do you still want me back? WHY?!”
I basically shouted through the final few words.
My heart ache like though it had been stabbed a million times.
I could forgive Nigel for neglecting me, for using me as a slave…I could even forgive him for getting physical with me if he apologized for it.
But I couldn’t forgive him for falling in love with another woman while he was still with me.
If he said he was in love with Angel, I would leave him right now.
Nigel gritted his teeth and glared at me. For a second, he seemed as though he was going to slap me on my face. But then he took notice of our surroundings, and he struggled to contain his temper.
“Regina don’t make me fight you here.” he hissed with a low and strained voice, “This is a very important occasion. Let’s not do this here!”
“So just answer my question,” I insisted.
“Fuck! You stubborn piece of shi—” he raked his fingers through his hairs and gritted frustratedly, “OK. Fine. I only said those words to Angel to cope with her, alright? She is fucking obsessed with me. And she is the Alpha’s daughter. What am I supposed to do? To piss her off? I can’t ruin my future like that!”
Is he saying that what he said to Angel were all lies? “But she should know that you are married—”
“Fuck, Regina, don’t you get it? Angel is a spoiled drama queen! She won’t care if I’m married or not! She always gets what she wants because she is the Alpha’s daughter! I could only deal with her delicately.”
I wanted to tell him that I was the Alpha’s sister.
I could also help him.
So if he really loved me, he should leave Angel and come back to me.
But before I could say any of that, he grabbed my shoulder and pulled me into his arms, his left hand rubbing my waist seductively, “Stop arguing with me now, OK? Do you know why I am here today?”
“Why?” I murmured absently. His touch made me feel very uncomfortable, probably because we hadn’t been intimate for a very long time.
“Because—and hear this—” he grinned proudly, “—the Alpha of Ever Moon Pack invited me to this trade summit! Isn’t this awesome?!”
Gray didn’t invite him.
It was me who brought him here, so that we could talk things off.
But seeing him this happy, I couldn’t break the truth to him.
“I’m proud of you,” I gave him a feeble smile.
“You should be. Your husband is going to be a fucking ambassador. I bet you never dreamed of that in your entire life! You are one lucky woman, Regina.” he grabbed my butt and squeezed it, “So just be a good girl and come to this summit with me. It’s actually a good thing that I ran into you here. I didn’t bring any date.”
He held my waist and dragged me into the hotel lobby without giving me a chance to say no.
The lobby was packed with people and the summit was about to begin. Nigel looked from left to right and his eyes gleamed brightly in excitement.
“Look that fucking champagne tower! Each bottle of champagne is worth 10 thousand dollars!” he whispered by my ear, breathing rapidly, “And that chandelier—do you think it’s made of glass or real diamond?”
“It’s real diamond,” I told him.
I knew because I broke a piece while playing crossbow with Gray when we were child.
“I thought so too,” Nigel snorted. “I bet you have never been to such a glamorous place in your entire life, have you? You should thank me for giving you this chance.”
I hesitated, wondering if this is a good chance to tell him about my identity.
But he cut me off before I made up my mind, “You go get a glass of champagne for me.”
So I left his side temporarily and walked towards the bar.
The hotel manager was standing beside the bar, talking to guests. He turned around when I approached. And from the stunned look on his face, I knew this manager had recognized me. “Princess Regina!”
The manager gasped and bowed to me humbly, “What an honor! I heard you are back to Ever Moon Pack but didn’t know you are coming today. Please let me make some special arrangement for you.”
His voice was loud. I could feel people turning their heads to look at me. I was embarrassed because I didn’t want Nigel to hear this from him.
“No there’s no need…” I kept my voice low and said hurriedly, “I just need a glass of champagne.”
“Certainly. My lady. Is there anything else you need?
Just then, a perplexed voice came from behind my back asking, “…My lady?”
I jerked around and found Nigel standing a few steps away from us. He must have overheard our conversation.
“What the hell is happening here?” Nigel frowned looking back and forth between us, “Regina, why is this man calling you ‘my lady’?”
I panicked.
While I was still searching for the right words to say, the manager had answered on my behalf, “Sir, this is the princess of Ever Moon Pack—Princess Regina.”
Silence.
Complete Silence.
Nigel didn’t say a word after that as though somebody had used a freezing spell on him.
I held my breath nervously while waiting for his reaction.
Is he going to be mad? Confused? Or—
Yet suddenly, Nigel burst into loud laughter.
“Princess? Prin—Fuck! You gotta be kidding me! What a joke!” he laughed so hard that he was basically rocking back and forth, “Her? Regina? A princess? If she were the princess, I would be the fucking Moon Goddess!”
The manager’s jaw dropped. And I bit my lips looking at Nigel in humiliation.
Didn’t I look like a princess to him?
“It was true, Nigel.” I tried to tell him again, “Actually I have been keeping this a secret from you. I was born in Ever Moon Pack. And my father is Barnie Gibbons and my grandfather is Victor Gibbons, the former Alpha—”
“ENOUGH!” Nigel growled.
He pointed a finger at me and snapped, “I know you have probably a stupid princess dream. But you shouldn’t joke about this here! I can’t have your horrible joke ruin this opportunity!”
“But it’s the truth—”
Nigel cursed and dashed forward, grabbing my hair. He pulled my head backwards, hurting my scalp.
“Ahh!” I cried out in pain, but he caught my jaw, silencing me.
“Shut up, you stupid bitch!” he hissed beside my ears.
The manager seemed horrified.
“What are you doing! Let go of the princess!” the manager rushed to help me, but Nigel kicked him aside.
“Beat it!” Nigel spat at the manager, “Regina hired you to tell that lie, didn’t she!”
“NO! Of course not! Let her go!”
And right at this urgent moment, a loud voice came from the front door, announcing:
“—Ladies and gentlemen, the Alpha of Ever Moon Pack has arrived!”
Everyone snaped their head around and those who were sitting had stood up. At the center of attention, a tall figure marched into the lobby in long strides, followed by a group of soldiers and guards.
Gray!
He came!
I wanted to call out to him. But Nigel suddenly pulled on my hair again and gritted by my ear, “Look at him! Look at Alpha Gray! If you are the princess of Ever Moon Pack, it makes him your brother! Do you believe that yourself? Do you deserve a brother like that?!”
I shivered while gazing at that familiar figure through tears.
But Gray was my brother. The person who loved me the most on this planet.
And nobody could deny that.
Not even Nigel.
“—Gray!” I finally cried out in a loud and shaking voice.
My voice caused everyone in the hall to turn around and look at me, including Gray.
His icy gaze traveled across the entire room.
And it fixed upon me and Nigel.