The Billionaire’s Secret Quartet (Thalassa and Elowen)

She just couldn't wrap her head around it—a man like Alaric, who'd intertwined his life with another woman's to the extent of having a child with her.

It wasn't that she was a purist when it came to love, but the idea of sharing Alaric with another woman because of a child was something she found insurmountable.

Perhaps it was the depth of her love, the height of her expectations, that made accepting this version of him impossible.

Even if Hertha hadn't loved Alaric with such intensity before, hadn't yearned for a simple, undiluted life of domestic bliss with him, her sense of betrayal wouldn't cut as deep.

But it was precisely because of her deep-seated hopes that she couldn't come to terms with a blemished version of him-a man who had a child with another woman, outside of their family.

These were the thoughts swirling in Hertha's mind, unspoken to Alaric. Yet, the words she had uttered earlier made her stance painfully clear.

Alaric's once sparkling, fox-like eyes had dimmed, now filled with sorrow and pain.

How can I fix this?" Indeed, everything had been orchestrated

with Georgia, yet that conniving

this was what he wanted, yet it had all

he felt powerless and

despair tore at Hertha's heart, as if

she said to Alaric, "We can't change what's happened,

at her,

"Let's just be friends, okay? If you miss the kids, you can get in touch, come and see them. I won't stop you. But between us,

of wanting to cut Alaric out of

realized it