I Choose A New Life Chapter 08
Once I got pregnant, William practically lived in my room.
After our third dinner together, he smiled and said he wanted to spend the night.
I kept a straight face. “There are a lot of other women in the palace who haven’t had any of your attention. Your Majesty, you really should be fair to them.”
William’s smile vanished. “Bella, you truly are virtuous.”
I waited for him to get up and leave, but he didn’t budge.
His voice dropped. “I feel like you aren’t the same girl you were when we were kids.”
“Everybody changes,” I said. “I used to be a sheltered little girl, and now I’m the queen of a whole country. Taking on this kind of responsibility means giving up other things.”
William just stared at me for a long time.
“I just hope your feelings for me are completely real,” he said, “and that there isn’t anybody else.”
I started taking back control of palace affairs.
The first thing I did was clear out the ridiculous number of maids in Anna’s quarters, reassigning them to other wings.
Anna had been taking daily baths in milk and roses—a habit that cost hundreds of gold coins. I shut it down for being way too extravagant.
She complained to William, but he just brushed her off. “The Queen runs this palace. You’ll follow her orders.”
Anna tried to argue, but William just waved his hand and dismissed her.
She stared at his icy expression, unable to hide her disbelief.
She figured that winning the King’s favor would give her the upper hand over me.
What she didn’t get was that his affection had an expiration date—the second she earned it, it started slipping through her fingers.
Now, I had the rank, the heir, and the King’s favor.
She had absolutely nothing.
When William finally came to see me, I was flat on my back in bed, totally drained.
His face clouded over as he turned to the royal doctor. “Is something wrong with the Queen?”
The doctor’s expression was grim. “Her Majesty suffered a severe shock. She’s showing signs of a miscarriage.”
“What could possibly have frightened her like that?”
Margaret dropped to her knees, sobbing. “Her Majesty was just trying to enforce the palace rules. She never expected Anna to talk back, let alone go running straight to your chambers to complain. She was up all night…”
The doctor cut in. “A pregnant woman cannot handle this kind of stress. If it happens again, she will likely lose the baby.”
William looked absolutely livid. He sat by my side, gripping my hand in a long, heavy silence.
Finally, he spoke. “Bella, I am so sorry.
“I’ve let Anna get away with this behavior for way too long. She’s going to be punished.”
The orders came down fast.
For her blatant disrespect and improper conduct, Anna was stripped of her status, demoted to the rank of Lady, and confined to her quarters for six months.
Just like that, her visitors dried up. She became a total pariah.
I didn’t even have to lift a finger.
The other women in the palace hated Anna with such a passion that they actively bribed the staff to make her life a living hell.
Anna was already fragile.
Between the house arrest and the constant torment, her health just tanked.
The royal doctor reported that her days were numbered.
When William heard the news, a flicker of sorrow crossed his face, but that was it.
He just held me and let out a heavy sigh. “She used to be so sweet. So gentle. How did she change so much?”
I just watched him.
In our previous life, he’d loved her so fiercely that he spent the rest of his days mourning her.
Yet now that he actually had her, his feelings were entirely mundane.