The Duke's Masked Wife

231 Murder in the Collins home (2)

“You know, I half expected you to help me dig the hole to bury it. Not stand around watching me do it all myself,” Alessandra tiredly blew a strand of hair out of her face and glared at Edgar who stood leaning against a tree.

“It’s a nice little lesson for you, isn’t it? You can’t look forward to things going your way all the time. Besides, you are the one who broke it. I’ve already picked up the pieces and found you a nice little corner to bury it. Now, tell me how you plan to make Alfred not go around like a madman searching for it?” Edgar asked.

Alessandra continued to dig through the snow trying to reach the dirt. “I was thinking, maybe I could hurt something he cares about more and he wouldn’t be thinking about the plates. You could take a nice whack over the head if it means helping me get out of trouble right?”

Edgar for once didn’t know how to respond to Alessandra. How could she request to hit him over the head all because of a little plate? Honestly, he would’ve just knocked all the plates off the table, chopped off one of the table legs, and acted like it was the table’s fault. It was just more entertaining to see Alessandra dig a hole like a murderer trying to hide a body.

“What if I tell Alfred that you are sick and I offer to put up the plates for him? It could buy us some time for you to find the creator and have a new plate made. Then everything would be solved,” said Alessandra.

“Why do your bright plans involve me doing the hard parts?”

“Because you are a wonderful man who would do anything for his wife?” Alessandra replied with the sweetest smile she could manage.

Edgar enjoyed the compliment but it just wasn’t enough for what she was asking him to do. “Carry on,” he encouraged her to keep the compliments coming.

“With what?” Alessandra asked.

.....

“The compliments of course and you should put your back into it if you want to reach the dirt before more snow covers what you have already dug up-”

Alessandra had dropped the shovel and balled up snow to throw at Egar for being no help but he dodged it. “At this point, I think it’s best that I just confess what happened because you are no help. I don’t want to see the angry side of Alfred because of how bad everyone makes it seem but I will just have to get it over with. Outside is cold, I have not yet reached the dirt and I am with a man who wants compliments rather than to help me.”

Alessandra dropped the shovel onto the ground and picked up the broken plate they had wrapped up in a cloth. This was why it was best to do the right thing from the very beginning.

‘If Alfred’s angry side scares Edgar, what will happen to me? I might faint,’ Alessandra thought.

“Are you sure you want to tell Alfred what you have done?” Edgar walked behind her back to the house.

“Yes. It is best to be honest so that I do not have to run around trying to keep up a lie. It is now one hundred percent certain you did not kill Jennifer based on how quickly you had a spot to bury the broken plate. Please tell me there are no dead bodies buried on your land, Edgar.”

Silence fell between the two as Edgar did not answer her question.

Alessandra’s heart rushed from the thought of potentially stepping over where someone who was once Edgar’s enemy was buried.

“Why would I be so foolish to bury them on my land when Oliver would release dogs all over my land? Your husband is no fool, Alessandra,” Edgar replied to ease her mind. With the kingdom being so large, it wasn’t hard to hide a body. “I would not grant anyone the luxury of their body laying on my land.”

“Now that you have brought Oliver up, do you think he has given up trying to blame you for Jennifer’s death? I wouldn’t want anyone to lose their jobs but it seems he takes things too personally when you are involved. If I were in his shoes, I would avoid you since my feelings would get in the way. It is unfair for me to have to watch out for both women and men lusting after my husband,” Alessandra turned around to glare at Edgar.

Edgar did not see why she was glaring at him like it was his fault both genders wanted him. He did nothing special to make them fall for him. As children, he was just playing around with Oliver as other boys would, and when it came to women, they were just in love with his face, wealth, and the person in their heads they pictured him to be.

It would have been entertaining had he sought to be in everyone’s bed but as he disliked people coming to him with their foolish conversations and feelings, it was all annoying. If anything, Edgar would like for everyone to truly believe he was a monster so they would stay away.

“I cannot be blamed for being created to perfection. You should take pride in having what everyone wants but could never have,” he replied.

“Certainly not. It is a hassle to have what many want. I have already met a few of your fangirls and I remember how many women were watching us at the ball. I do not want to deal with it forever. I can already imagine someone trying to mess up the peace in our relationship,” said Alessandra.

Edgar was about to reply to Alessandra when he noticed Caleb frantically looking around and then when his eyes landed on the two of them, he ran over.

“Duke, a message came from my brother at the gates. A Greta and Katrina Barrett is here to have a word with the Duchess. We are waiting for your order,” Caleb relayed the message.

Once again, Edgar thought of getting rid of all the Barretts again because the number of them by his gates was increasing and they could not take a hint.

“Seeing that your grandmother is here with that woman, it must mean you are not that close, right?” Edgar asked Alessandra first before he would make a move.

Alessandra didn’t know what to think of her grandmother. Before what happened with the mask, her grandmother would bring gifts during her visits. Greta would never personally hand them over and use a servant. After what happened with the mask, her grandmother rarely visited the home so her father would travel with Kate and Katrina to see her. “I don’t know clearly whether she likes or dislikes me since she has been distant. She is far from what I felt with Rose.”

“I will send them-”

“No,” Alessandra stopped Edgar. “Invite them in. I will properly deal with them so that neither returns to our gates. They will keep showing up unless we give them a reason to stay away. I wish to show that I am not that same girl who hid in the corner, afraid of them.”