In the Shadows~zayn au~Completed ✅EDITING

~Chapter 94: The Head of the Snake~

Hello everyone. I realize that this took an incredibly long time to arrive and I know that I apologize for it constantly, but I mean it. The past few weeks have been very tough and my personal life really does affect my writing. I'm sure many of you heard about the court case recently where a rapist was given an incredibly light sentence for his terrible crime. This is something that hurts me deeply; it's a matter close to my heart, because many women fear not being believed, but this woman had two witnesses to her assault and the perpetrator still got away with minimal problem. It's disgusting and I honestly couldn't work up the emotional strength for a while to go back to writing. Then came the shooting in Orlando. I live in Florida and the shock from this incident was incredible. It was only through luck that some of my own friends weren't some of the victims in that atrocious incident. I can't stress how much my writing is affected by my emotions and my feelings. With the past few weeks of tragedies in the real world and problems at work, I honestly couldn't make anything sound good on paper or on the computer. So I hope you all can understand the delay.

It was amazing to hear from you, though! Several of you checked in on me periodically and I seriously can't express to you how much that meant to me! ❤️😭 I love you all so incredibly much and I hope this long update makes up for the length of time it took to get here.

As well, I wanted to mention that if you've commented on my story in the past month, I'm not always getting the notifications or updates in that regard. I try to respond to comments so I'm sorry if I haven't responded to yours! It's not because I'm ignoring you, I promise😉

With that in mind, I'll let you get to reading this! It's over 6,000 words so enjoy! 😘

Recap: Zayn and Kalysta just got into a fight, both said some terrible things, etc.

Delia was in her rooms when Kalysta returned.

"I assume you went to visit your man for the night?" Delia asked, setting out the black mourning clothing for Kalysta's outfit that day. "It's not often that I come in to check on you and find an empty bed."

"Well, don't fret," Kalysta snorted, crossing her arms petulantly. "It won't be a problem anymore."

"Ah, a lover's spat?"

"Don't make it sound so inconsequential; it was more than that!" Kalysta complained, sitting on the edge of her bed. "That man is the absolute most selfish and uncaring person I've had the misfortune of meeting."

"Hmm, I hope that's not why you keep going back to his bed." Delia's voice was purposefully noncommittal.

"He's never been like this before!"

"What did he say?"

"I told him about my pregnancy this morning and he kept going on about how glad he was that the child wasn't his! He didn't even stop to ask me how I felt about it or how I was handling the news! It was just 'I'm not ready to be a father' and such rubbish!" she said, putting on a sarcastically deep voice in imitation of him.

Delia simply looked at her for a moment and then said, "Is that all?"

"Well, yes, what else would there be?" Kalysta asked incredulously. "Isn't that enough?"

"You've never been one to get your hackles up over so little," Delia pointed out. "You have an incredible anger, but you usually save it for things that hold import. Were you expecting him to be excited? To promise that he'd help you out and you'd spend your lives together happy and carefree as he works to bring down his father and his country?"

"I... not exactly," Kalysta grumbled. "But I at least thought he'd be considerate of my feelings!"

"Milady, men don't always respond well in those situations, even the ones who really are the father." Delia's voice was gentle. "The two of you have been through much and any relationship you've had thus far is still young. Go. Talk to him. Perhaps you misheard or he misspoke. Regardless, forgive him and show him some grace. It will go a long way for both of you. I'm sure he's still that good man you fell in love with. Don't let the Prince ruin this for you."