Chapter 126: Parasite

Astrid’s POV

The trial started, and the evidence was laid out before my very eyes.

Thalia was busy screaming that I deserved to be executed. She hated me with everything in her, and the feeling was mutual. Fuck her and everything that had anything to do with her. I was going to deal with her properly after all of this was over.

The entire hearing was chaotic. People were making noise from every corner of the room ... Thalia being the loudest of them all. The judges deliberated loudly amongst themselves while the crowd refused to settle. It was a mess.

Ethan wasn’t in the room yet.

But when he walked in, I could feel that a decision was about to be made. Something about his presence shifted the air. And I just knew.

"Astrid Allen, rise," the chief judge said.

And just like that ... I was cleared. The same way it had happened before, the ruling came down in my favour, and I watched the colour drain from Thalia’s face in real time. That alone was worth every second of hell I had sat through.

"The recording in question was merely a voice sample, and upon thorough investigation, we have confirmed it was doctored to imitate your voice. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused."

The crowd erupted. "Cheater! Cheater!" they chanted ... but they weren’t chanting at me.

The handcuffs came off. I walked free.

Thalia lunged at me before I had even taken three steps. She was absolutely unhinged ... screaming, reaching, her voice pitched like a goat being dragged by its hind legs. "She’s a liar! She’s a thief! A criminal!" The guards closed in and held her back before she could get near me, and honestly, I almost wished they hadn’t. I would have loved the excuse.

But I had bigger things to celebrate.

This one had been handled ... and I owed that entirely to my husband. Ethan found me in the crowd and we kissed right there in front of everyone at the station, zero shame, zero apology. We had both been through too much to care what anyone watching thought about it.

I loved Ethan. And he loved me ... not in words, but in the way he kept showing up, every single time. Our love wasn’t going anywhere. That much I was certain of.

We left in his car and headed to his place.

The moment the door closed behind us, I kissed him again. We had survived something ugly together, and he had stood beside me through all of it. "Thank you," I said softly against him.

"I’m your husband, Astrid. I’ll love you for life," he said.

Then he pulled back slightly. "Let’s leave Bloodmoon."

I blinked. "What?"

"The threats on your life and on your reputation ... they’ve gotten out of hand. You’re not safe here. I know what I’m doing," he said.

I stared at him. He was serious. But he wasn’t thinking clearly.

"Ethan, we both have a life here. Jobs. Connections. We can’t just pack up and run ... that doesn’t make the enemies disappear, it just means we ran from them," I said.

"It’s not running, it’s strategy. We don’t have to stay and prove a point..."

"To where, exactly?" I cut him off.

"Anywhere. I’ll find somewhere."

I took his hand in mine. "We can survive this place together. I don’t want you walking away from everything you’ve built just because of me. Let’s stay. Let’s secure ourselves, eliminate whatever threats are left, and rebuild our image from the ground up." I held his gaze until I saw the moment it landed.

He exhaled. "Okay."

Then, without warning, he went down on one knee right there in front of me. "I’m sorry for hitting you. It was cowardly of me and you deserved better."

I smiled slowly. "Your apology isn’t complete."

He looked up. "What do you need?"

"Ice cream."

He laughed ... a real one, deep and genuine. "That’s no issue, babe." And he walked right back out the door to go get it.

While he was gone, I started thinking through everything I needed to do ... getting my job back, fully restoring my image, making sure there were no loose threads left for my enemies to pull. Because the way things had been going, they weren’t going to stop on their own.

Ethan came back with the ice cream, and honestly? I hadn’t even been that serious about it when I said it, but the moment I saw it, I wanted it badly. That was the thing about him ... he never let me down on the small things either. It almost made me emotional.

Saying thank you again felt redundant, but I said it anyway.

"Let’s go get your job back tomorrow," he said, settling beside me.

The next morning, Ethan and I walked straight into Mr. Liam’s office.

"Good morning, Mr. Liam," I said. He greeted Ethan first with a handshake. Didn’t even extend one to me.

"What is your wife seeking here, Mr. Allen?" he asked, directing the question entirely at my husband like I wasn’t standing right in front of him.

"She’s been fully cleared of every accusation made against her," Ethan said evenly. "We’re here to formally request the reinstatement of her position."

"The suspension was indefinite ... that was made clear to her. We haven’t recovered from what that scandal did to our numbers over the past week," Liam said.

Ethan unlocked his phone and held it out. "This is the chief judge declaring her not guilty on record. Whatever damage has been done to the company’s image, we can start addressing it immediately. I’m speaking to you wolf to wolf ... and as a friend."

Liam’s expression shifted. Something tightened around his jaw. "Ethan. You know you can’t bring that in here." He lowered his voice. "I’ll look into it. She’ll be reinstated ... just make sure the loose ends are tied before anything else surfaces."

We nodded, and that was that.

Ethan went to his own office to carry on with his work, and I made my way out. I just needed to get home, stay patient, and wait for my reappointment letter.

"Mrs. Astrid!"

Ivy’s voice hit me before I saw her. She came sprinting across the floor and threw her arms around me without hesitation. Around her, I could see the others watching ... faces tight, eyes cold. They were probably waiting for my downfall.

They were fucking wrong.

"How are you, Ivy? I’ve missed you," I said, holding her just as tightly.

"I’m fine, ma’am ... are you back now?" she asked, pulling back to look at my face.

"Very soon. Just waiting on my letter."

"I’ve missed you so much. I knew whoever framed you wouldn’t get away with it ... I just knew it." She was grinning like she’d personally won something, and honestly, her joy was infectious. She hugged me one more time before I finally pulled away and headed home

My parents had been calling non-stop. I hadn’t picked up a single one of their calls ... not until everything was resolved. I had already put them through enough stress to last a lifetime. They could hear the good news now that there was actually good news to give.

Thalia, on the other hand, was still sitting at the back of my mind like a splinter I hadn’t pulled out yet. She was a hard egg to crack, I’d give her that. But not impossible. I was still in the middle of working that out when Ethan walked in.

"We need to get that video off the internet," he said.

I stiffened. "The one that involved me..." I couldn’t even finish the sentence. Fuck.

"Yes, that one. I’ve already reached out to a tech contact ... he’s going to scrub it. You’re starting fresh, Astrid. Clean slate."

I looked at him for a long moment. Just looked at him.

"What did I do to deserve someone like you?" I said, and I felt it rising in my chest before I could stop it.

"You deserve me completely. I’m the one who got lucky," he said.

We laughed together, and I meant it ... every bit of it. I never wanted what we had to end. If anything had kept us standing through all of this, it was the fact that neither of us had been willing to let go.

We were still talking ... winding down, laughing about how the day had gone ... when my phone buzzed on the table.

A notification. An email.

I opened it.

My reappointment letter.

It was a fresh start. A real one.

But there was still one parasite left standing between me and peace.

Ethan’s ex-wife.

Thalia.