THE DISGRACED HUSBAND IS A HIDDEN PRINCE

Chapter Two

Chapter Two: The Hidden Network

Alexander Petrov’s POV

Alexander stormed out of the ballroom with clenched fists, barely attracting the attention of anyone. The gala had begun fully, the perfect show of money and glittering costumes and clothes on full display. Isabella had been drawn to a side by Vivian and he knew she was being lectured about Viktor again.

He ignored the strings of laughter behind him. His fists ached from clenching and the pressure in his chest hadn’t eased since Vivian opened her mouth. He slid into his car and drove off, fast and reckless till the glittering estates were behind him, and the city thinned out like a shadow. The warehouse district rose out of the darkness like a bruise.

He hadn’t been there in almost a month. The moment the guards saw him walk into the alleyway, they stiffened and then bowed sharply.

“Boss.”

He nodded stoically at them, making his way into the nondescript warehouse. The exterior still looked like a forgotten stretch of overgrown bush, but the interior hummed with quiet activity. Men and women packed with purpose and tension moved through the tiny hallways. The radio hummed and screens glowed.

Everyone who walked past him stared at him weirdly, or rather at his cheap suit and overall dirty appearance, but no one dared to say anything. They just made way for him to pass.

Except for one new recruit who didn’t know better.

“Damn, boss looking rough tonight—”

“Shut the fuck up.” Dmitri, his royal guard, cut him off before Alexander even had to glance in his direction. “That ‘rough’ man just survived three years in enemy territory without blowing his cover once. Show some goddamn respect.”

The recruit went pale, bowing his head quickly. “Sorry, Boss.”

Alexander said nothing. Just kept walking.

Dmitri fell into step beside him. “Alex— Whoa! I didn’t know you could dress like this. Man, you look like a…” He trailed off. “Street beggar.” He concluded with a grin.

“Don’t start.” Alexander exhaled through his nose, taking off the oversized coat he had on, leaving him in just a white shirt that hugged his chest perfectly. The white shirt was a perfect reminder of the life he once lived before he became a refugee in his own country.

Only three people stood by him after the coup; Dmitri, his former royal guard who escaped the coup with him, Katerina, a tech specialist who had been tracking his uncle’s digital footprint, and James, a British intelligence officer who defected after discovering the depth of corruption in his own government dealings with Valdoria.

Those three had been working in the background while he stayed married to Isabella Summers. He didn’t inform them that he was visiting tonight, but he knew they’d have something for him. Katerina and James soon came out of one of the rooms, both of them holding their laptops.

“Welcome, boss. We didn’t know you were coming today,” Katerina said, settling down on the chair opposite Alexander.

“Yeah. What’s the latest update on the Valdorians?” Alexander went straight to the point.

Since the coup, they’d spent years building the network. They’d recruit displaced Valdorians, sympathetic foreigners, and people harmed by his uncle’s expanding influence.

“Well, I recently found out that Viktor Romanov’s interest in the Summers family is nowhere near romantic. He has a hidden agenda.” James started, scrolling through his laptop as he talked.

“I thought as much. Viktor can’t be so desperate for anyone. That fucker values his ego more than anything else, he can’t just be caught fooling around for a woman. What else?” Alexander asked.

“The Summers family isn’t just a normal aristocratic family. I discovered this while tracking the head of the family weeks ago. I noticed that he’d always visit a very big office building in the heart of the city. After further investigation, we found out that it wasn’t just an office building.”

“The building held up years upon years of governments. The Summers family belongs to an ancient aristocratic family called the Circle of Crowns.” James paused, and Alexander’s mouth opened in shock.

“Wait. The same Circle of Crowns? The one we’ve been…” Alexander trailed off.

“Yes. The shadow network that has been influencing European politics for centuries.” James nodded.

Alexander expected some deep secrets from tonight’s intelligence briefing, but he never even thought that he’d be told what he was just told. He had been in the Summers family for three years, watching their activities and everything about them closely. Who would have even thought that the Circle of Crowns that he was investigating on the side belonged to them?

“If your uncle manages to infiltrate the Summers family, then he’ll have control over the Circle of Crowns which will give him unlimited access to more governments. He’d be unstoppable.” Katerina added.

Alexander straightened up, realizing that his uncle had been trying really hard to have access to the Summers family because of that Shadow network. He had racked his brain, trying to figure out why he’d want to so badly gain access to the family.

“What do we do now? We have to stop him from getting closer to the family, we can’t allow him to have more access to them.” Dmitri said.

Katerina spread some photographs on the table. “We got these photos from the recent circle meetings they had. You might want to check these out.” She said, stepping aside so that Alexander could see the pictures well.

The photos were all of Isabella, his dear wife. He wasn’t so surprised. They weren’t like any normal couple who were madly in love with each other, so the marriage was sure to harbor some secrets. But the Isabella he thought he knew didn’t have the energy to get herself involved in anything shady.

In all of the photos, she sat down poised and controlled, her jaw tense and lips drawn in a straight line. She was putting on different clothes which meant that the pictures were taken at different circle meetings. She seemed to hold a significant position in the circle too. What more could she even be hiding?

He married her when the Summers needed a husband to prevent their estate from being seized by creditors, and he needed a cover identity that’d get him close to the aristocratic family too. It was a win-win situation for both of them, but he realized that he mightn’t be the one with the dirtiest secrets. Isabella was. Watching her stay quiet again while her family insulted and criticized him tonight stirred something in him.

“Here. I didn’t add this one to the photos.” Katerina’s voice dragged him out of his thoughts. He stared at her outstretched hand before taking the photograph she was holding.

It was a picture from a surveillance camera which meant that it was really blurry, almost unseen even. But on straining his eyes, he made out the back view of Isabella talking to a man who was facing the camera directly.

No, it wasn’t just anyone. It was the Ghost, his uncle’s spymaster.