Husband With Benefits-Chapter 887: An Attack

"Are you sure we shouldn’t walk out of here together?" Arabelle asked, her eyes meeting Rafe’s.

Rafe shook his head slowly. "Walk out when I invite you. I want to introduce you properly as the next queen to my people."

He gave her hand a reassuring pat, but then his expression darkened slightly. Her hands were colder than ice. "Are you really that nervous? What’s bothering you?"

Arabelle’s lips pressed into a thin line as she shook her head. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him about the uneasy feeling that had settled in her chest. She didn’t understand it, but something felt terribly off.

She shook her head again and smiled up at him," Just go and do it. I’ll come when needed."

Rafe wanted to question her about what was bothering her but he nodded, unsure if he should pressure her. But then, he took a deep sigh and walked onto the podium.

The room grew quiet as he made his way to the podium. Even his footsteps echoed in the large hall.

But before he could speak, a voice called out from the crowd.

"

He stopped at the podium, his presence commanding as always, and took a breath to begin. But before he could utter a single word, a voice rang out from the crowd, cutting through the quiet like a knife.

"Prince Rafe, what do you say about your fiancée, Arabelle Frost’s teen pregnancy?"

The words hung in the air for a split second, and then chaos erupted. Reporters, as if waiting for the dam to break, began shouting questions in rapid succession, their voices overlapping in a cacophony of accusations and demands.

"Your Highness, what’s your response to the rumors about Arabelle’s teen pregnancy and her alleged decision to terminate it?"

"Did you know about her past before proposing? If not, does this change anything?"

"Are you comfortable associating with someone who has such a controversial history? Is she still in contact with her ex?"

"How do you think this affects your image as the future king? Will it tarnish the monarchy?"

"Would you have chosen to marry her if you’d known the truth from the start?"

Rafe stood frozen, his jaw tightening as he struggled to process the onslaught. He glanced briefly at Markus, his aide, who was already weaving through the crowd with purposeful strides. Within moments, Markus reached him and handed over a sleek tablet.

The screen illuminated with text, headlines, and photos—evidence of a scandal that Rafe hadn’t anticipated. As he scrolled through, his expression darkened.

On the back side of the stage, Arabelle stiffened. She had not expected this. She felt her knees weaken and leaned against the wall. Her earlier unease now felt justified, but she hadn’t imagined it would unfold like this. She closed her eyes, her breathing shallow as the words from the reporters reverberated in her mind.

This news was what she had feared. And worst still was the way it had broken out. The noise from the hall was deafening, a relentless barrage of questions and accusations aimed at her. Her vision blurred as a wave of dizziness hit her, and she blinked rapidly to clear it.

Should she go out there? Should she explain myself? The thoughts echoed in her mind, but her body refused to move, to cooperate.

Summoning what little courage she had left, Arabelle leaned forward and peered around the corner of the curtain. The hall was a storm of chaos, cameras flashing and reporters pressing closer to the stage, shouting over each other to be heard.

And there, at the center of it all, stood Rafe.

His expression was thunderous, his eyes scanning the crowd. He seemed to have sensed her gaze because he turned his head at that moment.His jaw was clenched, his grip on the tablet so tight she thought he might break it.

Arabelle’s breath hitched as their eyes met, his anger and disappointment palpable even from a distance. Her heart sank. She had expected this, she tried to remind herself. She had known that she would face this but this was to soon...

nable to hold it any longer, she stepped back, retreating behind the curtain. Her legs felt like lead as she turned away, her mind screaming at her to leave, to get as far from this disaster as possible.

The muffled roar of the crowd followed her as she moved down the corridor, her head spinning. She didn’t know where she was going—she just needed to escape. To breathe.

Then, cutting through the noise in her earl like a blade, she heard Rafe’s voice for a moment.

"I am ashamed..."

The words echoed in her ears, sharp and unforgiving. She stopped in her tracks, her body rigid. Her chest tightened as if the air had been sucked from her lungs.

Ashamed. Did he mean her? Was he ashamed of her? Or was it this situation, this scandal, this nightmare that she had knowingly pushed him into?

The word rang over and over in her mind, each repetition sinking deeper and deeper into her heart. Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them back, refusing to cry. Not here. Not now. First, she needed to get to a safe place. And then she would cry her heart out.

But her mind remained a blank. She couldn’t even think of where to go from here. Thankfully, before she could do anything foolish like walk out, someone caught her hand," Come this way."

She looked up at Kael and breathed a sigh of relief. "Kael? I need to leave..."

He shot her a look and shook his head, "It won’t take long for the press to come looking for you. We have limited time."

As he said this, he took her out of a side door towards the waiting car and then she escaped from there. In the distance, she could see the reporters already gathering at the back gates, probably to stop his way and she felt guilty all over again.