Nicholas’s POV
“Your Majesty, we’ve run a test on the rings and…”
The doctor looked down at the report in his hands, his face serious under the bright lights of the medical lab. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was trying to punch its way out of my chest. I didn’t want to be the one who had poisoned my wife without even knowing. The thought made me sick to my stomach. How would I ever face Hazel again if it turned out I had been the weapon that almost killed her? I had touched her all night—held her close, kissed her neck, pulled her against me like I couldn’t get enough. If the poison had been on my rings, I would never forgive myself.
I stood there frozen, waiting for the words that could destroy me.
The silence in the lab stretched endlessly, thick and suffocating. Even
