"Sir Fane…" Mr. Ruderth kept swallowing convulsively. "It's…she's not my daughter."
Keelion cocked a brow at him. "Oh?"
"I'm not her father."
Alexis stiffened in his hold and her arms that were wrapped around her aching sides tightened. He glanced at her, and even though he couldn't see her face that was buried in his shoulder, he knew she was sobbing silently.
Eleni glared at Ruderth, suddenly grasping his arm. "Adolf, what are you talking about? What do you mean you're not her father? You—"
"I am not her father!" he snapped at her. "This is a child you gave birth to out of an affair, everyone knows that. You and I know it's the real reason she has been hidden. I have been housing another man's daughter, and I had and have no reason to make her public as mine."
Eleni shook her head.