Chapter 243
The moment the words reached his ears, Alexander's grip on the phone tightened.
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After ending the call, he opened the email app on his phone. His breath hitched when he saw the test results staring back at him. His thumb hovered over the screen, trembling slightly, but he couldn’t bring himself to tap it.
Honk! Honk!
The impatient blare of car horns snapped him back to reality. The traffic light had turned green, and the vehicles behind him were growing restless.
"Are you alright, Mr. Blackwood?" Vivian studied him with curious eyes.
Alexander locked his phone and tossed it onto the passenger seat. "I'm fine."
His foot pressed down on the accelerator, but his dark, intense gaze lingered on her for a heartbeat too long before he forced himself to focus on the road.
Vivian had only gotten into his car because she wanted to learn more about Ethan. But after that phone call, the atmosphere inside the vehicle had turned suffocating, thick with unspoken tension.
When they arrived at the kindergarten, Vivian hurried inside to pick up Amelia, but Ethan was nowhere to be seen. The teacher informed her that someone had already taken him home.
Disappointment settled heavily in her chest.
A darker thought crept in—what if Victoria had taken him? Would she hurt him again?
Alexander stood a few feet away, watching mother and daughter as they disappeared into the evening shadows. His lips pressed into a thin line.
A thousand possibilities raced through his mind, each more terrifying than the last. That was why he refused to open the email. He wasn’t ready to face the truth—not if it shattered the fragile hope he’d been clinging to.
No matter how impossible it seemed, he wanted to believe the woman standing before him was her.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a sleek black car pulled up beside them. Sebastian stepped out, effortlessly scooping Amelia into his arms. After exchanging a few words with Vivian, he turned to Alexander with a polite smile.
"Alexander, thank you for bringing Vivian to pick up Amelia."
Alexander met his gaze head-on, his voice sharp. "No thanks needed. I only did it to get closer to her."
His blunt admission carried an edge of defiance, daring Sebastian to challenge him.
Sebastian merely chuckled. "Still convinced Vivian is Evelyn?"
"Isn’t she?" Alexander countered, searching Sebastian’s expression for any flicker of deception.
But the man’s composure was unshakable.
"Vivian isn’t Evelyn," Sebastian said smoothly. "Evelyn is gone. You know that. Even if she were alive, why would she be with me if she loved you? Vivian even gave me a daughter."
The words struck like a knife, twisting deeper with every syllable.
Sebastian’s tone was calm, almost casual, but to Alexander, it felt like a taunt—a reminder that Sebastian had what he could never reclaim.
And he still had no proof.
"Vivian and I are getting married soon," Sebastian added. "I’ll announce it at the Blackwood Estate in a few days."
With that, he turned and walked back to Vivian, who was waiting by the car.
"Vivian, let’s go home."
"Okay." She nodded, leaning into him with an ease that made Alexander’s chest ache.
She threw a casual glance over her shoulder, offering him a perfunctory wave before slipping into the car.
In an instant, she was gone—her smile, her warmth, everything.
Inside the car, Vivian exhaled shakily. "He suspects me again."
"Of course he does," Sebastian murmured, taking her hand. His thumb brushed over her knuckles soothingly. "You look exactly like her. And Alexander? He notices everything."
His reassuring smile softened the worry in her eyes. "Don’t worry. I’ve arranged everything. In a few days, he’ll have no reason to doubt you."
Vivian relaxed slightly at his words.
Sebastian had been her anchor in the storm, the one who pulled her from the depths of despair.
She owed him everything.
And when he had mentioned marriage earlier, she hadn’t refused.
Because how could she?