Chapter 496

Though Evelyn refused the bouquet, Alexander found solace in her silent acceptance.

The moment she slid into the passenger seat, divorce papers hit the dashboard with a sharp slap.

"My signature's already there." Her voice was ice. "Just return them when you've signed yours."

Alexander's stomach dropped at the bold "DIVORCE AGREEMENT" header.

He shoved the documents into the glove compartment without reading further and accelerated.

"Ethan's never known a complete family, Evelyn. Don't you think—"

"Don't use our son as leverage." Her glare could freeze lava. "Whatever game you're playing ends now. Did you really think I'd believe your sudden affection after everything?"

The finality in her tone left no room for argument.

Alexander clenched the steering wheel until his knuckles whitened.

At Pinecrest Academy, Evelyn moved to the backseat to sit beside Ethan.

Her breath caught seeing Alexander's features mirrored in their son's face.

My sweet boy. Every scar was worth it just to see you again. This is enough for me.

She didn't object when Alexander drove them to Blackwood Estate.

Evelyn headed straight for the kitchen while Alexander helped Ethan with homework. The domesticity of the scene twisted the knife in his chest.

Dinner smelled like nostalgia—her signature rosemary chicken, the same dish she'd left cooling on their dining table countless nights.

Back then, he'd never come home. Not to Meredith's bed as Evelyn assumed, but to empty offices and whiskey-filled glasses.

Watching Evelyn peel shrimp for Ethan, Alexander memorized the way her lashes fluttered when their son giggled.

After dessert, he washed dishes while mother and son strolled through the moonlit gardens. Through the window, their laughter carried on the breeze.

Finding them by the koi pond, Alexander's heart stuttered when Ethan waved. "Daddy! Come see the big fish!"

Evelyn's smile didn't reach her eyes but she didn't correct him—not when Ethan glowed between them.

The walk back was colder. Ethan drowsed in Alexander's arms as streetlights painted their path gold.

When Evelyn shivered, he captured her chilled fingers in his coat pocket. She stiffened but didn't pull away, not with Ethan sighing sleepily against his shoulder.

Moonlight gilded them like a Renaissance painting—a perfect nuclear family illusion.

The spell shattered back at the estate. The moment Ethan's bedroom door clicked shut, Evelyn thrust the papers forward again. "Sign them."

Alexander crossed his arms. "No."

Her bitter laugh echoed his own refusal from years past.

"I won't repeat my mistakes." He stepped closer, voice raw. "Give us another chance. For Ethan. For Amelia."

"Amelia isn't yours."

"Our daughter," he insisted, cornering her near the fireplace. "You conceived her that night in the penthouse three years ago—the night I took you like a starving man."

His thumb brushed her collarbone where he'd left marks. "You think I don't know my own wife's body? That I wouldn't recognize the child we made?"

The fire popped between them, casting shadows that danced across Evelyn's unreadable expression.