Chapter 7
Aiden was missing?
Irene froze on the spot. She didn’t dare move. The knife had already left a shallow cut across her neck, stinging as blood welled up.
“Get a grip. I don’t know where your son is!”
But Elise looked completely unhinged. Her hand holding the knife trembled violently.
“Liar! You’re the only one who doesn’t care about Aiden. And you had a bunch of trucks here earlier to move your stuff. If it wasn’t you, then who?!”
Her eyes were bloodshot–she really did look like a frantic mother who’d lost her child. Her voice was hoarse from crying, but she still pushed on.
“Please, Mrs. Whitmore… I’m begging you. Just give him back Aiden’s all I’ve got!
Then, with a sudden motion, she dropped the knife and dropped to her knees with a thud in front of Irene.
“He’s my whole world.”
Irene finally broke free, and those words felt like a cruel joke.
She couldn’t hold back anymore. “Give him back to you? A kid adopted from an orphanage what the hell does that have to do with you? Why should I give him back?”
“He’s… he’s…” Elise stammered, panic flickering in her eyes. She’d almost said too much. She caught herself and burst into tears again. But this time, Irene wasn’t letting it go.
She narrowed her eyes, saw everything clearly now, and pressed her further on purpose. “He’s what to you? Come on, say it!” “Enough!” Charles snapped. “Irene, stop being so damn aggressive.”
Irene turned her head slowly, stunned. Her pupils trembled.
They’d grown up together. Not once in her life had he spoken to her like that. Even when she was being held at knifepoint just now, he hadn’t said a word in hendefense.
And the first time he ever raised his voice to her was to protect his mistress and a child born out of wedlock?
Disappointment. All her tangled emotions boiled down to that single word–utter disappointment in Charles.
Charles saw the shift in her expression. He realized he’d gone too far and tried to soften his tone. “Irene, I didn’t mean it like that Elise raised Alden after we adopted him. She just… got emotional, that’s all
Irene’s voice was cold. “Save it. I don’t want to hear another word.”
“I’ll say it one last time, Charles–where your son is, I don’t know. If he’s really gone missing, then call the police.”
There wasn’t a trace of warmth in her eyes anymore. That eerie calmness terrified Charles more than any screaming would have. He didn’t even catch that she’d just called the boy “your son.”
Just then, Charles’s assistant rushed in from outside. “Mr. Whitmore! We found him!”
“He was in a truck headed out of the city. Luckily, it hadn’t gotten far. Aiden’s already on his way back.”
Everyone in the room let out a long breath of relief–everyone but Irene. Her heart remained heavy. She had ordered a few trucks earlier to send her things to the auction house.
And now, the suspicion was falling squarely on her.
Margaret, seated stiffly on the couch, let out a cold snort. “So you can’t give birth, fine. I brought you a child myself, and you’re still not satisfied? Looks like you just want the Whitmore line to die out completely.”
Chapter 7
Her words were vicious, tearing at old wounds and rubbing salt in them.
Irene’s head turned instinctively toward Charles. But his gaze was fixed on Elise, his eyes narrowed in thought.
Suddenly, Irene felt her chest tighten. She couldn’t breathe. She let out a quiet, bitter laugh. “Right. I never should’ve risked my life to save you back then. Should’ve just let you die.”
བོ་ཆེན་བོ
As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt her heart shatter.
Charles jerked his head toward her, stunned, only to find Irene staring at him with such sorrow in her eyes.
The fresh line of red on her neck stood out sharply. His heart clenched. “Irene, don’t say that. You don’t mean it.”
He stepped forward quickly, trying to grab her hand–but Irene pulled away with a look of cold disgust.
Her heart had died inside her. The thought of those hands–hands that had just caressed Elise the night before–made her stomach
turn.
Irene didn’t respond. She just pulled out her phone and began texting Diana, asking how far she was. But for some reason… there was no reply.
The room fell into an eerie silence, broken only by Elise’s soft, pitiful sobs.
A short while later, Alden was brought back into the house.
The moment he saw Irene, he darted behind Charles and pointed a finger at her. “Daddy, it was her! She tried to abandon me! It was her!”
Margaret shot to her feet, her face severe “Irene, what else is there to say? Aiden’s just a child–you think he’d lie about something like that?”
Charles’s eyes shifted slightly, landing on Irene. Their gazes locked. And Irene saw it
He was doubting her.
Chapter 7
